Northwest High School senior Hunter Williams is one of the first athletes to benefit from being able to use the equipment and weight room at the high school’s new $6.8 million, 15,900-square-foot addition.
The multipurpose building will provide the school’s boys and girls wrestling teams room to spread out. The new building was funded with revenue from a $28 million bond issue voters approved in April 2023. All of the fall athletes who began practice Aug. 11 have begun using the new facility.
Williams, at 6-3, 320 pounds, starts at right tackle on an experienced and deep offensive line. He said he appreciates the new place he’ll call home until May. He’s also a thrower on the track and field team in the spring.
“The weight room has been amazing,” Williams said. “When you go there, it’s a mindset you’re going to work out. It brings more camaraderie to the team.”
That’s going to be needed when the Lions open the season at home against Sullivan High School on Friday night. Northwest finished 5-5 in 2024 after a 28-7 loss to Oakville High School in the Class 6 District 1 tournament. The Lions had beaten the Tigers for the first time in years the week before.
In last year’s opener against Sullivan, Northwest came back from a 12-0 halftime deficit and won 14-12. Cohenn Stark scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 35-yard run. A freshman at the time, Caden Richard made both of his extra-point attempts, providing the 2-point margin of victory against the Eagles. Richard returns in his kicking role after making 26 PATs and a field goal.
With what Stark accomplished in his first two years at Northwest, the new weight room might bear his name some day if he stacks the next two years of success even higher. Stark took over as the starting quarterback from 2025 graduate Cooper Viehland last year and ran with it as the best field general the Lions have had since Trey Davis was slinging deep balls to Andrew Lenzen in 2020.
Stark isn’t your garden-variety high school QB. He’s a two-time state wrestling qualifier. In March at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Stark lost in the “blood round” at 175 pounds in Class 4. That was one round further than he made it in 2024 at 165 pounds. Next stop: medal stand.
In May, Stark was in Jefferson City to throw the javelin in the Class 5 state track and field championships and left there with a sixth-place medal after he tossed it 51.36 meters; converted into football terms, that’s 51.16 yards.
Learning QB on the job last year, Stark’s numbers as a passer were pedestrian – he completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes and had five TDs and three interceptions. But he’s a powerful runner, who averaged 7.5 yards per carry and gained a team-high 863 yards.
“Last year he split time with Cooper, and this year he’s going to make plays,” Williams said. “We have pass threats and we can run, and it’s going to be a lethal offense. Cohenn has some of the best knowledge I know. He’s humble and focused. I try to celebrate a touchdown with him and he’s like, ‘Next play’ all the time.”
This is Scott Gerling’s third season as head coach at Northwest. Gerling understands he has a generational talent in Stark, who’s family members have been standout athletes at the school in Cedar Hill for generations.
“He’s an athlete and does really well with the ball in his hands,” Gerling said. “He’s a pure runner, so we’re working on that mindset of being more consistent in the passing game. He goes about his business the right way. He doesn’t have a big ego and knows it will take effort and focus to get there.
“We tailor our offense to our kids. But we do have the option where if he wants to keep the ball and take off he can. Sometimes he doesn’t have the option to run. We don’t want him taking hits all the time because he’s going to play both sides of the ball.”
Stark will QB the defense from a hybrid safety position.
“He can make plays in the passing game and can come up and make tackles too,” Gerling said.
Senior Drew Spratt and junior Chase Belcher both return to dual roles as linebackers and running backs. Last year they combined for more than 400 yards and seven TDs. Out of junior Will Murphy and seniors Kayden Newbold and Jacob Hartle, Murphy saw the most action at RB last year with 46 rushes for 141 yards and two TDs.
Seniors Adam Banks and Grant Hanewinkel and junior Jeremiah Clines play tight end. Hanewinkel was all-Suburban Conference (Orange pool) on the defensive line, and Clines averaged 17.6 yards per catch.
If Stark and senior wide receiver Omarion Frazier continue to develop their chemistry in the passing game, and the Lions’ run game can take advantage of a defense’s attention to Frazier, they truly will be a hard team to stop. Frazier didn’t put up any huge numbers in any one game last year, but he was consistent and led the team with 28 catches for 458 yards and five TDs. Frazier leads a talented WR corps that includes Belcher’s twin, Kaleb, seniors Brendan Murphy, Braeden Wade and Zander Cronk and sophomore Jackson Newcomer.
Williams is a three-year starter who can play tackle, center or guard. He leads a veteran cast that includes senior guard Drew Kavanagh, sophomore center Evan English and junior guard Chase Cochran. Juniors Eli Treece and Devric Sheets are guards, and junior Gavin Martens and senior Cameron Hageman are tackles.
“We have five we really feel good about and the others we don’t miss too much putting them in,” Gerling said.
“On offense, we want to be balanced and take care of the ball. Most good teams in districts are balanced and eventually people are good at stopping both. We want to start the season faster and score more points.”
Gerling got his first look at all three phases of his team at the jamboree at
Hillsboro High School on Aug. 22. The Lions competed against the Hawks, Wentzville School District’s Liberty High School and Battle High School in Columbia.
“We believe with this group if we take care of the ball and are disciplined, we can compete with anyone, and that’s the way (the jamboree) went,” Gerling said.