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NLC - 2019 Season


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I know Bethany Christian isn't exactly an NLC school, but they are surrounded by those of us that are.  As I drove by Big R in Dunlap last night after work, I saw their sign lit up with this message on their sign.

https://www.goshennews.com/news/updated-bethany-christian-senior-killed-in-crash/article_2902891c-3870-11e9-acae-6b5114debb6a.html

Yesterday Indy Star had a nice article, and today Sports Illustrated.

Keyshawn was headed South on State Road 15 headed to Huntington to make a recruiting visit (Basketball), when he crossed the center line and was hit/killed by an SUV.  He went to church with several of my family members, and from all accounts was a very nice and humble young man.

Prayers to the Bethany family, and good luck Friday night.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice Article by the Elkhart Truth on former Northridge player Isaac Zickafoose found here:

Could pro football be next for Zickafoose?

BY BOB OPPENHEIM

roppenheim@elkharttruth.com

A dream will come true for many college football players this week when they’re selected by a team during the National Football League draft.

It appears unlikely that former Northridge football standout Isaac Zickafoose will hear his name called at the draft.

But he isn’t ruling out the possibility of playing in the NFL.

A standout football career at Bluffton University has gotten Zickafoose noticed by NFL scouts.

“I feel like I have a chance to play in the NFL,” said Zickafoose. “My agent has been talking to people and he says I have a great chance.

“I’m probably going to be a (college) free agent. It’s going to be a challenge because I’m a Division III kid and people doubt you when you play at that level. But that drives me. I know I’m different. They’ve never seen a player like me. I feel like I’ve got a shot.

“I’m just going to keep working hard and keep doing the things I’m doing. I’ve been doing drills and trying to make myself a better football player.”

Zickafoose made an impact early at Bluffton and honors would soon follow.

“When I was a freshman I played on the scout team defensive line,” Zickafoose said. “On two plays I really played well against the first team offense. Coach (Denny) Dorrell told me to go play for the first and second team defensive line. He wanted me to believe in myself. He said I had a lot of potential. I started believing in myself. It was crazy.”

Playing defensive end, defensive tackle and linebacker, Zickafoose finished as the school’s all-time leader in sacks with 35.5, sack yards with 228, tackles for loss with 60.5, tackles for loss yards with 308 and fumble return yards with 80.

Zickafoose was the first Bluffton athlete to earn American Football Coaches Association All-American status, as he earned second team honors in 2018. He was a four-time first team All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference selection and a three-time All-North Regional selection. Zickafoose also was twice named HCAC Defensive Most

See FOOTBALL, PAGE B2

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Northridge gradute Isaac Zickafoose (7) gets set to rush from his defensive end position for the Bluffton University last fall.

Photo Submitted


Football

From page B1

Valuable Player.

Zickafoose’s top honor came on April 16th when he received the 2019 A.C. Burcky Award, which is given to Bluffton’s senior Male Athlete of the Year.

“It’s a great honor,” Zickafoose said about winning the prestigious award. “It’s something I really didn’t expect to win. I got great support from my coaches, teammates, friends and family. I’m blessed to be able to receive it.

“I would play anywhere to help the team. I liked playing defensive end and being able to play the run and go after the quarterback. I also enjoyed playing defensive tackle, but it was challenging. In college, teams would game plan for you on the inside and sometimes you would be double-teamed. When you played on the end you’d go up against only one guy.

“Teams game planned for me more in college. In high school, there’s more 1-on-1 play. Our defense at Northridge was good. I wasn’t even the best player on our defense. Other teams focused more on Cam Ridenour and Sven Johnson.”

Beavers football coach Aaron Krepps felt the honors given to Zickafoose were richly deserved.

“Isaac is arguably the best defensive player to ever play for Bluffton University,” said Krepps in a press release after Zickafoose received the A.C. Burcky Award. “His God-given ability is easy to see, but what you appreciate most about him is his willingness to be coached. He showed up daily ready to work and he put the extra time in to hone his craft. His success was born out of persistence and determination.” Personal pride was Zickafoose’s biggest motivator.

