Last year, the Northwestern football team reached one of their greatest goals as of today: making it to the NAIA Championship in North Carolina. Not only did they make it to the finals, they came out on top, which has placed them at the number one spot in the NAIA preseason poll. Though this was a great accomplishment for the NW football team and their coaches, even more pressure lies on their shoulders for how they will compete this upcoming season.
“Winning the national championship and now being ranked number one puts a lot of pressure on our team,” said sophomore team member Peyton Carroll. “Being number one means we have to prove why we are number one, which helps us push our team to work harder and play harder and to show the other teams why we are ranked highly.” The team has a lot of work to return to their previous season’s winnings, though several team members and coaches, agree that they have what it takes.
Head coach, Matt McCarty, spoke on the team’s focus as they head into the new season. “I think the biggest thing going into this year is continuing to focus on the way we do things,” he said. “ Even last season, our focus was never on winning a championship but instead our focus was on doing things every single day at a championship level.” This focus remains as they want to pursue excellence daily. Carroll also commented on what he believes the team has going for them when it comes to their focus in practice. “We focus on the little details in everything we do, down to blocking, catching the football, ball security and knowing what to do on the plays called on the field,” he said. “We also specialize in taking it one day at a time and getting one percent better every time (they) practice.”
As the season draws nearer, it is clear that the team has a great opportunity on the horizon. “It is great to open the season as the number one team,” Coach McCarty said. “As we saw last season, playing at home in the playoffs can be a huge advantage. Ratings determine the home teams, so starting out at the top of the poll is great.” Ultimately, the players are aware that they cannot skip ahead to the postseason. They need to continually grow and improve, so the entire team, coaches and all, are playing their best the next time they step on the field to prove their point.
