NRRaider2001

24 minutes ago, Bobref said:

You gotta’ love this!

Bringing my 15 passenger van full from Middlebury lol

15 hours ago, TigerFan20 said:

What is everyone in the North thinking about this game?

Thinking it should be incredibly physical and whoever controls the clock and line of scrimmage heads south on 31 next Saturday. 

50 minutes ago, npcougar15 said:

Looks to be about as good of Semi-State football weather you can ask for in northern Indiana tomorrow night. I don't think field conditions will be that big of a factor in this one. Looking forward to the game and what should be a great atmosphere at Amzie Miller Field. 

How is the visitors seating situation?  We usually travel pretty well, trying to decide if I should bring lawn chairs along

TV46 at Northridge today

Elkhart Truth sports front page covering the Northridge Regional win over Ole Miss.

Some pictures from TV46 crew/Chuck Freeby out at New Prairie's practice today.   Should be some from Northridge tomorrow. 

1 hour ago, npcougar15 said:

Since we are on the topic of field conditions. Do the Northridge faithful think playing on NPs natural grass will affect their team at all? NPs field has been in pretty good shape this season and I don't think the weather leading up or during the game will affect it too much; but you never know.  

We played on grass until last year and still have the old grass/ stadium for middle school & practice if needed.  

We played at NorthWood on grass and did alright in sectionals. 

Memorial just won on a walk off field goal

Northridge is not the same team as we were in the regular season either, and we have faced some great running teams the last 2 weeks that have had very little success moving the ball, including Leo which has multiple D1 offensive linemen. 

Northridge will need to block better this week than we did last night however. 

There's a little history between these two schools. 

Since 1971, Leo holds a 4-3 advantage over Northridge with the most recent being a 28 to 10 win at the 2014 semi state. 

Also from Stu Swartz on Facebook:

Amzie Miller, 1944 Middlebury High School graduate, is a member of the Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame.
The football field at New Prairie High School is named after Amzie who was a principal in the school system for 19 years.
Northridge, a 1969 consolidation of Middlebury and Jefferson, will visit Amzie Miller Field at New Prairie for a Class 4A semistate football game next Friday night. The Raiders vs. the Cougars.

2 hours ago, Yuccaguy said:

Absolutely amazing that none of this came to fruition.   

Games on "paper" are what we need to stop focusing on....

Exactly right, on paper Northridge wasn't going to make it past NorthWood in round 1.

36 minutes ago, ASJCPUMA said:

Having seen both teams during the regular season and knowing that Northridge has had a bunch of injuries are any of the coming back this week?  I recall a couple of NP fans bemoaning their offense back in August and September and look where you are today.

 

Northridge will not likely have anyone new back this week, however starting with our Northwood game in sectionals we got 1 guy back that missed the 2nd half of the season.  Eppley has worked some magic at making adjustments with who we have. 

8 minutes ago, TigerFan20 said:

NP opens up as an 11 point favorite 

Just the way we like it 😏 

I came away impressed with the sportsmanship from both teams last night!

Dominant performance from the Raiders minus the tipped pass allowing a 60yd touchdown. 

Nothing to be ashamed of for the Indians though, was really impressed with the speed of their running back. 

Northridge will head west on US20 for a rematch of the 2014 4A North Semi State.   

Heavy snow 2.5hrs from Kickoff here in Middlebury

Last week's Northridge upset of #2 Leo with a game winning overtime kick

Two teams riding hot streaks, and at this point in the season only good teams are still left.   Northridge by 14

Should be a great game again, going with the home team in a nail biter.  Lowell by 2

Here is the link to the TV46 live stream for those that cannot attend tomorrow night

https://www.ihsaatv.org/?B=322493

From The Goshen News article written by Evan Lepak found here:

MIDDLEBURY — Seven years ago, Northridge defeated Norwell 17-10 to win a Class 4A regional championship and advance to semistate for the first time in program history.

This Friday, the 2021 Raiders (8-4) pwill be searching for the school’s second 4A semistate appearance when they play the Mississinewa Indians (9-2) in the regional final at Interra Field. The game will start at 7:30 p.m.

After a veryp emotional overtime win against then-undefeated Leo in the Sectional 19 championship game in Middlebury last Friday, Northridge head coach Chad Eppley has been happy with his team’s focus so far in preparation for the Indians.

“We started this when we played NorthWood. We called it a first-of-five game series to get to state,” Eppley said. “After every game that’s passed, we say that this was one-of-five, second-of-five and so on. After we beat Leo, we celebrated a little bit, and then I reminded them that next week is four-of-five.

