Senior is Northwood’s man in the middle

Northwood High senior standout Joseph Harper was a force on defense last season as a 6-foot-2, 220-pound defensive end, earning All-CIF honors for the second year in a row. This year, he’s moving to middle linebacker and will play running back, a position his older brother Adam excelled in.

“They’re putting me in the middle of the field,” Joseph says. “You can run away from a defensive end, but you can’t really run away from the middle linebacker. I like being in the middle of the field where I think I can help the team the most.”

He hopes to make an impact on offense as well after playing receiver his first three years.

“I’m going to carry the torch like my brother Adam did,” he says. Joseph played on Northwood’s CIF championship teams with his brother in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Joseph played last season with a soft cast, but now is clear after having surgery on his fractured left wrist. “It’s been a struggle. I’ve had two surgeries, but I played in a scrimmage and at practice, and everything feels really good right now.”

That news is a big relief for Northwood coach JC Clarke. “He does so many things for our team on both sides of the ball,” Clarke says. “Last year he set the school single-season sack record with 17 1/2 and the career record with 35 1/2 sacks – and he has a year to go.”

Joseph plans for a big finish to his high school career, before going on a church mission. Then he hopes to play in college. “I want to play Division 1 football. I think if I can play healthy, I can go and play at the next level. But I also want to win a league MVP or just get us a league championship.”