2016 Northwest Conference Football Pre-Season Coaches' Poll
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TEAM
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1STS
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PTS
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'15 NWC
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'15 ALL
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Linfield College
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(7)
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56
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7-0
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12-1
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Whitworth University
|
(1)
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44
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6-1
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9-2
|
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Pacific University (Ore.)
|
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34
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4-3
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6-4
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George Fox University
|
|
26
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2-5
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4-6
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University of Puget Sound
|
|
24
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5-2
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6-3
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Pacific Lutheran University
|
|
23
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2-5
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2-7
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Willamette University
|
|
18
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2-5
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2-7
|
|
Lewis & Clark College
|
|
7
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0-7
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0-9
|
(Points awarded on an 8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches could not vote on their own teams.)
NWC FOOTBALL: Powerhouse Linfield Picked to Notch 8th Straight Conference Crown
HILLSBORO, Ore. – Picked as high as No. 1 in one NCAA Division III national poll, Linfield College has been tabbed, not surprisingly, as a heavy favorite to win its eighth straight Northwest Conference football crown in a pre-season poll of the league's eight coaches as announced by the NWC office Tuesday afternoon.
Linfield received all seven first-place votes for which it was eligible (NWC coaches do not vote on their own teams) and a total of 56 points. Whitworth University picked up the other top vote and 44 points in all to come in second.
Linfield breezed through the conference and regular season schedule last year (none of its games were closer than 24 points), going 7-0 in the league and finishing 12-1 overall after falling in the NCAA playoff semifinals on the road to St. Thomas (Minn.). The Wildcats stretched their national record (at any level) for consecutive winning seasons to 60, and were ranked third at the end of the year in both national polls (D3football.com and the AFCA).
Back to bolster Linfield's bid for a national title are All-NWC First Teamers Sam Riddle (Sr., QB), Spencer Payne (Sr., RB) and Stephen Nnabue (Sr., OL) on offense, and Zach Grate (Jr., DL), Jake Reimer (Jr., LB), Jason Farlow (Jr., LB), Mikey Arkans (Sr., DB), Skyler Elgarcio (Sr., DB), and Second Teamer Marcus McGovern (Jr., DL) on defense. Riddle, the NWC Offensive Player of the Year, was a D3football.com Second Team All-American, as was kick return specialist Kennedy Johnson (Sr.), who is back after leading the nation in punt return touchdowns (3).
The 'Cats must replace AFCA / D3football First Team All-American defensive end Alex Hoff along with D3football Second Team All-American corner back Kyle Belcher and safety Keanu Yamamoto. Joseph Smith, the NWC Coach of the Year, will look to go over 100 career wins this fall as he enters his 11th season as the Wildcats' head coach with a 94-18 record.
Whitworth suffered its only regular season loss to Linfield and received an at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs, only to be matched up unfortunately against the 'Cats in the first round. The Pirates finished with a 9-2 record, 6-1 in the conference, and were ranked 20th by D3football.com and 21st by the AFCA in the final polls.
Whitworth's efforts to unseat Linfield begin with D3football.com Second Team All-American Nick Kiourkas (Jr., TE) and All-West Region First Team kicker Rehn Reiley (So.). Also back for head coach Rod Sandberg, who is 15-6 after two seasons at Whitworth, are All-NWC First Team picks Daniel Portillo (Sr., DL) and Dalin McDonnell (Sr., LB), Second Teamers Duke DeGaetano (Sr., RB), Mike McKeown (Jr., WR), Trevor Woodall (Sr., OL) and Taylor Roelofs (Jr., DB), and honorable mention Patch Kulp (Jr., LB).
Pacific University (Ore.), which shared the conference title with Linfield in 2014, was third in the NWC poll with 34 points. The Boxers came in fourth in the league last year at 4-3 and were 6-4 overall. Since reviving the school's football program in 2010, head coach Keith Buckley has developed the Boxers into one of the NWC's top programs, going 19-10 over the past three seasons.
