Brooke Tyburski
ASU Student Journalist

Northwest Christian adjusting to playing 19 new starters

October 2, 2019 by Brooke Tyburski, Arizona State University


Senior linebacker Jonathan Metzger, senior wide receiver and defensive back Cameron Adams, junior offensive and defensive lineman Cameron Sterner, and senior quarterback Easton Meier are all returning players and are helping bring newer players up to speed. (Photo courtesy of Easton Meier)

Brooke Tyburski is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Northwest Christian High School for AZPreps365.com.

The Northwest Christian High School football team found great success in 2018, ending its season by hoisting the 3A championship trophy high into the air after quarterback Easton Meier found Dustin Inness in the end zone for a touchdown to lift them over Yuma Catholic, 40-37.

“It was like a fairy tale,” starting wide receiver and defensive back Cameron Adams said. “Getting all the way to the championship and winning in triple overtime. It was like a movie.”

While the Crusaders still have their championship-winning quarterback on their roster this season, they had to say goodbye to the nearly two dozen seniors that made up most of the team. 

With as many as 19 new, underclassmen starters this year, the Crusaders are adjusting to playing as a much younger and inexperienced team.

Adams played an integral role in the Crusaders’ 2018 year, starting in all 14 games of their 13-1 season. He said that there are surprisingly few things that separate this year’s team from last year’s, but having so many new players does come with challenges.

“A lot of it’s just raw talent that you have to find,” Adams said. “They’re definitely capable, it’s just getting the knowledge that only comes through playing. Skillwise, we’re still getting there and we’re working up to it.

“We lost a lot of guys on the line, but we have Cameron Sterner and Ben Strawn leading them. Alex Hernandez didn’t start last year but now he’s playing a big role. That was our biggest positional loss, but they’ve definitely stepped up and done a great job so far.”

Practice routines and style have changed with the addition of so many new starters who are unfamiliar with the playbook. However, head coach David Innes said it is more important to get things right than to rush when getting new players up to speed.

“We’re at a slower pace, learningwise,” Innes said. “Last year’s team was this year’s team two years ago so we don’t go as fast as we normally do in practice. The pace isn’t where we want it but by week seven, week eight, the pace will be exactly where we want it.”

Innes said that the biggest thing that has helped the younger players adjust and improve is the leadership and guidance of the more experienced and veteran players.

“Easton Meier’s energy is unbelievable,” Innes said. “He will help anybody. He’ll stay after practice. Jonathan Metzger, Cameron Adams, Corbin Hulbert, they’re all the same way. They step up and lead and mentor those guys.

“Even guys who don’t get to play a lot and know their role help out a lot. Daniel Chavez doesn’t play a lot for us but he knows his role every day when he goes out there. The kids just love him and he’s just as important as anybody else.”

Though they’re young, there are quite a few things that stand out about this team to the veterans and make them believe they can replicate the success of past teams.

“The younger guys aren’t afraid or timid when they get on the field,” Adams said. “We have sophomores starting, like Luke Johnson and Grant Gibson. A lot of times you’d see guys starting who are nervous or scared, but these guys are confident and just go out and play like the rest of us.”

“There are a lot of standouts,” Innes said. “The guy that’s picked up his play more than anybody is Austin Young. He didn’t play a lot last year as a junior and when we lost Jacob Sherwood to a knee injury, he’s taken his game to another level.”

Senior running back Young has accumulated 738 total rushing yards and three touchdowns so far this season, establishing himself as a key part of the new Crusaders offense.

Even with a younger roster, Northwest Christian has continued to find success this season, winning four games and suffering only one loss against Benjamin Franklin, 21-10, in week three. The game was heavy on penalties against Northwest Christian and included multiple turnovers.

While the loss was not ideal, Adams saw it as a learning opportunity for the young team.

“Obviously we didn’t want to lose,” Adams said. “But it’s probably a good thing to show the guys that weren’t a part of it that you don’t just walk into the championship. I think that’s helping them realize there’s a lot of work to get to where we were last year.”

Innes said he isn’t worried about his team and fully believes they can rise to the level they need to and stay consistent with winning.

“At Northwest we keep our calm,” Innes said. “That’s why this team’s won over the last few years.”

“Just play one play at a time. We can fix everything in our program except effort, and they know that. They know we’re going to make mistakes, but they want to keep working hard to get better.”

While skill is certainly important, players said that they have found that there is something even more important to focus on when it comes to the success of the team. And it is something that hasn’t changed at all from last year to this year.

“Everyone who played on last year’s team realized that what made us good was that we were all so tight,” Adams said. “So we’ve made that a big point this year. Everyone gets along, everyone is friends with everyone, we all talk outside of football during school.”

“From last year, I really didn’t think our team could get any closer,” senior linebacker Corbin Hulbert said. “But we are. We’re like brothers.”

The Crusaders hope to replicate their 2018 success with their new 2019 team, but they don’t want to compare teams or set expectations too high.

“No pressure,” Hulbert said. “We’re just going to go out there and do our best. If we win state, we win state. There’s no pressure there.”

Innes said right now the only focus of the team is to improve every day and nothing more.

“We never, ever talk about winning state,” Innes said. “We just talk about being in the hunt. We never talk about winning every game.

“We’re notorious for playing our best football at the end of the season. That’s our ultimate goal.”