NRRaider2001

2 hours ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

I just had this thought earlier today. I REALLY wish the Raiders would come out in Green uniforms. While I like their black uniforms they wear nowadays, Northridge has always been Green and Yellow to me. Representing the high school at the state championship with black uniforms would just feel strange to me if I am being honest. But who cares, it won't have any affect on the game! Whatever the boys want to wear!

I agree 100%

That being said, it's the dark gray/ black and white Jordan jerseys for state I'm told. 

The seniors voted on and chose the freshman jerseys (older style black and green) for our regional final, and have worn the all green, Jordan's, and all whites throughout the playoffs. 

All I know is the fans will be decked out in green and gold while Mt Vernon fans will be wearing black. 

30 minutes ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

Really interesting. The last two years in the NLC thread, I've proposed the question if Coach Park was on the hot seat at all. I figured after going 4-6 this year, it at least cooled off some. Granted, the four teams they beat (Fairfield, SB Clay, Plymouth, Wawasee) had a combined record of 5-34 and Fairfield accounted for 4 of those wins..

I will be interested to see how this plays out. I think there was concern that levels of participation are basically at all time lows within the program. I'm almost positive they had no freshman or JV team this year as a 5A school. Demographics have changed quite a bit the last two decades in Goshen and Elkhart County, and if Coach Park (with all his ties to Goshen) was not able to build a foundation/pipeline for the football program... I'll be surprised who they can get to come in and do otherwise.

Agreed, he did as well as anyone could there. 

3 hours ago, Coach Harvey said:

Pretty cool to have two first timers in the championship. Go Raiders 😏

I know the town of Middlebury will be empty on Saturday, minus the tourists at Essenhaus.   I even have a large group of Amish coworkers making the trip down for the game. 

24 minutes ago, Bobref said:

OK, now you’ve got to come across with the details.

I'll try to find the replay, but it was initially called a fumble, visitors recover.  After a huddle, it was overturned, not sure if they said he was down first or not a clear recovery by the defense, but none the less the replay looked like the initial call was the correct one. 

1 hour ago, Bobref said:

You've piqued my curiosity.

Let's just say your brother had the right call on a play, but was overruled by someone else. 

After watching the replay on 46, your brother clearly had the right call. 

Thankfully it didn't matter in the end. 

7 minutes ago, Bobref said:

How did the crew look?

They must have done okay,

"✅#IHSAA Football State Finals Preview!
Rosters, results, stats, game notes for all six state championship games at Lucas Oil Stadium this weekend!
✅Valparaiso’s Fred Scheub to be honored as state’s top football official!
🏆🏈🦃
News Release: https://t.co/tkhSJsM1cv https://t.co/yraCukvwuG"

Other than one head scratcher, they seemed to be a well oiled machine most of the game, at least from this Northridge parents perspective. 

7 hours ago, DE said:

Was able to watch the NR/NP game in person Friday night. Great game. Fun to watch. Best wishes to NR and MV this week. 

Was such a great game and fun atmosphere

45 minutes ago, Raiderman 2016 said:

Northridge will be wearing dark jerseys. 

Now the question is, all green, or all black?

20 minutes ago, Yuccaguy said:

Who "opted" to play up?  Seriously, I am not aware of a school that did this.

Mishawaka I believe 

1 hour ago, Indiana Preps said:

The Roncalli Royals appeared to be a slam dunk to repeat as the class 4A state champion heading into the 2021 season. A 4-year starter behind center, and an offensive line that is big, deep and as talented as any group in the Midwest, all but guaranteed the Royals would return to Lucas Oil. That ended in the 4A regional when the Mt. Vernon Marauders upset the Royals and ended the state’s second longest win streak at 24 games. The Maruaders landed at number three in our preseason 4A rankings. The Leo Lions were the longshot to represent the North side of the tournament bracket. The Northridge Raiders will meet Mt. Vernon in Lucas Oil. Not sure anyone predicted this matchup to happen. The Raiders avenged a regular season loss over a talented NorthView team in sectionals and collected really good wins over Leo and New Prairie.

Tell me you know nothing about Northridge without telling me. 🤔😤

My new tournament favorite moments, both from Northridge at New Prairie this past Friday at 4a North Semi State

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CWe9wkhFN3a/?utm_medium=copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CWe8uLKFssu/?utm_medium=share_sheet

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CWe_hYxlmM7/?utm_medium=copy_link

Mt. Vernon opens as a 17 point favorite according to Harrell.