Defense will be a strength for Pacific this fall with the return of Jeff Bajema (Sr., DE), a Third Team All-West Region selection, and All-NWC First Team performer Trey Kodama (Sr., LB). The Boxers have big shoes to fill, though, with the loss of First Team offensive picks in Bronson Barretto (RB), Nathan Suyematsu (WR) and Kevin Peterson (OL) and Second Teamers Warner Shaw (QB), Jason Smith (WR), Nicholas Schilla (OL) and Taylor Mack (OL).
The race for the middle of the conference was tight, with George Fox University taking fourth place with 26 points, the University of Puget Sound fifth with 24 points, and Pacific Lutheran University sixth with 23 points.
George Fox went 2-5 in the NWC, tying for fifth, and 4-6 overall in 2015, its second season of returning football to the campus after a 46-year absence. All-NWC First Team RB John Shaffer, who led the league in rushng, is gone, but Second Team selections Brad Lander (Jr., WR) and Nolan Schuler (Jr., OL) are back on offense. On defense, the Bruins lost First Team LB Jesse Breeser, but Second Teamer Tanner Krahel (Sr., DL) returns. Head coach Chris Casey enters his third season of restoring the Bruins' program.
Puget Sound is coming off a 6-3 season, its first winning campaign since 2006, and a 5-2 conference record, good for third place, that tied a school record for most NWC wins set in 1933. One of the nation's top offensive teams last year, the Loggers are set again with returning All-NWC First Team choice Brennan Schon (Jr., WR) and Second Team picks Hans Fortune (Sr., QB) and Reid Hartmann (Sr., OL). Jake Wuesthoff (Sr., DB) leads the Puget Sound defense. The Loggers did lose First Team WR Kevin Miller and Second Team DL Doug Owusu. Head coach Jeff Thomas is now in his seventh season, having led the Loggers to a 10-8 record over the past two years.
Pacific Lutheran, rebuilding after the loss of 13 all-conference players from 2014, went 2-7 overall last year and 2-5 in the league, tying for fifth. Scott Westering has carried on the winning tradition established by his father, the legendary Frosty Westering, who coached PLU for 32 years, by leading the Lutes to a 64-46 record in 12 seasons. Still in a youth movement, PLU has All-NWC honorable mention Austin Striplin (Jr., OL) as its top returnee.
Willamette University, which tied for fifth in the conference last year at 2-5 and went 2-7 overall, came in seventh in the poll with 18 points. The Bearcats bring back one All-NWC First Team pick in Nikk Ryan (Sr., DL), along with Second Team selection Austin Jones (Sr., TE) and honorable mention choice Nick Brickous (Jr., DB). Head coach Glen Fowles enters his fifth season at Willamette with a 22-15 record.
Lewis & Clark struggled to a 0-9 record last year and 0-7 in the conference under first-year coach Jay Locey, a former national coach of the year in 2004 while winning the D-III championship at Linfield. The Pioneers lost All-NWC Second Team LB Stein Retzlaff, the NWC leader in tackles, but will be anchored by All-NWC Second Teamer CJ Appleton (Sr., TE) on offense and Remington Campbell (Jr., LB), who was seventh in the league in tackles, on defense.
The 2016 season gets under way on Friday, Sept. 2, with Adrian College at Pacific (Ore.) in a night game. Four more teams are in action on Saturday, Sept. 3: the University of Wisconsin-Platteville at George Fox, Central College (Iowa) at Whitworth, the University of La Verne at Puget Sound, and Willamette at Rhodes University in Memphis, Tenn. The first conference games are set for Saturday, Oct. 1, with Willamette at Puget Sound, Pacific (Ore.) at Pacific Lutheran, Lewis & Clark at Linfield, and Whitworth at George Fox.
The regular season champion receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs; the NWC has no league championship game.
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