Playing for a championship has once again become the norm for Northwest football.

Fresh off back-to-back appearances in the MACJC Championship game, consecutive NJCAA bowl games and a Top 10 national ranking, this year's lofty expectations should be no different. Add in the brand new, state-of-the-art $5 million Ranger Football Complex and Northwest has all sorts of momentum on and off the field.
     
Northwest is preseason ranked No. 6 by the NJCAA, No. 8 by College Football America Yearbook, No. 13 by Street & Smith's College Football Preview magazine and 18th by JCGridiron.com.
     
Although the Rangers only return three starters from last year's MACJC runner-up team and a handful of letterwinners overall, the 2017 roster will feature a star-studded class with nearly 20 nationally-ranked prospects – a dozen of those hailing from Mississippi.
     
Twenty-seven players from last year's team moved on to four-year programs, with 18 of those inking with Division I teams. That number has steadily climbed the last two seasons (43 total) and there's no signs of stopping that trend.
     
Northwest finished 9-3 overall in 2016 under first-year head coach Benjy Parker, with all three losses coming to Top 5 opponents. That comes a year after going 11-1 and winning the MACJC and NJCAA National Championship in 2015.
     
The Rangers will host just four games at Bobby Franklin Field this season, five on the road. The season kicks off Thursday, August 31 at 6:30 p.m. against Hinds in Senatobia.

Fans can watch/listen to Ranger football all season long at nwccrangers.com/watch, on the radio dial at 106.9 FM Country Legends or by downloading the Country 101 WBLE app from the iTunes Store or Google Play.

NORTHWEST OFFENSE
Returning Starters: 2
     
Northwest averaged just under 400 yards per game last season under new OC Stan Hill and had the fifth-best scoring offense (31 ppg) in the league behind a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Quarderman Sloan and Tywun Walters – a first in program history. Expect Hill and the Rangers to play up-tempo as much as possible, upwards of 70-80 snaps a game.
     
In the trenches, NJCAA Second Team All-American Damien Lewis (Canton), Tyler Walker (Northwest Rankin) and Tairek Johnson (Corinth) all return on the offensive line, which bodes well for another two-headed rushing attack in 2017. Northwest will average a hefty 315 pounds and has reloaded with guys like Colton Skidmore (Oxford), Keenen Davis (Horn Lake), Tae-Kion Reed (New Hope), Lavante Epson Jr. (Washington School) and Trevin Bass (Provine) among others. 
     
The Rangers return the MACJC's second-leading rusher in the aforementioned Sloan, who rushed for 1,053 yards and seven touchdowns and added 23 receptions for 182 yards a year ago. Kevin Perkins (Rosa Fort), who redshirted a season ago and trimmed down from 230 to 215 pounds, and Billy Kimble (Charleston), who rushed for nearly 1,700 yards and 22 touchdowns his senior year, will see plenty of touches in the backfield. 
     
One of the biggest offseason acquisitions was snagging former Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year Jack Abraham from Oxford High School. The pro-style quarterback and three-star prospect redshirted last season at Louisiana Tech after throwing for over 12,000 yards and 130 touchdowns at Oxford. Robert Wilcke, a former Hernando standout in football and baseball, will also see time as a freshman.
     
Jerrick Orr (Aberdeen) is likely to be one of Abraham's top targets and is the Rangers' top returning receiver after hauling in 25 passes for 402 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman.

Newcomers JaVonta Payton (Hillsboro, Tenn.), Pro Wells (Milford Academy), Mack Martin III (Meridian) and Brandin Echols (Southaven) to name a few, have all looked solid in fall camp. Payton and Wells are both nationally-ranked prospects and have entertained offers from the likes of Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Marshall, Iowa State and South Florida.

NORTHWEST DEFENSE
Returning Starters: 1 
     
The Rangers boasted the second-best scoring defense in the MACJC (18.3 ppg) and third-ranked total defense (304.3 ypg) last season, the best in coach Parker's three-year role as defensive coordinator. 
     
Northwest held eight of its 12 opponents to 14 points or less, including a 34-0 shutout of Coahoma, 48-6 win over division rival Northeast and 38-7 thumping at Mississippi Delta. The Rangers were 4-3 against ranked teams. 
     
