NLCTigerFan07 Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 Not too many NLCers around here anymore it feels like, but starting a thread for this upcoming season. Personally, I am interested to see how the Tigers perform this year. They lose a number of impact players from last year (especially on defense), but the best thing about Bart Ball is "next man up". As well, the kids who are seniors this year have now been running this offense since 7th grade. As well, due to some funky shifts in the schedule with non-conference opponents the last few years and then the conference schedule shift/change to rotating matchups, Warsaw starts the season with 3 straight road games and won't play at home until after Labor Day. I have no doubt Coach Curtis and his staff will be able to keep the Tigers focused, just very interesting to see. As for other schools: Will NorthWood and Mishawaka continue to be the class of the conference? The Panthers sure seem to be primed for another NLC crown and potential post-season run. Can Northridge turn their post-season success into regular season victories? The Raiders have gone 5-4 each of the last two regular seasons before turning it on come Sectional time. Will Concord continue their "odd" year dominance? The Minutemen have won the NLC in 6 of the last 8 "odd" years since 2007, including 2019 and 2021. In the Craig Koelher era, starting in 2015, their records have been 8-3, 6-4, 10-2, 6-6, 8-2, 4-4, 9-2, 5-6. Must be something in the water every two years in Dunlap! What can Goshen do in year 2 under Wogomon? The Redhawks were competetive last year early before injuries caught up to them, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Can Wawasee ever be competitive in the conference again? In the last 5 years, the Warriors are 5-5 against fellow bottom-dwellers Goshen and Plymouth, and 0-25 against the rest of the NLC (not counting post-season matchups). Wawasee hasn't had a winning season in 8 years, and was last in contention for an NLC crown in 2011 when they went 6-1. Only loss being to Concord (who went 7-0) by a score of 15-12. Will Plymouth win a game? Hard to believe after the Pilgrims won a share of the NLC title in 2019, they have since gone 2-26 the past 3 seasons, including a 21 game losing streak currently. They start the season vs. Calumet (9-2 last year) and Columbia City (11-2 last year) and Warsaw (who beat them 70-0 last season). Their best shot will come week 4 on the road against the previously mentioned Wawasee Warriors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00NWP Posted July 14, 2023 Share Posted July 14, 2023 I think there are a few things all of the NLC fans can agree on for the upcoming season, pretty much saying what NLC Tiger Fan already pointed out. Wawasee and Plymouth will more than likely fight for the bottom of the conference. I did however listen to a Plymouth game last year and their announcers were pretty high on what would be their sophomore class this year. I believe they won their first freshman game in sometime and there were a lot of upperclassmen present for the game (I point out the upperclassmen being present as they may be taking some pride and trying to get some enthusiasm in their younger players). In regard to Goshen, I think their program is headed in the right direction. They were in a lot of their games last year during the 1st half...then lost it in the 2nd. Are they contenders...no...but it is nice to see them moving in the right direction. Judging by the size of their players, they have the ability, and I think they have the coach. Northridge is a wild card...I don't know what to expect from the raiders. They have been such an up and down team. Northridge may have the worst 1st 4 weeks of the NLC teams having to play North, Elkhart, Mishawaka and NorthWood. I have no insight on Concord for the upcoming year. Last year they beat the lower level teams and held their own against Mishawaka and Northridge. Still feel bad for the young quarterback against I believe Northridge on the last drive that could have possibly won the game. Chalk it up to a learning experience. Warsaw and Mishawaka are the two teams that I think will battle for the crown this year. With their "Bart Ball" it always comes down to scoring first and holding the ball. I don't pretend to know much about their programs this year, but I do know...they will run that ball...and it will be difficult to stop no matter who is playing. With NorthWood, I will be the first to admit I was skeptical about their defense going into last year...and I was way off base. They performed very well...until the incident that we no longer speak of occurred. NorthWood graduated a lot of seniors last year...i actually can’t remember such a large class in the last 20ish years. I will again say this year, the defense will be the issue, as the linebackers and secondary took a big hit. Their offense will be the same as last year. They lost some O linemen, however, I feel they have the athletes to replace in that position. Skill positions will be pretty good (even with the loss of Tuggle) and actually I think their run game will be better. Special teams will again be fantastic. With that said, not knowing about the Defense, I put Warsaw, Mishawaka and those run games ahead of NorthWood's defense. It’s getting close! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRRaider2001 Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 Can't speak for the rest of the conference, but I did catch our 4 team scrimmage at Northridge on Thursday. Not that you can tell a whole lot in a scrimmage with pads/shorts, but Northridge seemed to run the ball well, first year starter at QB looks to be more mobile than Carrington was, but not as accurate of a pocket passer. Really excited to see our run game this year if we can stay healthy, we should have a really solid 1-2 punch with Miller and Sherwood. Our run defense seemed solid, but Leo exposed a few weaknesses in our secondary (they looked to be legit this year with some athletes at wr). Didn't get to stay the whole time for the matchup against New Haven, but what I did see was they seemed to be the worst of the 4 teams there. Concord looked good on defense, offense seemed to struggle a bit, at least while I was watching them. As for our regular season opening 4 games, I'll be happy if we come away with a win or two, but ultimately it should really help us be better in the tournament. There is a really cool series on YouTube about North and their season last year. Goshen athletics seem to be trending up in general. Warsaw will always be tough. Plymouth and Wawasee don't excite me this year again. Northwood and Mishawaka should be fighting for the conference title yet again, along with Warsaw and hopefully Northridge. Curious to see Nitros cousin, is he strictly db? Will he play anywhere else? Northridge strengths should be running the ball and stopping the run this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
