By Michael Jordan
Student Reporter
The 2015 season was full of changes and the program was surrounded by new, but this 2016 season will be surrounded by familiarity.
The coaching staff is now a year in their system, and things are looking up for Northwestern Oklahoma State football.
Speaking of familiarity, Northwestern is now a full member institution of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and it’s going on its second year this season.
The Rangers will see a good portion of lettermen returning to the squad for the upcoming season as a total of 91 student athletes return to the gridiron for Rangers. Among those individuals include six starters on offensive side of the ball and seven from the defensive side from the 2015 season. Northwestern posted a 3-8 record overall a year ago with a 3-8 record in the Great American Conference as well.
Head coach Matt Walter is now in his second season at the helm for his alma mater, where he had tremendous success as a student athlete. Walter was a member of the National Championship team in 1999 where he was the MVP of the title game. Following his playing days, he’s been very successful as a coach. Before returning home to Northwestern, Walter was the offensive coordinator as well as the strength and conditioning for Emporia State where he helped resurrect the program, bringing them to a 9-2 season and a Division II playoff birth before arriving at Northwestern.
Walter added a few new coaches to the staff this year with the addition of Eric Pruitt and Carlton Hall, who will both be working with the defensive line.
Defensively the Rangers see a total of six returning starters from a year ago, which include Shane Collins, Erick Cook, Joby Saint Fleur, Jordan Norris, Devin Peyton and Rontez Smith.
Leading the way on the defensive unit is Saint Fleur, who was a First-Team All-Great American Conference selection, First-Team All-Region and an Honorable Mention All-American. Saint Fleur led the GAC in sacks with 10.5 throughout the season imposing his will on opposing offensive lines and quarterbacks. He was also top three in two other categories, with tackles for loss (17) and fumbles forced (3).
Due to all of his honors and play on the field last season, Saint Fleur has also made two preseason All-American lists.
Norris and Peyton were also All-Conference selections, as each was awarded honorable mention status.
Norris was able to steal away seven passes on the season, leading the league, while also returning one for a score against Henderson State. Norris’s incredible seven interceptions on the year tied for fifth most in Division II in the 2015 season. His total interceptions were also two more than the next closest in the conference.
Peyton was also a force in the linebacker position as he was second in the league in tackles with 119 with the most per game at 10.8 per contest. He also led the team by a wide margin as the next closest defenseman was at 77 tackles for the year. Not only did he have the second most tackles in the conference, but was also keenly aware on the field. He recovered four fumbles in the season, leading the conference in that category. His four recoveries were also second in the country.
Walter had nothing but good things to say about his defense and his confidence in them for the upcoming season.
Walter said: “We are very excited to have another year with guys like Joby, Devin and Jordan, who had very good seasons last fall, and we’re ready to see what they have in store for this year. The level of experience on the defensive side of the ball should be extremely helpful. We were also second in the league in turnovers gained with 32 and would like to be at the top of the list this year and are fully expecting to be.”
The offensive side of the ball is also loaded, with six starters returning, including Arte’ Miura Jr., Scott Batchelder, Riley Hess, Reid Miller, Horatio Smith and Kenneth Stewart.
Miura led all Rangers in touchdowns a season ago with eight. True freshman, Smith was one behind with seven, four of which came against Southern Nazarene, where he tied the school record with four in a single game. The four touchdowns also came during the first half, which proved to be a record as well.
Miller also was able to break eight Northwestern records following his junior season: passing attempts in a game (69), passing yards in a game (500), passing touchdowns in a game (6), passing attempts in a season (515), passing completions in a season (311), passing yards in a season (3,259), passing yards per game (296.3) and passing touchdowns in a season (30).
The big year for Miller led him to a Harlon Hill candidacy as well, which is an honor for the most prestigious and distinguished football players in Division II.
“Offensively we’re very excited and ready for the season to begin and to have our starting quarterback in Reid as well as a top-notch receiving core that will make some noise this year,” Walter said. “We are also deeper at the running back position, which we hope will take pressure off the passing game and will be an effective weapon throughout the season.”
The Ranger coaching staff and players are ready to get the season underway and for an in-depth look at this week’s game with Arkansas-Monticello on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m., check out the game notes for week one.