Two-time defending state champ Northwestern prepares to battle complaceny, opponents
To say that the 2018 football season was tumultuous for head coach Max Edwards and his Northwestern Bulls would probably understated the issue — by a lot.
The end result was a second state title, but what a roller coaster ride it was.
Coming off the program’s fifth state title in 2017, the Bulls might have suffered from a little bit of “defending champion fat cat syndrome” at the start of last season.
Whatever the reason, the first eight games were a total disaster as Northwestern lost five of them. With a far-reaching alumni base, “Bull Nation” was beyond restless, and the call for Edwards’ job was loud and clear.
But the players rallied to their coach’s defense, got hot and shocked everyone on the outside and perhaps even themselves by rolling to seven consecutive victories and a second straight state title.
Nearly a year later, Edwards and his Bulls players are wearing that bull’s-eye again and trying to deal with enormous expectations.
“I think the mind-set this year will be to make sure we come out focused and ready for each and every game,” Edwards said. “Last year we had a few tough battles where we played well but lost. This year the kids feel they can win every game because they know it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Is there more pressure to start fast? I think it’s not necessarily more pressure on me, but we still want to get off to a good start, that will make things easier.”
And hopefully keep Bull Nation off his back.
Northwestern’s schedule is daunting. A season opener against defending 5A champion Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons will be followed by other giants like Carol City, Bradenton IMG Academy, Central and a road trip to Valdosta to take on Georgia state power Lowndes High School.
‘We can’t take any of our games lightly,’ said Northwestern running back Nathaniel Noel. “I don’t think we were prepared and ready to go early last season. We were defending state champs and had a bull’s-eye on our backs and maybe weren’t ready for teams always gunning for us. Now we’re back-to-back state champs, and hopefully we’ll be better prepared and know what to expect.”
“The bull’s-eye is even bigger now,” said four-star defensive back Ronald Delancy, a Louisville commit. “I don’t think we did a good job of being humble. Last year was awful. I can’t believe we were 3-5 at one point and the alumni was really on us. Maybe our heads were too big. We lost fans, had to deal with almost losing our coach and had to fight through a lot of adversity. Ultimately it made us stronger, but we still don’t want to put ourselves in that position again. “
One thing the Bulls will not have to worry about again will be going through the “District of Death” where they were stuck in the same district with rival powerhouses Carol City and Central.
The “Big 3” has now been broken up into three different classifications, so Northwestern’s road to the state final in Daytona Beach and a possible three-peat is certainly within reach.
Said Edwards: “I think what keeps these kids hungry is that reminder that they don’t want to be the class that doesn’t make it back to state and bring home a state title. They want to be able to say at the end, ‘OK, it wasn’t our class that didn’t bring it back’ and it’s something like that drives them and motivates them.”