Raiders know it takes a village to still be playing this late in the year

MIDDLEBURY, Ind. --The regional round is here, and the stakes continue to get even higher! For Northridge first year head coach Luke Amstutz, he couldn't have gotten this far without his coaching staff.

They say it takes a village, and in order to get a high school football team this deep into the playoffs, that's the truth. Luke Amstutz is in his first year for Northridge as the head coach, and it's going decently well, considering he's 12-0; but the shot caller knows he couldn't have done this alone.

"I think in football, more than any other sport, the depth of your coaching staff makes a monstrous difference. Having a bunch of people that can be trusted to go out and improve their position groups, improve their squads, or watch film with kids, work in the weight room, there are so many different aspects to the game that need to be improved all the time, we're just really blessed," said Amstutz.

Amstutz took over for Chad Eppley before the 2026 season. Offensive line coach Tony Rouse was here under the previous coaching regime and saw success, but he is very quick to sing the praises of Amstutz's leadership.

"Luke is a special head coach, the way that he runs this program, he runs it around family, he runs it around the idea that these guys are brothers, they've bought into it because he's so genuine, and he's someone that is going to fight for the guys on game night," said Rouse.

"I'm just a small part of everything that we do here, it's all the other coaches, it's the returning classmen, they have a standard and they know what they wanted, and we've made sure that we follow through on it, and winning takes care of itself," said Nick Clark, Northridge defensive coordinator.