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2022 High School Football Preview: Brooker boys to lead offense, defense for Northwest

daniel mayes, the daily citizen, dalton, ga.
·4 min read

Aug. 18—TUNNEL HILL — Northwest Whitfield High School has a Brooker at the center of both its offense and defense.

Leading the offensive attack for the Bruins is quarterback Owen Brooker, a senior with three years of starting under his belt.

The quarterback of the defense? Senior middle linebacker Jax Brooker, Owen's cousin.

Jax knows the defense will do its job. He knows Owen, the reigning Dalton Daily Citizen All-Area Player of the Year, has a pretty good handle on the offense, too.

"Just put some points up on the board and we'll stop them," Jax Brooker said.

With the Brooker boys leading the way, Northwest Whitfield is aiming for success again in 2022.

The Bruins have made the playoffs for seven straight seasons, the longest streak in school history. Northwest is also coming off of two straight appearances in the second round of the playoffs, and that's the first time that has happened for the Bruins.

Jax and Owen have been at the center of those playoff runs, and both are back for more in their senior campaign.

"I'm confident we're going to the playoffs and we're going to be good," Jax Brooker said. "We'll be a good contender this year, like we always are."

Jax, who piled up 151 tackles — including 17 for loss — last season, spearheads a defensive group for Northwest that brings back a few starters — like fellow linebackers Conner Cummings and Ike Ralston — but will have to introduce new starters in the defensive line and secondary.

"He's our definite vocal leader," Northwest head coach Josh Robinson said of the defensive Brooker. "We're going to break some new guys in, and Jax is going to be instrumental in that in being encouraging and getting them to go where they're supposed to. If we're going to be good, he's got to be our run-filler."

"We've got to get our new starters acclimated and our old starters have to be their best and be better," Robinson said.

That's the expectation surrounding Owen Brooker after three stellar years of starting.

"We just expect Owen to be Owen," Robinson said. "He doesn't have to be perfect. We want him to play well earlier. He had a difficult start to the beginning of the year last year."

Northwest started last season 1-2 before reeling off six wins in the regular season's final seven games.

"He provides us a lot in passing but in running as well," Robinson said. "If we can run it and mix it in and be dynamic, then we can expect Owen to go be great. He's been great in most of the games that he's played in, so I don't know why the expectations would get any less."

Helping Brooker in the run game is running back Cameron Collins. The Bruins lost two top receivers, Brayden Morrison and Ray Morrison, but Braxton Floyd and Hudson Gray return after providing secondary targets last season. Isaiah Foster provided a spark as a receiver in Northwest's fall scrimmage against Calhoun, breaking free for a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown.

Despite all the recent success under Robinson, who took the head coaching job in 2011, the Bruins haven't won a region championship since 2000.

Northwest has finished second in Region 7-4A for two straight seasons. The roadblock to a region title? Cedartown, which reached the state semifinals last season.

Robinson is confident in the Bruins' ability to compete in the region.

"When it's all said and done, I believe there's a small gap between all of us. We all have different strengths," Robinson said. "We're all going to look to knock (Cedartown) off."

Region 7-4A

Cedartown

Central-Carrollton

Heritage-Catoosa

Northwest Whitfield

Sonoraville

Southeast Whitfield

Key losses

WR Ray Morrison

WR Brayden Morrison

OL Austin Duncan

Key players

QB Owen Brooker, senior

LB Jax Brooker, senior

DB Dominique Smith, senior

WR Hudson Gray, junior

Circled on the schedule

North Murray, Sept. 9

—Northwest and North Murray played for the first time in 2020, and the pair keep the non-region series going in 2022. The first two matchups were thrilling contests the last two seasons, and the Mountaineers should provide a good non-region test.

@ Central-Carrollton, Oct. 28

—Northwest travels to Carrollton to face Central in the second to last game of the regular season. Central has been a region hurdle that the Bruins might need to clear to lock up playoff positioning.

Cedartown, Nov. 4

—The region schedule for Northwest is backloaded this year. The Bruins close with a three-week gauntlet against Heritage-Catoosa, Central-Carrollton and defending region champ Cedartown. The Bulldogs have been the class of the region for the last few years, and Northwest would likely need a win to win a region championship.