“I competed against myself,” he said. “I didn’t want to mess up. That would be the worst feeling. Throughout the week I would prepare for my game on Saturday. I watched film on my competition. I watched the other team’s offensive linemen, running backs and quarterback. I looked at everything. I tried to play out in my head what the other team was going to do against me.”

Zickafoose bounced back to have a great senior year after being disappointed with his play during his junior season.

The 6-1, 245-pounder finished with 63 tackles – 49 solo – 11.5 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

“My junior year was my worst year,” Zickafoose said. “It was a frustrating year. Coaches told me if I got bigger I could be unstoppable. I then started working out and eating more. I got up to 270 pounds that season. I was able to convince myself to play at that weight. I felt comfortable but it was different. It was hard for me to play in games. I got really tired in games. It wasn’t working out for me. I had to switch up things. After the season I researched how to lose weight. I cut out meat, dairy and bread. I tried it that summer after my junior year and I lost weight and got back to 230-240 pounds. It’s a crazy thing. I’ve gotten stronger since I’ve done that. I was back in the 240-range as a senior and it was my best season.”

Zickafoose has also been recognized for his work outside of football. A 3.40 student as a sports and recreation major, Zickafoose was selected this year as a scholar student for his major.

“My GPA has improved since high school,” Zickafoose said. “In high school I was a fool. I felt like I was just going to get by. I felt I would get a full-ride in college because I was a good football player. Reality hit me that academics is a big part of going to college. Schools were telling me that I had to get my GPA up. Schools don’t want you if you’re grade are bad.

“While I was going to school at Northridge I was working at a factory in Middlebury and my boss Kent Yoder asked me where I was going to college. I said I didn’t know if I was going to college because my grades were so bad. He told me he was a board member at Bluffton University and he said he would talk to the football coach. I got a phone call from coach Dorrell. He asked me to come take a visit and I said definitely that I would make a visit. I visited the school in July and I liked it.

“Bluffton has a discovery program for students with low GPA’s and I was accepted into that program. It was one of the best opportunities that I’ve ever gotten. I didn’t let them down. I was forced to study and that’s what I did. Every night for two or three hours I would do my homework.”

Zickafoose, who will graduate in two weeks, has a plan if there’s no football in his future.

“I would like to be an athletic director,” he said. “If I could be an assistant A.D. and work under somebody’s wings that would be a great opportunity for me.”

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28 minutes ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

Wow... according to Mark Howe (sports writer for the Warsaw, Indiana newspaper Times-Union) tweeting out that former Warsaw head coach Phil Jensen is being introduced as the new head coach at Whitko High School. Congrats Coach Jensen! 

image.png.1f250457f82328cf86ae04e393136c07.png

@NRRaider2001

If Whitko were a stock, its value just increased. Good luck, Wildcats! Warsaw was a basketball school pre-Jensen, and people started talking about Tiger football in the late 90s and thereafter. WCHS also saw more basketball players add football to their wheelhouse.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just looking to add some content to the thread, the Warsaw Strength and Conditioning twitter account posted that the Tiger Football team saw the below average gains among those in the lifting program. I'm not sure what all athletes were including in this calculation (like whether or not players on spring sports teams, etc.)

Average gains (lbs.)

Squat +34

Deadlift +46

Bench +23

Clean +19

Body weight +19

 

Great job Tigers! Hopefully there are some continued growth in these areas the next 3 months before the season starts!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Warsaw will have a new Athletic Director this upcoming year. Former AD Dave Anson and his family will be moving to Florida to be closer to family down there and Warsaw has hired Matt Binkerd from Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon. If interested, here is a link to the article. Welcome to Warsaw Binkerd family! 

http://www.inkfreenews.com/2019/06/11/wcs-recommends-binkerd-as-new-wchs-a-d/

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2 hours ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

Warsaw will have a new Athletic Director this upcoming year. Former AD Dave Anson and his family will be moving to Florida to be closer to family down there and Warsaw has hired Matt Binkerd from Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon. If interested, here is a link to the article. Welcome to Warsaw Binkerd family! 

http://www.inkfreenews.com/2019/06/11/wcs-recommends-binkerd-as-new-wchs-a-d/

Congrats. 

