HILLSBORO, Ore. – Following a 2020-21 athletic season and academic year like no other, football returns to the Northwest Conference (NWC) beginning Friday, September 3. All eight teams are set to return to the field in 2021 after the official NWC football season was cancelled for the Fall of 2020.
Linfield has been selected as the Northwest Conference frontrunner for the 2021 season, as voted on by conference head coaches. The Wildcats earned 49 points and seven first-place votes. Whitworth ranks second in the poll with 43 points and one first place vote.
Pacific takes the third spot on the list with 35 points, while George Fox received 31 points to rank fourth. Puget Sound earned 24 points to rank fifth followed by Lewis & Clark’s 20 points to land them at sixth. Pacific Lutheran (15 pts.) and Willamette (7 pts) round out the poll.
Conference action which determines our rep to the NCAA tournament is set to begin on Saturday, October 3.
Below are key returners and players to watch from each team as well as statistical highlights and NWC accolades from 2019.
KEY RETURNERS/PLAYERS TO WATCH
George Fox
Ethan Hoffman | K/P | SO | 2019: Played in seven games as a freshman… Made 23 extra points and one field goal from 22 yards out
Anthony Pasion | JR | DL | 2019: Played in all 10 games as a sophomore… Made 22 tackles, including two for 11 yards total loss… Recorded half-sacks against Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark |
2019 Second-Team All-NWC
Brett Schuler | SR | OL | 2019: Played in all ten games as a junior |
2019 First-Team All-NWC
Lewis & Clark
Cameron Chang | SR | DL | 2019: Led the Pioneers in sacks (7.5)… Played in seven games… Finished with 18 solo tackles, 10 assisted tackles, 7.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and one forced fumble |
2019 First-Team All-NWC
Aidan Verba-Hamilton | SR | WR | 2019: Led the NWC in yards per reception (22.4)… Broke the school record with 331 yards receiving against Whitworth on Oct. 12… Led the Pioneers in receiving touchdowns (7)… Led the Pioneers in receiving yards (628)… Led the Pioneers in receiving yards per game (69.8)… Played in all nine games… Finished with 628 yards combined on 28 receptions and seven touchdowns |
2019 Second-Team All-NWC
Alex Hensley | SR | LB | 2019: Played in all nine games… Finished the season with 34 solo tackles, ten tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles… Leading returning tackler for L&C |
2019 Second-Team All-NWC
Linfield
Tyler Bergeron | SR | S | 2019: Letter winner… Appeared in nine games, starting all nine… CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 team… Recorded 53 tackles, two for loss and two interceptions… Accumulated nine tackles at Rowan |
2019 First-Team All-NWC
Chase Lydig | JR | DT | 2019: Letter winner… Second-team All-West Region… Started all ten games… Recorded 36 tackles, 13 for loss and five sacks… Accumulated three tackles for loss, including two sacks against George Fox |
2019 First-Team All-NWC
Wyatt Smith | SR | QB | 2019: Letter winner… Finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy… Northwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year… Ad Rutschman Award Winner… Second-team All-West Region…. Second-team Academic All-America… Ranked second in the nation in 353.1 passing yards per game… Ranked fourth in the nation with 27.30 completions per game… Threw for 43 touchdowns, which was third most in Linfield history… Led the NWC with 3,121 passing yards, 69.6 completion percentage, 185.5 passing efficiency |
2019 First-Team All-NWC
Pacific
Ty Hargis | SR |WR | 2019: caught 78 passes – the third most in a season - for 765 yards (ninth most) in 2019. He also had a school record 33 kickoff returns for 766 kick return yards |
2019 NWC Second-Team All-NWC
Joshua Harris | SR | RB |2019: He established school single-season records for yards (1,279) and touchdowns (15) and his 233 rushes are the second most. Harris ended the season with a school record six-straight 100-yard games |
2019 NWC First-Team All-NWC
Roman Okonowski | SR | OL | 2019: Assisted in anchoring an offensive line that had 1,876 yards rushing on 408 attempts for 19 touchdowns – the most since Pacific brought back football in 2010 |
2019 NWC First-Team All-NWC
Pacific Lutheran
Max Boekenoogen | SR | P | 2019: Appeared in one game for the Lutes, had five punts for a total of 175 yards with a long of 45 yards
Tristan Thomas | SR | DL| 2019: Appeared in all nine games for the Lutes… Recorded 52 tackles on the season and forced two fumbles recovering one of them |
2019 All-NWC Honorable Mention
Kord Tuttle | JR | DB | 2019: Appeared in all nine games for the Lutes… Had 37 tackles on the season including a season high 10 against Pacific
Puget Sound
AJ Johnson | Sr | WR | 2019: D3football.com All-American... Recipient of Puget Sound's Ben Cheney Award for Most Outstanding Athlete |
2019 All-NWC First-Team
Murdock Rutledge | SR | QB | 2019: Approaching school career records for passing TDs, completions, passing yards |
2019 All-NWC Honorable Mention
Ezekiel Sayavong | SR | DE | 2019: Had 4 total sacks in 4 total games during spring 2021 season
Whitworth
Colton Chelin | SR | DB | 2019: Started all nine games and made 46 tackles… Broke up seven passes and made one interception and added his first career sack
Bryce Hornbeck | SR | DB | 2019: Became a starting corner back during his junior season… Finished second on the team with 43 solo tackles and third in overall stops (49)… Had four interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, and broke up five other passes
RudyJay Keopuhiwa | SR | DL | 2019: RudyJay played in all nine games and finished second on the team with 9 tackles for loss (36 yards), including 4.5 sacks… He had 28 total tackles
Willamette
Max Andersen | SR | WR | 2019: Topped Willamette's receiving chart with 47 catches for 852 yards and 10 touchdowns... Averaged 94.7 yards per game and 18.1 yards per catch... Scored on a 95-yard pass against Pacific Lutheran to set a school record... Also set records with 16 pass receptions against Puget Sound and 247 receiving yards against Lewis & Clark |
2019 All-NWC Honorable Mention
Matthew Fick | SR | OL | 2019: Helped the team average 214.0 passing yards per game in 2019 |
2019 All-NWC Honorable Mention
Dylan Sparks | SR | RB | 2019: Competed in eight games with five starts... Rushed 73 times for 242 yards and one touchdown
(Points awarded on an 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches could not vote for their own teams; numbers in parentheses indicate first place votes)
| Team |
Pts. |
2019 NWC Finish |
| Linfield (7) |
49 |
1st |
| Whitworth (1) |
43 |
2nd |
| Pacific (Ore.) |
35 |
4th |
| George Fox |
31 |
3rd |
| Puget Sound |
24 |
5th |
| Lewis & Clark |
20 |
6th |
| Pacific Lutheran |
15 |
7th |
| Willamette |
7 |
8th |
For the complete 2021 NWC football schedule, click
here.