Battle of the Norths: NorthWood ready to battle for first win at home this season

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

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

NorthWood Head Coach Nate Andrews says staying on top of their game physically and mentally is the goal for the Panthers in Week 5.

"With it being the midpoint of the season, you got to get back to some fundamentals, you got to make sure you take care of your bodies, and you get healthy," said Andrews.

The team is 2-2 so far this season with both of their losses being incredibly close. They lost by 3 points in Week 1, and just 1-point last week against Mishawaka.

Andrews says they need to work on finishing and executing, particularly on special teams.

"We're still working with our kicker and our kickers to make sure we are consistent and we're reliable and that we have trust," Andrews explains.

His strong offensive line unit is one he does trust; it's made of reliable athletes like seniors Aiden Ellison, Mason London, and Ryder Ransberger, and at the skill positions: sophomore quarterback Braylon Monroe who's already racked up 496 passing yards, and senior wide receiver Deondray Monroe who is responsible for over two-thirds of the team's passing production.

Andrews says he's proud of the dynamic of this team. It's a mix of what he calls 'primetime players' who've got the Friday Night Lights experience, program guys who are getting that opportunity this season, and the young bucks.

"The mesh and the blend of those three phases and those three aspects of the program is kind of what this team is all about," Andrews says.

He describes their offensive strategy as a multiple.

"We are running the ball between the tackle quite well which has been nice," says Andrews. "We'd like to spread the ball out, we put it in a lot of different guys hands, so we have a lot of different guys that throw it, that catch it and receive it from a handoff." 

That strategy also spreads onto the defense.

Running a multiple scheme on both sides fits the players' capabilities and makes them adaptable to whatever's happening on the other side of the line.

"We can't sit in one because we might play an empty set this week and we might play a three tight end set the next week so that's why we're multiple on defense and on offense the same thing, we feel like we can use a lot of our different kids and spread the ball out," explains Andrews. 

On the heels of a sectional championship appearance last season, Andrews says adaptability is what will land them another deep run in the playoffs.

"It's really important in our program to be able to sudden change moments and things, when things don't go our way to be able to look at it like half full rather than half empty," says Andrews.

In the short term, the Panthers are looking for their first win at home this season against their good old rivals from Northridge.

"We're 2-0 on the road this year and 0-2 at home so we look forward to getting off the schneid this Friday," Andrews says.