NW Coach Looks Forward
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Not long after his team ended the season with a 40-point postseason loss on Friday night, Northwest High head coach Chris Edwards experienced somewhat of an epiphany.
By Saturday morning Edwards sustained that vision, as he was already looking towards next season, when the Raiders will have a number of players returning from a team that won seven of the last eight games.
“I’m very happy about the season coming up, since we have a lot of guys coming back. Right now I can’t wait,” said Edwards, whose team ended 2025 with a 68-28 loss at No. 2 Iowa 68-28.
Northwest trailed the Yellow Jackets 22-14 at halftime, but in the third quarter of the Division II Non-Select regional, things unraveled for the Raiders (7-5).
Iowa outscored Northwest 34-6 during those 12 minutes, all but guaranteeing the Yellow Jackets a consecutive trip to the quarterfinal round.
The Raiders used a pair of young quarterbacks — Chaise Dupre and Jayden Chavis — as well as a number of young linemen and contributors on defense.
Edwards said he stepped away from the game and encouraged that the Raiders have a foundation for next season.
“Earlier this year we had to play a lot of our young guys because of injuries to our starters, so those players got a lot of experience. What we saw from them has been encouraging,” said Edwards.
The Iowa loss also ended the high school career of running back Ke’Von Johnson, who spent the last two seasons at Northwest after transferring from St. Edmund
Johnson scored two touchdowns and ran for 172 yards on just nine carries, giving Johnson more than 1,000 yards in one season for four consecutive years.
“(Johnson) had a great game. I wish I had given him more carries (against Iowa). He scored on two of the best runs that I’ve seen in a high school game,” Edwards said.
Johnson scored on runs of 61 and 55 yards, as the Raiders rushed for 227.
Edwards said Northwest was hurt by four turnovers. Three of the turnovers were interceptions.
Iowa compiled 547 total yards, with 329 of those rushing.
The Yellow Jackets’ Jeremiah Bushnell caught seven passes for 173 yards.
“(Bushnell) was good and he did a good job of running in space. I thought the (Iowa) interior guys were really good and their defensive ends were the best that we saw all year,” Edwards said.
Iowa grabbed an 8-0 lead before Johnson broke loose on the 61-yard touchdown run. The Gavon Fontenot extra point kick cut the lead, but the Jackets led 14-7 at the end of the first.
Johnson kept it close during the second quarter with his 55-yard TD, but the 22-14 Iowa led at intermission expanded during the third period when the Jackets outscored Northwest by 28 points.
The other Northwest touchdowns came on a 30-yard pass from Dupre to wide receiver Reginal Lavergne and a 12-yard run by Frederick Nimer.
Dupre passed for 32 yards, while Chavis connected on three of six attempts for 14.
