Taking a look at area NWC teams

Area teams will be looking to restock, reload and rebuild heading into Northwest Conference play this season.One team will even be re-appearing in the NWC ranks.COLUMBUS GROVE (10-1), coming off three straight league championships, will be looking to restock after sustaining heavy graduation losses, including six all-Ohio players, from a talented senior class that not only reached the state semifinals in football (Division VI), but advanced to the state championship game in basketball (Division IV) as well.Key among the vacated positions are wide receiver, where the Bulldogs graduated first-team all-Ohio pick Gabe Clements (1,690 all-purpose yards, 12 TDs), and quarterback, where they are now without Blake Reynolds, a third-team all-state pick and four-year starter who last season threw for 1,747 yards, rushed for 535 and accounted for 32 touchdowns.Also gone are all-Ohio linemen Gunner King, a first-team all-Ohio pick on defense, and second-team offensive lineman Jeff Meyer, along with Ezra Jones (third-team linebacker) and Jon Banal (honorable mention, DB).Expectations aren't the only things up at Columbus Grove, though. Program numbers are strong and head coach Andy Schaefer, 25-8 with one outright league title, two NWC co-championships and two solid playoff runs over the past three seasons, will be counting on some key returning veterans to mesh with some incoming talent that's been waiting to step up and have their turn at keeping things rolling.Despite the graduation of Reynolds and Clement, Grove returns one of its top offensive weapons in Colin Metzger, a 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior running back who last season churned out 1,209 yards and scored 12 touchdowns. Also back is senior end Jacksen Schroeder, a first-team all-NWC receiver in 2020.Anchoring the lines for the Bulldogs will be Mitch Douglas, a 6-1, 245-pound senior who last season was all-Northwest Conference on both offense (first team) and defense (second team).AJ Schaefer and Tad Koch, two juniors who will be three-year starters, will also be counted on on both sides of the football.Grove returns an added weapon in Rece Verhoff. Considered one of the top kickers in the state, Verhoff was second-team all-Ohio last season and has connected on 13 field goals and 101 of 105 PAT kicks in his prep career.BLUFFTON (5-3) will be looking to reload in 2021 after what was one of the wilder up and down seasons — COVID or not — in school history.The Pirates scored just 29 points in an 0-2 start to the season, but exploded for 62 points in one game and hit 50 or more in two others in winning five of their last six contests.Bluffton's flexbone triple option offense averaged an impressive 34.6 points a game. But the defense gave up an average of 51.3 points in its three losses, and 40.1 a game overall.An extremely young team, Bluffton had just four seniors and six juniors on the 28-man 2020 roster. Graduation cost the Pirates an outstanding two-way threat in Tyson Shutler, a second-team all-NWC pick on both sides of the ball who rushed for 1,047 yards and 15 touchdowns, caught 33 passes for 363 yards and three more scores, and intercepted four passes on defense, returning all four for TDs.Sixth-year Bluffton coach Jeff Richards welcomes back six all-league veterans, though, from a team that earned the program's most wins since the Pirates went 7-3 in 2015.A good deal of that experience returns in the trenches, where 6-3, 303-pound senior Aaron Tabler was all-league on both offense (second team) and defense (honorable mention). Trent Howard (6-0, 210, sr.) also received honorable mention all-NWC recognition on the offensive line, along with Jackson Wilson (6-4, 210, sr.) on the defensive front.Nate Schaadt, a 6-1, 190-pound senior who threw for 542 yards and seven touchdowns and ran for another 503 yards and five scores in league play last season, will be a four-year starter at quarterback.Along with Jackson and Tabler up front, the Pirates' defense returns two honorable mention all-league veterans in junior linebacker Kameron Coughlan (5-9, 185) and junior defensive back Landyn Fleharty (5-10, 175).At ADA (0-3), former Bellefontaine coach Toby Smith (46-27 in 7 