5 minutes ago, NRRaider2001 said:

Northridge has won a team state title in softball in 88 and various individuals in wrestling, swimming, cross country, etc....

In football though we were bottom dwellers in the NLC until Tom Wogomon took over in 13. 

In 14 we won our first sectional and regional football titles in school history. 

Coach Wog retired after last season, after the school built a brand new athletics facility including all Turf football, baseball, and softball fields.

Coach Eppley was promoted this season at 26 years old, went 5-4 in the regular season after countless injuries. 

We had a running clock against us in our last 2 regular season games, but figured things out and made adjustments in a 50ish point swing against NorthWood in the sectional opener compared to the score between the two a few weeks earlier.

Took care of business against the only team we were arguably favorites against in the playoffs in Columbia City, then upset Leo, Ole Miss, and New Prairie to make state. 

1 hour ago, MICFan34 said:

I nailed them as an under the radar threat 😉 but I still am amazed about Northridge! The atmosphere for the 4A game is going to be electric with these two communities experiencing a state game at LOS for the first time! 

Has Northridge or MV won State in any other sports?

Northridge has won a team state title in softball in 88 and various individuals in wrestling, swimming, cross country, etc....

22 hours ago, TigerFan20 said:

The Final 2

Northridge vs Mt Vernon 

Should be a good one!

Fun reading through all of this thread and seeing almost if not everyone was wrong in their predictions

Ken Fox is the Sports Editor of the Elkhart Truth. You may reach him at kfox@elkharttruth.com or @KenFoxTruth on Twitter.

NEW CARLISLE — Tag Gott had total faith in Jethro Hochstetler's ability to make a play.

It was a brilliant decision that has the Northridge football team going to the state finals.

The two juniors hooked-up for a 76-yard touchdown pass with 1:31 to play Friday to give the Raiders an exciting 20-14 victory over New Prairie in the Class 4A north semi-state.

It will be the Raiders' first trip to the state finals and they'll see another rookie finalist in Mount Vernon at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Class 4A title game.

But back to Gott and Hochstetler.

The Raiders' game-winning touchdown was set-up by Gott — who else — on an interception of New Prairie quarterback Marshall Kmiecik, just as the Cougars appeared to be on their way to a touchdown to take the lead themselves.

After a run went nowhere on the Raiders' first play after the interception, Gott stepped up in the face of an onrushing Cougar lineman and found Hochstetler behind the New Prairie defense.

Hochstetler cradled the ball in his hands and then easily outraced the New Prairie secondary to the end zone, which brought an eruption from the Northridge faithful that may have been heard back in Middlebury, if anyone was actually still there.

"I know Jethro is a playmaker and if it's a jump ball play, he's going to come down with it,'' Gott said. "I put the ball out there and he made a great play and got the touchdown.''

Northridge caught the Cougars in man-to-man coverage on the play, without a safety back. So once Gott made the picture-perfect pass, it was just a matter of Hochstetler catching the ball and taking it to paydirt.

But the duo wasn't done yet.

Even after the Raiders recovered a pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff, New Prairie still had three timeouts left. 

Northridge had a pair of running plays that gained five yards, followed by an offside penalty and then an incomplete pass, setting up a fourth-and-10 at the Cougars 32.

A first down and the game is over ... if not, New Prairie gets the ball back with a chance to win.

To those of us along the sidelines, there was little doubt where Gott would try to go.

Hochstetler.

After having time initially, Gott was flushed left out of the pocket by the New Prairie defense. But instead of trying to run for a first down, Gott stopped and fired a dart toward Hochstetler.

The pass zipped between two Cougar defenders and settled into Hochstetler's hands for a first down, setting off another Northridge celebration.

"Man, that was a great throw,'' Hochstetler said with a smile. "When I saw Tagg starting to scramble I moved to try and get open and thankfully he saw me and made the pass.''

Two plays from the victory formation later, Northridge and the huge group of fans that found their way to Amzie Miller Field on Friday could begin making reservations for Indianapolis.

That's right, the Northridge Raiders ... with a 26-year-old, first-year coach and the team's fourth quarterback of the season ... a team that was 5-4 in the regular season and lost with a running clock in its final two games ... will play for a state title at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday.