"Our kids are locked in. They know what’s at stake, and they have goals that they want to reach. … There’s a reason we’re playing Mississinewa in the regional championship game. (Mississinewa)’s a really good football team. I think (our players) know that and respect that.”

STOPPING MISSISSINEWA’S RUN GAME

In the victory over Leo, Northridge’s defense held the Lions vaunted rushing attack to just 132 yards on 30 attempts. Coming into the game, Leo averaged more than 300 yards on the ground.

“We all just did our job and got to the party,” said Northridge linebacker Ridge Howard of his defense’s performance in the sectional championship. “We really trusted one another. … We were hyped and ready to play. Then we went out and played one of the best games of the year.”

Howard — who broke the school’s single-season tackle record against Leo — led the team with 12 in the sectional championship. Senior Peyton Shook was second with 11 tackles and junior Jethro Hochstetler was behind him with nine.

The gang-tackling effort was a big part of Northridge’s success against the run, and the Raiders will have to be ready for another war in the trenches against Mississinewa.

The Indians average 326 rushing yards per game compared to just 61 yards per game through the air. Indians quarterback Nolan Quaderer is just 33-of-57 for 617 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions this season. That’s because the Indians are led by a tandem of running backs who have each eclipsed well over 1,000 rushing yards this season.

Senior Carson Campbell (5’ 4”, 145 pounds) and junior Hayden Nelson (5’ 8”, 170 pounds) each have two different running styles that can keep the opponent’s defense off-balance. Campbell leads the team with 1,936 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns on 146 attempts, while Nelson has 1,221 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns on 117 attempts.

“We have to be able to stop their speed,” said Eppley of Mississinewa’s running backs. “(Campbell) is very fast on film, and then (Nelson) runs the 100 in track. So both of those guys are very fast, and really physical for their size. … (Northridge defensive coordinator) Nick Clark’s done a great job running through the formations this week, and as long as we are gap sound, we should be okay.”

CONTROLLING THE BALL ON OFFENSE

One of the biggest keys to winning against a run-heavy team is controlling the time of possession offensively. The Raiders did just that last Friday, holding the ball for 30:19 compared to Leo’s 17:41.

Even with quarterback Tagg Gott having a pedestrian performance in the passing game for his standards — 13-of-26, 152 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions — Gott still ran for two rushing touchdowns, including the one in overtime that setup kicker Dylan Ritchie’s game-winning extra point.

While Gott will be striving for a better individual stat line this Friday night, the strategy of holding the ball and wearing down the opposing defense will reap benefits for Northridge whether Gott has a sensational performance against the Indians defense or not.

Mississinewa’s defense has averaged just 15 points-per-game allowed through 11 contests this season. During the sectional semifinals though, New Haven (5-6) gave the Indians all they wanted before Mississinewa outlasted the Bulldogs 42-27. The Raiders — who averaged 30 points per game during sectionals — will likely be the best offense the Indians have faced so far in the postseason.

“We really respect their defense,” Eppley said. “They have some big dudes up front, and they have speed all around. I think the thing that’s really going to help us out is the two-way starters. I believe they have eight or nine two-way starters, where we have just five or six. So I think that’ll help us. I think we’re going to be able to wear them down, especially with the way we’ve been using the time of possession.”

“I think we’ll be able to run the ball on them,” Gott added. “And I also see one high safety (on film), which was the same thing we saw against Columbia City. So on some of our pass plays, they just aren’t going to be able to cover it with that formation. As long as we keep playing football the way we have, I think we’ll be fine.”

Cold, windy, chance of rain/ snow showers,  gotta love November football in the north!

I know strength of schedule has been mentioned as a positive for Northridge vs Mississinewa for Friday nights game.

So I ran the numbers. 

Mississinewa's 11 opponents have an average Sagarin Rating of 199.

Northridge's 12 opponents have an average of 99.8.

But again, these games aren't played on paper, it's going to come down to who wants it more this Friday. 

Can't wait!

Just now, NRRaider2001 said:

I know strength of schedule has been mentioned as a positive for Northridge vs Mississinewa for Friday nights game.

So I ran the numbers. 

Mississinewa's 11 opponents have an average Sagarin Rating of 199.

Northridge's 12 opponents have an average of 99.8.

But again, these games aren't played on paper, it's going to come down to who wants it more this Friday. 

Can't wait!

Should have been more specific, the 199 vs 99.8 is the average current overall state ranking by Sagarin for each schools previous opponents.