Northwestern always ‘has a chance to be pretty good’ — but 2021 could be special
Ask about the Northwestern football team’s prospects in 2021, and head coach Page Wofford has an answer at the ready. It’s the same one he’s had for years.
“Even years we went undefeated, even years we won state championships, if you would’ve asked me that before the season — and I was an assistant coach then — I would’ve said the same thing: ‘Yeah, we have a chance to be pretty good,’” Wofford said at a break in summer workouts last week.
The head coach since 2019, who was an assistant for the Trojans for years before that, is reasonably cautious — and that’s despite the fact Northwestern is returning a lot of key pieces from last year’s team, which won a Region 4-5A championship and made an Upper State title appearance.
Every team is different, Wofford says. Even if all 22 starters return, it’s different. The game changes. Opponents adapt. Expectations do, too.
“But I’ll say this,” Wofford continued, “out of a possible 15 games we could play this season, there’s a way to win every game with the kids we have. So that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Here’s an early look at how the Northwestern football team could make 2021 special.
Northwestern football strengths
1. Offensive line. Northwestern’s line will be a “strength this year,” per Wofford — and a lot of that has to do with the unit’s leader.
Jordan Knox (6-foot-4, 295 pounds), a rising junior, is a left tackle who’ll start for a third straight year for the Trojans in 2021. If you were to “build a player, write about a player, write a description of what you want in that position, it’s Jordan Knox,” Wofford said. And that praise is par for the course for whoever else you talk to in the Northwestern program. As a sophomore in 2020, Knox graded out at 89% and added 22 knockdown blocks and 12 pancake blocks, helping pave the way for a remarkably balanced (even run-first, at times) Trojan attack.
The Class of 2023 recruit earned an offer from the University of South Florida this summer, a relatively early milestone for his position. Knox thinks he has room to grow, too.
“Starting as a freshman, I’ve gotten so much experience,” Knox told The Herald. “Of course, I wasn’t the best then. Last year, I was captain. It was better. I was used to the speed. And then this year, I feel like I’m helping these guys, leading these guys, and I’m able to not even think and just go out there and do my job.”
Knox is one of a few returning starting linemen this year, joining Riley Morris and Marcus Macon.
2. Wide receivers. When wide receivers coach Ryan Hunt scans his depth chart, two returners likely jump off the page: Calique Cunningham and Gerell Watkins (aka G-Watt). Both started the past two seasons. Both are speedsters.
Cunningham (5-9, 170) can “play every position we have” on offense and was “one of those guys who just kept developing and kept getting better” every year, Wofford said. He received an offer from Presbyterian and The Citadel earlier this summer. (New teammate and wide receiver Jecari Bryson, too, received an offer from PC in July.)
And Watkins, a 5-foot-8, 150-pound slot receiver, is a threat to run back every punt and kickoff return this season. He’s dangerous on the football field — don’t let his friendly, welcoming smile off of it mislead you.
Said Watkins: “We have a good team, all we gotta do is be in shape and keep working.”
Said Cunningham: “We have a lot of returning juniors and rising seniors, so everybody is buying into the process right now, so that’s pretty good.”
3. Defense. Is it a cop-out to call an entire defense a team strength? Perhaps. But is it valid? Northwestern has several returners tasked with answering the latter question of its defense — a group that allowed just over 2,000 yards of total offense in eight games.
Among the Trojan defensive leaders: Defensive backs Tay McCrorey and Michael “Mike Mike” McMullen are poised for special senior years. So are linebackers EJ Anderson (previously from Winston-Salem, N.C.), Austin Wilkes and DJ Jackson — as well as defensive linemen Will Monroe and Isaac McLellan (who’s also a state champion wrestler).
That’s a lot of playing experience shared among a lot of different units (which leads to arguably Northwestern’s most valuable strength).
4. Experience. It can do wonders for a football program. It causes a rising tide that lifts all boats — enabling anything from team chemistry to program growth. Wofford, who has steadily righted the ship since taking over in 2019, has seen more players attend workouts this summer than he had in either of the previous two summers. (About 120 players reported to spring camp, Wofford said — and 165 have come to summer workouts if you include rising freshmen.)
Experience is also helpful for game-planning: Wofford, for instance, has no concerns sending kicker Kanoah Vinesett out to try a 50-plus-yard field goal. The rising senior, who committed to play football at N.C. State earlier this summer, has hit one before.
Of course, no one has benefited more from experience than Northwestern’s quarterback, Will Mattison.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound rising senior had a productive junior year: In eight games, he threw for 1,526 yards and 16 touchdowns and was only intercepted four times. All the ways in which Wofford complimented Mattison this summer — “consistent, dedicated, his ability to take coaching and use it, his work ethic, leadership” — applied to last year’s playoffs, too, when he led his team to a 5A Upper State title appearance.
But the quarterback said he expects to see a leap of improvement in his senior season — of himself and of his team.
“We’ve improved in every aspect you can think of from the last snap of last year,” Mattison said. “I mean, I knew these guys last year, but we know the offense like the back of our hands at this point.”
“It’s just chemistry,” he added. Experience, too.
Northwestern at a glance
Head coach: Page Wofford (entering his third season)
Last year: 7-1 (4-0, Region 4-5A). Lost in Upper State title game
Competes in: Region 4-5A
Offensive philosophy: Balanced
Base defense: Four down lineman (4-3 or 4-2-5)
All-Region returners: Kanoah Vinesett (K), Will Mattison (QB), Jordan Knox (OL)
All-State returners: Gerell Watkins (WR), Kanoah Vinesett (K)
Football schedule
Check The Herald’s website for a comprehensive look at all the football schedules for high schools in York, Chester and Lancaster counties.
Aug. 21 South Pointe (Saturday)
Aug. 27 Indian Land
Sept. 3 at Clover
Sept. 10 Nation Ford
Sept. 17 at Greenville
Sept. 24 at River Bluff
Oct. 1 Ridge View
Oct. 8 Blythewood
Oct. 15 at Spring Valley
Oct. 22 BYE
Oct. 29 at Rock Hill
This story was originally published July 29, 2021 at 8:29 AM.
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