Wow. That appears to be a quick hire. 

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2 hours ago, DannEllenwood said:

Congrats. 

Wow. That appears to be a quick hire. 

It was announced publicly via the Warsaw Times Union in mid-May that Dave Anson was stepping down at the end of June and that the position was posted at that time. That's 4 weeks for applicants to apply (which I'm sure there were plenty) and a few rounds of interviews to be held. Maybe slightly "quick", but I'm sure WCHS preferred that a new AD was in place before the Fall sports get into full swing with official practices starting the last week of July. Can't imagine any school corporation (especially a 6A school) would want to hire an AD much later than that!

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1 hour ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

It was announced publicly via the Warsaw Times Union in mid-May that Dave Anson was stepping down at the end of June and that the position was posted at that time. That's 4 weeks for applicants to apply (which I'm sure there were plenty) and a few rounds of interviews to be held. Maybe slightly "quick", but I'm sure WCHS preferred that a new AD was in place before the Fall sports get into full swing with official practices starting the last week of July. Can't imagine any school corporation (especially a 6A school) would want to hire an AD much later than that!

Thank you for the explanation. 

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19 hours ago, NLCTigerFan07 said:

Warsaw will have a new Athletic Director this upcoming year. Former AD Dave Anson and his family will be moving to Florida to be closer to family down there and Warsaw has hired Matt Binkerd from Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon. If interested, here is a link to the article. Welcome to Warsaw Binkerd family! 

http://www.inkfreenews.com/2019/06/11/wcs-recommends-binkerd-as-new-wchs-a-d/

Sounds like a great hire

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  • 3 weeks later...

Per Chuck Freeby from Channel 46, there will be an NLC team on the Game of the Week on 5 of the 8 weeks they have scheduled (they're leaving week 9 TBD, but more likely than not it will be Penn vs. Mishawaka):

Week 1: Elkhart Memorial at Elkhart Central
Week 2: Chatard at NorthWood
Week 4: Northridge at Plymouth
Week 7: Concord at Plymouth
Week 8: NorthWood at Warsaw

NorthWood and Plymouth both getting 2 weeks, while Concord, Elkhart Memorial, Nothridge and Warsaw all getting 1 week. Only teams missing some TV time are Goshen and Wawasee, but that isn't a surprise considering last year's results.

Not that it matters, but making a prediction for the Channel 46 GOTW schedule for the 2020 season, the week 4 matchup of Mishawaka at Warsaw (assuming Mishawaka slides into Memorials schedule). 

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Per Northridge athletics press release yesterday:

Outdoor complex groundbreaking set; Interra Credit Union secures football naming rights
img.php?f=sites%2Fnorthridgehs.rschoolte

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MCS Media Contact:
Marker & Pen
info@mymarkerpen.com

Interra Credit Union Media Contact:
Karen Steffensen
Interra Credit Union
karens@interracu.com

Middlebury Community Schools Announces Groundbreaking for Northridge Athletics Complex, Signs Quarter of a Million Dollar Naming Rights Deal with Interra Credit Union

MIDDLEBURY, Ind. (July 10, 2019) – Middlebury Community Schools (MCS) has announced that it will break ground on its brand-new outdoor athletics complex at Northridge High School on July 16, 2019 and that it has inked a five-year, $250,000 football facility naming rights deal with Interra Credit Union, which is headquartered in Goshen and has a branch in Middlebury.

