Northwest

Drew Maples of Northwest High School returns a shot during a home match at NWHS against Hillsdale.  Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports. By Jeff Steers JTV Sports (August 22, 2022 10:16 PM) Imagine being a high school tennis team and playing on the road for more than a decade. On the off days, the team practices on courts that are old and not in a condition to host matches. That all changed on Monday as Northwest High School opened its new tennis facility just southwest of the high school. The eight tennis courts include fencing, benches, lighting, and stands for tennis fans. The building of the courts was delayed due to COVID and other factors. The Mounties made it a Disney ending with an 8-0 win over Hillsdale to improve to 3-0 on the season. Longtime Coach Ron Woodruff said the new courts will help build the program. “I can now see us creating children’s and middle school programs,” Woodruff said. “The school approved the building of the courts and we received a lot of donations from people in the community.” To make up for all of those years as the road warriors, Northwest will play all Interstate-8 Conference…

Key players for the Northwest High School varsity football team include, from left, Izayiah Hawes, JR Morrow, head Coach Stafford Newsome, Easton Craig, Carter Fairley, and Eli Stetz. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.  By Jeff Steers JTV Sports Last year: 1-8 overall New Northwest High School head football Coach Stafford Newsome has already seen how to rebuild a program. He spent three years at Napoleon watching the Pirates and Derek Shell rebuild a program. Newsome had been part of the last two football staffs at Northwest High School. “I learned a lot from Derek about how to make practice plans and rebuild a program,” Newsome said at the JTV Media Days.  The Mounties have struggled to earn wins in the rugged Interstate-8 Conference. Northwest has won only one game in the I-8 in the last eight seasons.  Key returnees for the Mounties are Easton Craig (lineman), JR Morrow (quarterback/defensive back), Eli Stetz (receiver/defensive back), Izayiah Hawes (running back/linebacker), and Carter Fairley (running back/defensive back).  “You can see the attitudes and everything changing,” senior Eli Stetz said.  Stetz and his teammates said players on the 2022 team talked a number of players to give the sport another try this fall. …