HILLSBORO, Ore. –  Although the fate of the 2020 MACCC football season remains in question, seven Northwest football standouts have garnered preseason recognition to JCGridiron.com's position watch lists.

Released in increments over the summer, JCGridiron.com named quarterback Hunter Hulsey, tailback Jaquerrious Williams, receivers Jacoby Jones and Cameron Wynn, defensive tackle Nijel McGriff, outside linebacker Kevin Smith and safety Jarvis Townsend to each respective position watch list.

Despite redshirting his freshman season at Northwest, quarterback Hunter Hulsey arrived to the Rangers after a stellar prep career, where he threw for over 5,000 yards and completed 58 percent of his passes during the span of his prep career. The Clinton native earned Bernard Blackwell All-Star recognition and received interest from a handful of FBS and FCS programs.

Williams began turning heads during the second half of his freshman season, most notably after rushing for 250 yards and four touchdowns in the Rangers' 54-18 rout of Coahoma on October 10. For his efforts in that game, the Tupelo native earned MACJC and NJCAA Player of the Week accolades.

For the season, Williams rushed for nearly 800 yards on 126 carries with 15 touchdowns. He finished the 2019 campaign with four multi-touchdown games.

Along with former Ranger and Louisville signee Braden Smith, the duo of Jones and Wynn accounted for a strong receiving trio for Northwest last season. Jones, a Tunica native, quietly accounted for 371 yards on 16 catches with a pair of touchdowns. His best performance came in the MACJC Championship loss to No. 1 Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he caught three passes for 90 yards and a touchdown.

Hailing from Chattanooga, Tenn., Wynn reeled in 18 receptions for 326 yards and five touchdowns last season, including a career-best outing of three receptions for 144 yards in a 56-36 road upset of No. 1 East Mississippi last October. All three catches resulted in touchdowns, earning him conference and national player of the week honors.

Regarded as one of the most highly-coveted JUCO defensive tackles entering the 2020 season, McGriff earned a nod to the site's watch list for defensive tackles. The Jacksonville, Fla. product totaled 27 tackles and two sacks as a part of a stout defensive front that featured Justin Jackson (Colorado), Quay Mays (West Virginia), Robert Hentz II (Kansas State) and Tyren Irby (Oklahoma State).

Smith totaled 34 tackles and a forced fumble as a freshman linebacker, doing most of his damage in division play. The Clarksdale product posted a season-best nine-tackle effort in a win against Northeast and six against Coahoma.

Joining a secondary unit that featured Texas Tech signee Cam White, Houston's Jayce Rogers and UCA defensive back Christian Cain, Townsend quietly emerged as a leader in the defensive backfield, totaling seven pass breakups and 38 total tackles as a freshman safety. His seven PBUs ranked second on the team behind eight from Rogers and ahead of six from De Mays.

Northwest is still awaiting the official release of the 2020 fall schedule, which will begin on October 1 and consist of six division-only contests. When released, the full slate can be found on nwccrangers.com.

Northwest and its fellow MACCC opponents will not be eligible to compete for a national championship this season, as all other NJCAA conferences postponed fall sports to Spring 2021.