The outdoor athletics complex at Northridge High School in Middlebury will feature an approximately 4,000 seat football stadium with outdoor track, baseball stadium and softball stadium – all of which will be fitted with state-of-the-art field turf, as well as updated team and gameday facilities. The football facility, which will be named Interra Field, benefits from a five-year, $50,000 per year naming rights sponsorship deal that provides category exclusive football marketing rights to the credit union and financial support for the school corporation to add additional support staff and equipment needed to maintain the grounds.

“We are so very thrilled that our school community has allowed us to provide our students, coaches and teachers with these wonderful facilities and are very pleased with Interra's support,” said Superintendent Jane Allen. “We are excited to see the games begin in 2020!"

"We are pleased to have Interra Credit Union partner with us on this project for our community,” added Middlebury Community Schools Board chair Joanna King. “This project reflects many years of planning by the board and administration to provide adequate facilities for our students in a financially responsible way."

“At Interra, we are so excited to have the opportunity to partner with Middlebury Community Schools on such an impressive project,” noted Amy Sink, CEO. “It further solidifies our connection with the entire community.”

“This partnership demonstrates Interra’s commitment to the school, a broader investment in the many young people who will reap its benefits for years to come and in the community spirit it will generate,” Andy Marshall, Executive Vice President and COO, added.

Middlebury Community Schools has awarded construction work for the Athletics Complex to Shawnee Construction & Engineering after an extensive bid process that was held over the last three months and concluded on July 9, 2019.

"Shawnee Construction has completed multiple projects for Middlebury Community Schools at a very high standard," stated Jeff Palmer, Director of Buildings & Grounds. "We are very excited to continue our relationship with them."

Northridge High School Athletics, which serves over 700 student-athletes each year, will benefit from the updated facilities and the school corporation’s commitment to developing a sponsorship program available to local and regional businesses – as well as individual donors. Additionally, Middlebury community individuals and families will also have the opportunity to join in on the excitement by participating in a brick paver campaign targeted for a plaza outside the entrance to Interra Field.

“It is a time of excitement and anticipation that can’t really be put into words,” shared Dave Harms, Northridge High School Athletic Director. “This project has been on the minds of our community, school and student-athletes for a long time. Seeing it all come together is awesome and will be great for everyone involved.”

Interra Field expects to be open for the football home opener against South Bend Adams on August 21, 2020. Baseball and softball facilities will be ready for action in the spring of 2021.

The groundbreaking will occur at 2:00 p.m. on July 16, 2019 on the Northridge High School campus and will be open to the public.

To learn more about the Northridge High School outdoor athletics complex and ways to participate, visit northridgefacilitiesproject.com.

About Middlebury Community Schools

Middlebury Community Schools serves three townships in northeastern Elkhart County (IN). The school corporation provides a unique environment with a blend of traditional values and progressive education. The system is comprised of seven schools – four elementary schools (grades K-3, an intermediate school (grades 4-5), a middle school (grades 6-8) and a high school (grades 9-12). It is governed by a five-member elected school board which takes responsibility for educating all students in the district who are capable of learning, regardless of their abilities, race, color, national origin, creed or handicap.

Follow Northridge Athletics on Twitter @nridgeathletics for up-to-date information on happenings within the athletic department.

About Interra Credit Union
 
Interra, headquartered in Goshen, Indiana, has assets of $1.2 billion. The credit union’s field of membership spans 18 counties in northern Indiana, with almost 300 employees serving nearly 82,000 members. Interra operates 15 offices in Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Marshall and Noble counties in Indiana and via a suite of robust electronic services at interracu.com.
 
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  • 2 weeks later...

Is it to early to start talking about who will win the NLC this Year?

Just my two cents:

1. Warsaw will be the Team on top when the season comes to a end!  Bart ball will be tough to stop this year!,

2. Concord will give Warsaw a run for there money this year but will fall short.

3.  Northwood will always be tough but not near as good as last year.

4. Plymouth lost some key players But there Sr QB Barron will keep them in most of there games this year.

5. Northridge will have a good ground attack this year but I dont see them as one of the top teams in the league this year.