So the Raiders' adopted mantra of "Why not us?" will continue down U.S. 31 South.

For Hochstetler, the opportunity to play for a title is special, but not just for him.

Jethro's brother Micah was the Raiders' starting quarterback to start the season and helped Northridge to a 4-0 start.

But in the team's Week Four game against Plymouth, Micah Hochstetler suffered a leg injury and was lost for the rest of the season after surgery.

"When Micah got hurt, it was really disappointing because we had talked about going to state together this year,'' Jethro admitted. "So for us to win tonight and get the opportunity to play for a title, well I know I'm there for Micah and I both.''

Meanwhile, Gott has his own family story.

After spending his freshman year at Northridge, Gott's family, including older brother Jett, moved to Schoolcraft, Michigan, for Jett's senior year.

Once Jett graduated and moved on to Wheaton College to play football, the Gotts came back to Northridge.

And thank Gott he did.

Tagg Gott started the year as a running back, before eventually becoming the Raiders' starting quarterback in the final game of the regular season.

Now, after rushing for 105 yards and passing for 120 against New Prairie, Tagg will be the starter in a state title game in the stadium that legendary Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning helped build.

"It's still pretty surreal,'' Gott said with a big smile after the game. "I'm so happy for my teammates and this great coaching staff. They've made me feel at home from the first practice of the season and I'm proud to be part of this team.''

Northridge now has one more week of football ... another week to discover new heroes and for the Raider defense to try and stop a team with gaudy statistics.

But no matter what happens in Indy, Northridge fans will not soon forget Tagg to Jethro on a frigid night in New Carlisle.

So really, "Why not us?"

 Ken Fox is the Sports Editor of the Elkhart Truth. You may reach him at kfox@elkharttruth.com or @KenFoxTruth on Twitter.

34 minutes ago, npcougar15 said:

Congrats to Northridge on the hard hard fought win last night. Still in shock over the last 3 minutes of that game. 

 

I know nothing about MV but I saw some highlights of their game vs EM on twitter last night, they look like they have some absolute studs on that team. I'm sure NR will be big time underdogs but I'm guessing thats right where they want to be. 

New Prairie was as tough of a team as we have seen, that was an amazing atmosphere between two great teams last night.  Hope to see you guys next year at semi state again. 

16 minutes ago, tango said:

Interesting that Northridge has the lowest Sagarin number of any team playing at LOS and will likely be a 20+ point underdog vs Mt. Vernon. Two teams making their first appearances. I'll take Mt. Vernon 42-13. 

Northwood, Leo, Ole Miss, and New Prairie were all significantly higher ranked than Northridge. Both teams are going to Lucas Oil for a reason, while the rest of 4a watches from their living rooms. 

Congrats on a good season. 

Two teams very few people had making it to Lucas Oil. 

So proud of the Raiders for battling adversity and making this run. 

#whynotus

1 hour ago, Rocket said:

Congrats to Northridge, they played an outstanding game. Good luck 

Thank you!  What a game

1 hour ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

Good luck to the NLC Northridge Raiders! What an unbelievable turnaround in the postseason. Rolled through inferior opposition the first 4 weeks of the season only to go 1-4 the rest of the regular season, with those 4 losses by 33, 34, 33 and 44 points. Absolutely incredible job all around from the coaching staff to the players. I gave the Raiders ZERO chance against Leo two weeks ago, and they proved me wrong then. If they were able to stop the Lions, I think that proves they at least have a shot to hang around with the Cougars tonight.

You were the first person I thought of when we knocked off the Lions 😂

It was a great win over a great team, but tonight it's definitely going to take an even better performance by the Raiders to make the trip to Lucas Oil next weekend! 

Leo players and fans were all over social media leading up to our game talking about how they would roll over us, Clint Dog from Warsaw and I predicted a 3pt and 4pt Raider victory and were immediately mocked for it lol, we never gooated after the win either, because the job wasn't done yet. 

New Prairie has been nothing but quietly confident, and to be that way is the mark of a really good disciplined team in my opinion. 

I have a cousin who's kids go to New Prairie, and I'm looking forward to a great atmosphere and game tonight between two great programs with awesome community support for both teams.

Hoping to represent the NLC well tonight against a great opponent.  Should be a great atmosphere with a trip to Lucas Oil on the line!