As the Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division begins its third year of competition, the five-team division is expected to have a third new champion.

Fremont Ross is the preseason favorite to claim the program's first league championship since the Little Giants won the Greater Buckeye Conference title in 2006. Defending champion Clay has departed for the bigger school NLL Buckeye Division. Southview won the inaugural Cardinal title in 2023.

Fremont Ross earned four of five first-place votes in a coaches poll. Napoleon, the smallest school in the division, is picked to finish second, followed by Southview, Springfield, and Bowling Green.

“To win the NLL, we must stay healthy and limit turnovers and create turnovers,” Fremont Ross coach Chad Long said.

In a planned shift when the NLL exp

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