High school football Top 25 Preseason Early Contenders: No. 17 Northwestern

By Mitch Stephens May 31, 2016, 8:00pm

South Carolina powerhouse has a new head coach and lots of college-bound talent.

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Video: Early Contenders - Northwestern
Trojans have big time weapons lining up all over the place on offense.


Head coach: David Pierce

2015 record (MaxPreps national rank): 14-1, SCHSL 4A-2 champion (No. 35)

Last decade: 113-30

Star power: DE Logan Rudolph (301, Clemson), QB Gage Moloney (3,969 passing yards, 47 TDs, 4 interceptions last year), RB Jerry Howard (1,570 yards, 25 TDs) and WR Jamario Holley (70 catches, 946 yards, 11 TDs)

Even more: Junior wide receiver Jordan Starkes had 75 catches for 1,088 yards and 11 TDs.



See the Northwestern preseason Top 25 photo shoot gallery

Game to watch: At Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.), Sept. 9

Briefly: Moloney has five offers, including Colorado State and East Carolina. … Howard has 14 offers, including Colorado State, East Carolina and Miami of Ohio. … Pierce takes over after 30 years as an assistant, replacing Kyle Richardson, who took an assistant's job at Clemson. … Rudolph had 14.5 sacks last year. … Holley was a first team MaxPreps freshman all-American.

Look for a full preview of the Trojans on June 14.
Photo by Alik McIntosh/Graphic by SocialRecluse Graphx