Northwest also broke a 24-year-old school record with 117 tackles-for-loss and finished with 46 sacks, seventh-most in single-season school history.
     
Sixteen Rangers were lost all together on defense after signing with four-year programs, including 12 to Division I schools. The monster class was highlighted by linebacker Adonis Thomas, who signed with Florida State, while West Virginia, South Carolina, Memphis, Kansas, Bowling Green, Middle Tennessee State and Georgia Southern all snagged big-time prospects.
     
Northwest has replaced that with three and four star transfers from Mississippi State, Auburn and Ohio State and several other former four-year commits. 
     
Lineman Hal Northern (Rosa Fort) is the lone returning starter on defense and he's poised to have an even bigger sophomore year. Northern finished with 49 tackles, 15.5 tackles-for-loss and 6.5 sacks as a freshman and has already received over a dozen four-year offers, including Florida Atlantic, Colorado State, Troy, Memphis and Southern Miss to name a few.
     
The Rangers are stacked up front behind Northern, signing freshmen Tariqious Tisdale (Lexington), Nathan "Truck" Perry (Germantown), D.J. Reed (Horn Lake), Taurus Payne (Hoover) and Tyren Irby (Lake Cormorant) among other studs. Tisdale, a former Ole Miss commit who's rated a three-star prospect by numerous recruiting sites, will become a household name once the season starts.
     
Keith Brown Jr. (Madison Central) is the lone returning linebacker, finishing with 24 tackles, 6.5 tackles-for-loss, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble a season ago. 
     
The Rangers are extremely inexperienced in that position and could rotate a handful of guys to open the season before finding the right fit.  
     
Robert Miller (Olive Branch/Memphis), Jonathan Jones (Charleston), Brandon Pierre (Horn Lake), Greg Williams (Tupelo), Dee Rule (Lake Cormorant) and D.J. Hall (South Panola) will all be fighting for playing time.
     
Numbers wise, Jones is the most decorated of the group. As a senior at Charleston, he finished with a single-season school record 162 tackles and also led the Tigers to three consecutive Class 3A state title game appearances. Miller, who redshirted at Memphis last year, had a team-high 118 tackles, 12 quarterback hurries, seven tackles-for-loss and two sacks his senior year.
     
In the secondary, Northwest has to replace five Division I signees in Kaleb Chalmers (South Carolina), Wesley Bush (MTSU), Fred Garth Jr. (Bowling Green), K.T. McCollin (SEMO) and Tito Windham (Memphis). Ahmad Alexander (Charleston) and Turner Rotenberry (South Panola) are the lone two returners in the unit.
     
Transfers Marlon Character Jr. (Auburn), Joshua Norwood (Ohio State) and Chris Stamps (Mississippi State), all three and four-star ranked prospects, have taken leadership roles and been the most vocal during fall camp. The trio have all but solidified their starting spots.
     
Newcomers Monta Thomas (Hermitage), Malik Sanders (Greenville), Tre Truly (Charleston), Kenderius Glenn (Meridian) and Chris Shannon (Tupelo) will all be competing for playing time in the second unit.
 
NORTHWEST SPECIAL TEAMS
Returning Starters: 2
     
Drake McCarter (Saltillo) will handle both kicking and punting duties for a second straight season and is on pace to break Northwest career records for field goals made and attempted and punting average. McCarter was a First Team All-MACJC punter and second team all-conference kicker a year ago and is once again on the Fred Mitchell Award Watch List for the nation's top kickers from all divisions.
     
The sure-handed Jack Creely (Madison Central) will once again take care of snapping duties after starting in all 12 games a year ago. Creely snapped for every point after, field goal and punt last season and graded out nearly perfect. Twins Cole and Turner Rotenberry typically rotate as holders on field goals and PAT.
     
In the return game, four guys have been rotating time returning kicks in camp. Demarcus Jones (Warren Central), Monta Thomas (Hampton, Ark.), Brandin Echols (Southaven) and Keshunn Abram (DeSoto Central). 
     
Cole Rotenberry is the Rangers' primary punt returner, finishing with 204 return yards a year ago, sixth-most in a single-season. Echols will most likely back him up.