npcougar15 Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 17 hours ago, NRRaider2001 said: Northwood and Mishawaka should be fighting for the conference title yet again, along with Warsaw and hopefully Northridge. Outsiders perspective here. Just seems that Northwood and Mishawaka lost way too much to be clear favorites going into the season. Honestly don't know who would sit at the top Concord? Warsaw? Northridge? Northwood? Mishawaka? I know Northwood got a nice move-in but that pretty much evens the Tuggle transfer. Mishawaka had a solid senior class just graduate that had multiple 3 year starters out there. Both programs have the athletes to not take a giant step back but I can see the having a 2 loss champion unless Warsaw has some horses and runs away with it. Plymouth and Wawasee are clear bottom teams that won't make much noise. Goshen could surprise a team or two as they seem to be improving. It's tough to gauge where Northridge is as a program; are they a perennial conference/sectional contender? or did they get some real lucky breaks the past few post-seasons? Concord seems like a big wildcard. Warsaw has the enrollment, system, and coaches to be at the top every year. NLC should be pretty interesting to keep track of. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLCTigerFan07 Posted July 20, 2023 Author Share Posted July 20, 2023 Did NorthWood really lose that much from last year? They are the team I have the highest expectations for this season, but maybe I assumed they had more coming back than what is actually the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00NWP Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 NorthWood lost around 20ish senors to graduation, it was a very large class. With the scores last year, a lot of younger guys got some playing time however the linebackers and secondary pretty much all graduated. Warsaw and Mishawaka (and their offense) will be the biggest test for the younger guys starting this year. NorthWood always has a smaller defensive front and it will be up to those in the 2nd and 3rd levels to step up and make plays. Im sure the young men this year will be ready and if they are able to contain, then I think NorthWood will be a front runner...however, at this time I still think Mishawaka / Warsaw battle for the top of the NLC. I wasn't able to go to the scrimmage at Elkhart, however, I will be present when they scrimmage Penn to see who is stepping in to what roles. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRRaider2001 Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 Congrats to Northridge seniors McClain Miller and Wyatt Boals for their recent commitments. Miller has committed to North Dakota State while Boals will be playing for Illinois State next year. More to come. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRRaider2001 Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 Some highlights from our 4 team scrimmage a couple weeks back against Leo and New Haven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLCTigerFan07 Posted July 25, 2023 Author Share Posted July 25, 2023 That Northridge QB looked pretty good! I like their offensive scheme they are running. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRRaider2001 Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 1 hour ago, NLCTigerFan07 said: That Northridge QB looked pretty good! I like their offensive scheme they are running. I think we'll be pretty good this year, just know that the start of our schedule is intentionally brutal. We have some more pretty big commits coming up too that I'm pretty excited about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRRaider2001 Posted July 28, 2023 Share Posted July 28, 2023 19 hours ago, BDOOM said: There are rumblings Nitro is back for NW I've heard this as well, from reliable sources Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PantherPride Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 (edited) I haven’t heard anything about him returning but will see some people later tonight that are pretty plugged into the team that will likely know something. Would be quite a turn of events and 1 that you wonder what would cause such a change of heart. Edited July 30, 2023 by PantherPride Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PantherPride Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 Saw that on Twitter. I don’t know why IMG cares about 1 semester transfers, but awesome news for those of us in the Wa-Née district. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gridwatcher Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 58 minutes ago, Rocket said: Give my dawg "46 Sports" credit...this was his post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 3 hours ago, Gridwatcher said: Give my dawg "46 Sports" credit...this was his post My bad, nothing but respect for the 46 crew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRRaider2001 Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 4 hours ago, BDOOM said: NW offense is goin to be scary How is the o-line looking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00NWP Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 I agree with BDOOM...The line will be fine with the guys taking over. My only question is the center position...our center graduated and I am assuming our long snapper is too small to take that position over. I would guess one of the guards is going to slide over and become the starting center. I feel NorthWood's offense is going to be pass heavy, and in my opinion, its easier to pass protect than run block (im sure someone will take offense to that). Most teams are going to focus on NorthWood's wide recievers and avoiding the big plays, helping the run game and letting the new lineman find their way. In regard to Penn...I hear that Penn is really fast team this year...that will be interesting to watch and a good test for the newer defenders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PantherPride Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 (edited) I think having a returning SR QB along with SR RB will make a great challenge for any defense trying to stop Northwood. I thought the RB was a little underrated last year with the way Tuggle and Payne were making play and as much as I like JJ Payne, Edmonds is going to be a big upgrade at that position. Having a guy going to the Big 10 opposite a guy going to the SEC in northern Indiana football is absolutely unheard of even at a place like Penn. I have heard from a couple of parents that Trey Woods was also looking really good this summer and expected to see a lot of action. Now with Nitro returning he’s probably the #3 WR or a scar back type player. TE and Oline I’ll have to wait and see before I can comment, don’t know much there. Edited July 31, 2023 by PantherPride Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PantherPride Posted August 2, 2023 Share Posted August 2, 2023 Every game is going to try and be a copy of the Mishawaka game plan from last year. 1 of the most boring yet exciting games I’ve ever gone to. Just bleed the clock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRRaider2001 Posted August 4, 2023 Share Posted August 4, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PantherPride Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 Went to the Red/Black scrimmage last night. Hard to gather much from an intra squad scrimmage other than Northwood will be ultra athletic at the skill positions. I hope the receivers are just that unguardable and not that the DBs are that bad. Should know more after the Penn scrimmage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRRaider2001 Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PantherPride Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 It’s still stunning to me that with as good as Plymouth used to be they haven’t won a single game in almost 3 calendar years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRRaider2001 Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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