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

Josiah Huisman, a freshman linebacker on the Northwest Christian football team, calls the program a “brotherhood” — and quite literally it is. His brother Judah, two years older, is the team’s starting quarterback. Four more Huisman brothers are expected to go through the program as well.

Northwest Christian consists of 10 sets of siblings throughout the freshman, junior varsity and varsity teams. In total, 21 of roughly 80 boys in the program are siblings. This does not even count the number of siblings who have already gone through Northwest Christian or will in the future.

“It kind of feels like home,” Judah Huisman said. “We all enjoy being here, everyone loves us, we love everyone. It feels like home. Like there’s no reason for us to leave.”

In his 12 years at Northwest Christian, head coach David Inness’ mission at football games has been to create a family atmosphere with a “small-town feel.”

One way he has cultivated this environment has been allowing kids of all ages to roam free and play football on the field at halftime and after the games. It is quite common to see the field covered from end zone to end zone, with older kids playing around with the younger ones.

The fact that Northwest Christian is a K-12 school has been key to the success of this activity, with the lower-grade level students having a chance to be a part of the program.

“We are one of the few schools, if any, that let people do that,” Inness said. “They don’t abuse it. I just gotta yell at them and they’ll get out of the way. … They want to grow up and play on that field someday. That’s what’s cool about this place.”

For many of the current Crusaders, watching the varsity games was one of their first experiences with Northwest Christian football.

Senior running back Alex Jeffries remembers playing tackle football behind the goalpost during halftime. Junior lineman Nathan Metzger also reflects on those halftime nights, and how the distant past still has an impact on him today.

“It’s just being there and then thinking about the distant future which at the time seems so far away,” Metzger said. “Just thinking one day I might actually be on this field. And then now, it becoming a reality and being able to look back on that and say like, ‘I’ve been in their shoes.’

“To see the younger kids running around there now, one, it really encourages me, and it helps me to make sure that I encourage them so that they see themselves that it’s not only a possibility but a firm reality.”

This idea of the players giving back to the younger Crusaders has been instilled by Inness. The kids camp he runs every May attracts about 70-80 kids at a low price, but Inness doesn’t even run it himself.

“They all want to be Crusaders,” Inness said. “That’s the cool thing. We run our kids camp — they (the current players) run our camp. I just set it up and they run the camp, so the kids want to be around them.”

Inness also makes his summer conditioning program free and open to anyone, which draws in the younger brothers of many of the players.

 

Kids play football at halftime of a Northwest Christian game against Poston Butte on Oct. 8, including Nick Jeffries, far right, younger brother of varsity senior running back Alex Jeffries. (Jonah Krell/AZpreps365.com)

 

Jeffries, who has four more brothers coming through the program, has used this opportunity to give his siblings “a quick first step” and teach them the weaknesses he had early on, like needing to be more aggressive or having better offseason training. 

He exemplifies the family atmosphere further, as his jersey number is No. 18, the same one his older brother wore. His younger brother, William, wears the same number on the junior varsity team.

While this is simply a microcosm of Inness' culture, its reach is perhaps more important off the field with the small-town community surrounding the school.

Even in a season where Northwest Christian is currently at 2-5, the Crusader faithful continue to show up to games, including former players on the sidelines. 

According to Brian Jeffries, Alex’s father, it’s not about the game, but a community grounded in its faith and a team grounded in tradition that combine to create something greater.

“No school is perfect,” Brian Jeffries said. “No program is perfect. No coach is perfect. But when you get a collective community together and a collective group of coaches and football players that realize it's not about them, that’s when excellence happens. And the program by and large has been excellent through the years.”