Battle of the Norths: Northridge ready to get off the schneid in NorthWood territory

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- Friday marks another week of high school football in Michiana. 

This week, ABC57 viewers chose NorthWood vs. Northridge for the Game of the Week.

Northridge Head Coach Chad Eppley says he's ready to get off the schneid.

"Our kids are dialed in, they know it's Northwood week so it's not really hard for them to stay locked in everyday at practice," says Eppley.

The 0-4 Northridge Raiders have their eyes on the prize and are working hard to walk off the field in Week 5 with their first season win under their belts.

Eppley says the pieces that make up the team's puzzle are slowly but surely falling into place.

"Our defense has stepped up a lot in the past couple games, but the offense has finally got it rolling the last two games," Eppley explains. "So, I think we're finally getting close to putting a full game together." 

He's working with a younger squad this season.

With a light senior class of only thirteen, Eppley says juniors, sophomores, and even freshmen have been stepping up to fill key roles.

"The kids know it's next man in mentality and if something happens, we'll figure it out and keep rolling," says Eppley.

Those key roles are filled with dynamic athletes on both sides of the ball, like junior quarterback Karsyn Rumfelt who's racked up 771 passing yards, junior linebacker Colt Granberg with an average of 15 tackles per game, along with running backs Austin Horn and Parker Janes who Eppley says has stepped up in big ways. Last but not least, Eppley highlights junior wide receiver Keivonte, or Tre, Copeland who had a breakout game last week versus Concord.

"He had 12 catches for like 166 yards I think which was crazy for him," says Eppley.

Last week's matchup highlighted a passing strong suit for the shotgun and spread-focused offense, and Eppley wants to tap more into that potential.

"They were pinching the middle a lot on the defensive line so they kind of forced us to spread it out a little bit, which really kind of worked in our favor because we haven't got to do that a lot this year in terms of just kind of doing some quick passes out to the edge," explains Eppley.

He also reflects on the Concord game when it comes to improving the defensive strategy.

"The first half we didn't communicate at all, the second half we went out and communicated, and we were able to hold them to zero points in the second half," Eppley says. "So, communication has been another key thing for us this week." 

Heading onto NorthWood's turf with those corrections in mind and a winner's mentality, he says will make all the difference.

"We talk about alignment, assignment, and execution probably every single day so as long as we can get those three things dialed in for four quarters, I think that's going to be huge for us," says Eppley.