2011 Prep Football Preview: Northwest Lions

After posting a record of 1-9 overall last season, the Northwest Senior High football team is hoping that the 2011 season will bring the Lions some good fortune.

Last Friday, Northwest participated in the Warrenton jamboree. While the Lions didn’t play as well as coach Scott Gerling had hoped, Gerling believes that a few adjustments over the past week will get his team heading in the right direction.

“We participated in the Warrenton jamboree last week, and we didn’t perform the way that we wanted to. But it’s all minor changes that need to be made in order to be the team that we want to be this season,” Gerling said.

“We’re going to be a little more traditional this year in that we’re going to be as balanced as possible on offense. On defense, we want to be aggressive, but also be smart and disciplined in our coverages.”

At wide receiver and defensive back is senior Nick Wideman, who racked up 36 tackles on defense last season.

“Nick is a good-sized kid,” Gerling said. “He’s the type of kid that’s really worked himself into being a good, hard-nosed football player over the last four years.”

James Wilson will see time on the offensive line as well as linebacker this season as the senior recorded 64 tackles on defense during the 2010 campaign.

“James is a little bit of a throwback kind of kid,” Gerling said. “He does a lot of the little things to make a team successful, and he’s more of a linebacker that you would have seen 20 years ago that could also play offensive line.”

Also playing linebacker as well as running back this season is senior Kenny Stibor, who returns as the Lions' top defensive threat with a total of 73 tackles and one fumble recovery last season.

“Kenny is a little fireplug that has that weight room-warrior mentality,” Gerling said. “We’re really looking forward to seeing him run the ball a lot more than he did last year.”

Senior Shane Bevard should be a physical presence on both the offensive and defensive lines this season, the coach said.

“We’re really going to rely on Shane to provide some leadership on the offensive line this season,” Gerling said. “He gives us some stability and should also keep things bottled up in the middle on defense.”

Another senior on the offensive and defensive lines is Shane Bevard. Gerling hopes that Bevard will grind opposing team’s running game to a halt.

“We’re really going to need Shane to keep things bottled up in the middle on defense this season,” Gerling said. “We’ll also rely on him to provide some leadership on the offensive line, and I think he should give us some stability at those positions this season.”

Junior Adnan Al Amami will see time at quarterback along with defensive back this season. Last season, Al Amami recorded 34 tackles on defense.

“Adnan’s a good athlete that’s also smart and is a great leader,” Gerling said. “He really knows what’s going on both offensively and defensively on the field.”

Northwest opens up the season at home at 7 p.m. Friday against Mehlville.