6. Wawasee will have a bounce back year. New Coach, and could upset a couple teams this year.

7. Elkhart Memorial should have a great ground game but there defense wont keep them in games.

8. Goshen will compete but will be another tough year for them.

 

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These are my preseason NLC rankings...based on not enough knowledge, and far from any expertise, with no reasons at all besides what I have seen from each team in the off season:

Mediocre Outsider's Preseason NLC Poll:

1. Warsaw (Love what's going on with the Tigers)

2. Concord (Always competitive)

3. Plymouth 

4. Northridge 

5. Northwood (Only because I think life without Yoder will be a little depressing)

6. Memorial (I think they might be a sleeper...I could see EM be a top 4 NLC team)

7. Goshen (No disrespect, just have to see improvement to move them higher).

8. Wawasee (Bottom of the NLC last year, and have a ways to go)

 

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I'm in the Warsaw as favorites camp, but beyond that I'm not as sure. 

Northwood should drop off some after losing one of the best prospects in years, but until I see otherwise, they'll probably be top 3 in the league.

Northridge lost a big one as well in Graber, but I wouldn't count us out of the top 3 just yet, and yes, we should have a good 1-2 punch on the ground attack.

Plymouth and Concord both have kids returning that will obviously help them out, but I'm not convinced they're going to be the traditional powers of years past. 

Goshen, Memorial, and Wawasee should be toward the bottom again, but I could see Memorial and Goshen surprising a few people. 

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My complete shot in the dark on a prediction:

1. NorthWood - may have lost a lot, but they've got a hell of a thing going. Until they prove otherwise, they're at the top for me. Hell of a program.
2. Warsaw - call this trying to temper expectations... Everyone is hyping up the Tigers this year (and I'm very excited to see how they do), but I just hope these high praises don't go to their heads. But they were only 4 points away from an undefeated regular season last year (don't get me started on the Plymouth "good" field goal), so I see no reason why they can't make a push for the crown this year.
3. Plymouth - They have to go on the road to Warsaw and NorthWood to start and end the NLC season respectively, but the get the other contenders for this spot (Concord and Northridge) at my least favorite spot in the world... the Rock Pile. With the Barrons in charge, I fully expect the Rockies to be in the thick of things.
4. Concord - The Minutemen had a very up and down season last year. I expect them to be more on the upside this season, but think 6-3 is the cap on their record in the regular season. However, they could surprise with NorthWood, Northridge and Warsaw all having to make the trip to Jake Field.
5. Elkhart Memorial - The Crimson Chargers final season in the NLC could be interesting. Their first 3 games are on the road (none outside of Elkhart County) and get Warsaw, Plymouth, NorthWood and Northridge at home. A road trip to Wawasee will be less than daunting... I could see Memorial finish the regular season as high as 6-3 this season, but more realistically closer to .500
6. Northridge - I love the program that Coach Wogoman has build in Middleburry, but I feel like this season might potentially mirror the 2016 season for the Raiders. Adams and St. Joe will be a tough opening slate and NLC road trips to Plymouth, Warsaw, Concord and Memorial... anything more than 4 wins this regular season would be considered a success in my book.
7. Goshen - The optimism that was in the 2015 and 2016 seasons has quickly faded. The only reason I'm giving the Redhawks the nod here is Coach Park is entering his 6th season and they get Wawasee at home to end the season.
8. Wawasee - 3rd coach in 4 years to stalk the sidelines in Syracuse. Best of luck to Coach Reutebuch in his first opportunity as a head coach, but it will take a few years to get the Warrior program headed in the right direction. 6 out of the last 12 seasons, Wawasee has won 3 games or less.

Don't hold me to any of this! Best of luck to all NLC teams this season.

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