seasons) is being tasked with rebuilding a program that made 11 playoff appearances and compiled a 103-36 record during a 12-year run from 2006-2017, but has gone just 4-19 over the last three seasons.Following an 0-3 start, and with safety issues a concern due to low numbers, Ada pulled the plug just three games into the 2020 season.Spencer Wall, a 5-11, 160-pound junior, saw some action at quarterback in those three games, however. Junior Ethan Murphy (6-2, 160, jr.) also saw playing time, along with senor linemen Brandon Paul (5-9, 255) and Kadin Phipps (5-8, 245).Fifty-five years after leaving the Northwest Conference, LEIPSIC is jumping back in.A member of the NWC from 1962-64, Leipsic switched over to the Blanchard Valley Conference in 1965. When Paulding left for the Green Meadows Conference, however, the NWC had a vacancy. Leipsic not only accepted an invitation to re-join the league, but BVC officials agreed to forego the customary two-year change-over procedure, meaning the Viking enter the 2021 season already full-fledged NWC members.Traditionally a strong football program, especially under the direction of head coach Joe Kirkendall (40-15 at Leipsic with five straight playoff appearances, 111-52 overall) Leipsic joins an eight-school alignment of Division IV and VII programs, including cross-county Putnam County rival Columbus Grove.A bit young and untested after heavy graduation losses from a 2019 team that reached the regional finals, Leipsic started the 2020 season 2-3, with all three losses by lopsided margins: 42-0 to Liberty-Benton, 43-0 to Arlington, 51-0 to Lima Central Catholic. The Vikings finished strong, though, beating McComb (43-25), Spencerville (35-28) and Antwerp (41-13) before a COVID-related cancellation cut short their playoff run.Going 5-3 was not a major letdown in a year Kirkendall predicted to be a bit of a rebuilding one for the Vikings. And while graduation did cost Leipsic a number of all-BVC talents — linemen Gabe Jimenez (second team) and Lorenzo Martinez (honorable mention), running back Lorenzo Walther (third team) and defensive back Tyler Sickmiller (third team) — Kirkendall is counting on several returning veterans to make Leipsic's return to the NWC a competitive one.Offensively, Leipsic returns third-team all-BVC quarterback Dillan Niese, a 6-3, 195-pound senior who threw for 611 yards and five touchdowns in league play a year ago. Also back is Fabian Pena, a four-year starter, and Trent Siefker, who as a freshman caught 20 passes for 300 yards and earned second-team all-BVC honors.Up front, Leipsic returns three all-league linemen in Brayden Casteel (second team), Adrian Carillo (third team) and Kolby Chamberlin (honorable mention).Spearheading Leipsic's defense will be first-team all-BVC linebacker Ethan Lammers, a 5-11, 195-pound senior who had six tackles for losses among his 53 total stops. Leipsic's secondary returns nearly intact with senior Blake Liffick, a second-team all-league defensive back, and Estevan Carrillo (5-11, 150) and Quin Schroeder (5-8, 140), who bother started as freshmen. Leipsic 2021 ScheduleAug. 20 Liberty-Benton AAug. 27 Fairview HSept. 3 Tinora ASept. 10 Ada* ASept. 17 Spencerville* ASept. 24 Columbus Grove* HOct. 1 Bluffton* AOct. 8 Delphos Jefferson* HOct. 15 Allen East* HOct. 22 Convoy Crestview* H*Northwest Conference games. All games 7 p.m. Ada 2021 ScheduleAug. 20 Waynesfield-Goshen AAug. 27 Arlington ASept. 3 Hardin Northern ASept. 10 Leipsic* HSept. 17 Bluffton* HSept. 25 Delphos Jefferson* AOct. 1 Spencerville* AOct. 8 Columbus Grove* HOct. 15 Convoy Crestview* AOct. 22 Allen East* A*Northwest Conference games. All games 7 p.m. Bluffton 2021 ScheduleAug. 20 Cory-Rawson HAug. 27 Pandora-Gilboa HSept. 3 Ayersville ASept. 10 Spencerville* ASept. 17 Ada* ASept. 24 Convoy Crestview* HOct. 1 Leipsic* HOct. 8 Allen East* AOct. 15 Delphos Jefferson* HOct. 22 Columbus Grove* A*Northwest Conference games. All games 7 p.m. Columbus Grove 2021 ScheduleAug. 20 Pandora-Gilboa AAug. 27 Paulding HSept. 3 Patrick Henry ASept. 10 Delphos Jefferson* ASept. 17 Allen East* HSept. 24 Leipsic* AOct. 1 Convoy Crestview* HOct. 8 Ada* AOct. 15 Spencerville* HOct. 22 Bluffton* H*Northwest Conference games. All games 7 p.m.