For Northwestern, its offensive unit has a similar situation from last year, only with a bit of a twist.

A year ago, the Tigers were facing a season with a new starting quarterback in Justin Holmes, but their offensive line was senior laden and one of the best in the Colonial League.

Holmes more than proved himself last season and has quickly made himself into one of the best quarterbacks in the Lehigh Valley, but the offensive line is now filled with guys who are stepping into starting roles for the first time.

Last season, Holmes was unproven at quarterback, but coach Josh Snyder had plenty of confidence in him to handle the role.

This season, Snyder and Holmes both have confidence in their revamped offensive line.

“Cam Shields and Ben Dunstan both have some experience on the line and they’re up there and other guys have really stepped up for us and done a nice job,” said Snyder. “That’s one of those things that I love about coaching high school football. You know that every season there is going to be turnover, and you must work to fill spots, but kids also have that opportunity to step into bigger roles.

“All of the coaches enjoy grooming these kids for their new role and from what we’ve seen, we have guys who are capable of playing as starters at the varsity level on both sides of the ball.”

Holmes, who threw for 1,425 yards and 18 touchdowns and ran for 1,070 yards and 13 scores, anchors the QB spot and has a favorite receiver in Cade Christopher to throw to again this season. Christopher had 15 catches for 370 yards and seven TDs.

Taylor Wikert has been solid at wide receiver in camp and gives Holmes another option to throw to.

Dalton Clymer’s opportunity to take over at running back opened with the graduation of Nick Henry and he is set to join with Holmes to give the Tigers an impressive ground game.

Last season, Clymer had 26 carries for 160 yards, an average just over six yards per attempt for Northwestern.

“I’ve grown up with a lot of these guys and they bring a lot of leadership to the team,” said Holmes of the new offensive starters.

“Guys are all working hard, and we’ve got good chemistry and their routes are good, so it feels comfortable to me. Taylor (Wikert) has really worked hard, and it shows.”

Junior Rian Golas will serve as the nose tackle and anchor the defensive line in their 30 set. New to the program is senior Jadon Minnich, who appears likely to step into a starting role on the defensive line for the Tigers.

Ryan McDonnell returns to play one of the middle linebacker spots after having 14 tackles last season. With Christopher and Holmes at the outside linebacker spots, the Tigers have solid returning players to help defensively.

The secondary is where the experience comes in. Wikert, who had 19 solo tackles last season and assisted on 23 others while pulling in four interceptions, is the main cog in the defensive backfield.

“Our secondary is good,” said Wikert, who also had 10 catches for 249 yards on offense. “We have two really good outside linebackers, and our corners are really good, too. That’s going to make us tough again this season.”

The corners have experience from Evan Anderson, who took over for Justin Rodda last season when he went down with an injury and saw a lot of playing time at the position. Senior Jake Peters steps in at the other corner for Northwestern.

“They’re all a smart group. We’ve asked them to do a couple different things and they’ve all picked it up quickly and that will help put us in the right coverage,” Snyder stressed about the defense.

“The experience is starting to pay off, at least among the back eight. They are aggressive and we like to blitz and have a lot of movement and a lot of moving pieces. Our focus is always on making tackles and forcing turnovers.”

Soccer player Luke Benvin takes over the kicking duties while the punter’s spot is still up in the air and could be somewhat of a punter by committee type of situation.

Christopher and Holmes will reprise their roles as kick returners for the Tigers, but Wikert could see some time there as well.

With the challenges of a tougher schedule ahead of them, Northwestern again has the weapons to put together a strong season and a return to the District 11 Class 4A championship game where they lost to Central Catholic last season.

QUARTERBACKS

Northwestern is not the type of school with any quarterback controversies to deal with. Justin Holmes threw for over 1,300 yards last season and rushed for over 1,000 more out of the QB spot and nobody will supplant him as the team’s starting QB.

RUNNING BACKS

Dalton Clymer is just a sophomore, and he will be the primary ground weapon for Josh Snyder and the Tigers. Clymer did well in a backup role last season and is the first up to fill the running back spot in 2021. Taylor Wikert will see most of the time at the fullback spot, with Cody Hallock mixing into some situations.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Northwestern is blessed with big, explosive receivers. Cade Christopher was Mr. Touchdown last season for Northwestern. His first six catches of the season were all for touchdowns and he averaged just under 29 yards per catch. Look for Christopher and Holmes to be big playmakers on the Northwestern offense. Ryan McDonnell and Jake Peters will provide good compliments to Christopher and could find some openings as teams shift their focus from them.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Northwestern got unwelcome news for their offensive and defensive lines this season. Senior Devin Toth, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, suffered the same injury to the same knee in the team’s first practice, ending his football career. Meanwhile, Zach Fry went down with a knee injury during the winter and will also be out for his senior season. With changes all along the line, junior Colin Myers takes over the center spot with fellow junior Cam Shields and senior Ben Dunstan at the guard spots. The tackle positions belong to Ben Walters and Josiah Gornicz, while there is a battle for tight end among Buck Miller and Cody Hallock.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Junior Rian Golas will be the Tigers nose tackle, with seniors Jadon Minnich and Ben Dunstan likely to be the starters alongside Golas on the defensive line. Drew Sabo, Jack Coleman, and others might get some opportunities to fill in along the way.

LINEBACKERS

This is where the experience starts to take over. Ryan McDonnell had 14 solo tackles last season and will be one of the inside linebackers for Snyder. Buck Miller, Dalton Clymer, and Cody Hallock will also see time among the linebacking corps. The outside linebacker spots are the domain of Christopher and Holmes.

SECONDARY

Taylor Wikert is a three-year starter at the safety spot and Evan Anderson and Jake Peters will play the corner spots on this year’s squad.