For Northridge, The Past Has Passed
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
On country singer Vince Gill's CD "Souvenirs," Gill sings about how there "Ain't No Future in the Past."
Frank Amato and his Northridge Raiders can testify to that.
On Oct. 31, Amato, in his first year as head football coach at Northridge, persuaded his team to wipe away its past. The 1-8 record in the regular season? Never happened.
The players, eager to find some sort of success to salvage the season, bought into what Amato was selling. They swaggered into "Death Valley" and stunned the 5-6 Tippecanoe Valley 17-0 in a second-round sectional matchup.
The Raiders are 1-0 in the 1997 postseason.
"One of our philosophies - I've been a proponent of this since 1985 - is every week we start 0-0," Amato explained. "Our goal is to be 1-0 after Friday's game. I used that philosophy at (South Bend) St. Joe, and we're using it here.
"What we did Friday night was a learning experience, but once I turn the tape off Saturday morning, we're 0-0 again. We don't dwell on the good or bad. That's something we've spent all year trying to ingrain here."
"Here" is Northridge. Amato's St. Joe teams were traditionally top-10 teams, and now he's trying to bring that same success to Northridge. The last time the Northridge Raiders saw the sectional finals was 1989 - and, irony of ironies - they beat Amato's St. Joe squad 12-10 to get there. The team they faced in the sectional finals then was NorthWood, the same team they will host at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
NorthWood beat Northridge. That's the closest the Raiders have come to winning a sectional championship.
Amato will go up against a familiar foe - Rich Dodson. Amato's teams and Dodson's NorthWood Panthers have crossed paths often in the 1990s.
The two coaches gushed praises toward each other.
"Frank does a very good job of getting his teams ready for big football games," Dodson said. "At St. Joe, his teams were always ready to play well. Their win didn't come as a shocker to me."
"Number one, NorthWood is extremely well-coached," Amato said. "Rich and his staff do one of the best jobs in all three phases of the game - offense, defense and kicking game. Number two, NorthWood is probably the best second-half team I've ever coached against. There's no such thing as a safe lead against NorthWood. NorthWood teams get stronger and better as the game goes on."
Amato paused, chuckled. "They're also real good in the first half," he added.
Yes, the two coaches and their teams know each other.
Northridge and NorthWood, both Northern Lakes Conference teams, met earlier this season. NorthWood won 40-18 on Northridge's field.
Northridge and NorthWood run option offenses. The difference is, NorthWood's option offense has helped the Panthers compile a 9-2 record and seventh-place ranking in Class 3A.
NorthWood's offense is run by sophomore quarterback Charlie Roeder. Roeder has passed for more than 1,600 yards and rushed for more than 700. Opposing coaches say he has the poise of a senior, and if he continues to progress, could be a Division I football player.
"Our kids understand the basic concepts of the option play," Amato said. "The problem is, we can't simulate NorthWood's option in practice as well as they can simulate ours. That's because of numbers. We have 38 players on our roster. We don't have anybody who can simulate Charlie Roeder or Aaron Huber. Speed will be much more accelerated at the game compared to what we see on the practice field."
The first time the teams met, it was halfback Huber who did the damage. Huber scored four touchdowns, one of them a 57-yard punt return.
"Our defense has to play balanced," Amato said. "If we overload on Huber, Roeder will throw to four outstanding receivers. Roeder can hurt you running the ball, too. Our defense can't give up the big play."
Northridge's offense and defense played well against Valley. The Raider offense rushed for a season-high 234 yards. The Raider defense made key stops when the Viking offense went for it on fourth down.
"When you look at Northridge's offense, you have to be ready to stop the option," Dodson said. "That's their bread and butter. Then you have to prepare for some misdirection plays off the option. Obviously, we work with the option. Our defense goes against it every day in practice. It helps the defenses.
"We have to be ready to expect the unexpected this game. Everybody is picking Northridge as the underdog. Sometimes when you're the underdog, you play loose. You take chances. You do trick plays - like an onside kick. You do a few trick plays that the other team is not expecting."
Much talk was made about the Raiders drawing a bye. With the bye, they had two weeks off between their last regular-season game and their 17-0 win over Valley.
People, Amato said, were right when they talked about how key that two-week layoff was. He credited the break as being a big reason the Raiders won.
"(The two-week break) definitely helped us," he said. "Number one, it gave us the opportunity to heal up. Number two, it gave us the opportunity to work on fundamentals. We practiced football. We didn't prepare for an opponent. We didn't know who we would be playing. We practiced nothing but offensive and defensive fundamentals for one week."
Dodson and his coaching staff were impressed with Northridge's win over Valley.
"Their quarterback (Jody Weldy) has gotten much better from the first time we saw them," he said. "He's making better decisions off the option. He threw the ball well and hit big passes against Valley. Add to that they have some nice-sized linemen in (Matt) Gibson and (Lane) Detweiler. They're an improved football team."
Valley helped out the Raiders with dropped passes and penalties that stalled drives. Amato needs the same from NorthWood.
"We will have to play one of our best games of the year to be competitive," he said. "We need breaks. I'm going to be honest with you. We will need some breaks.
"If we play with the same intensity, if we get the same physical play, we will be in a position to be competitive in the fourth quarter. And from all indications in practice, that will be the case."
Hope for some breaks. Hope that the offense can put together long drives that will keep the football out of NorthWood's hands. Hope that the defense, which has seen the option play in practice, will not give up big plays. Hope that NorthWood's vaunted special teams do not give the Panthers good field positions.
These are things Amato is looking for.
Dodson was asked if there was any chance his 9-2 team could look past 2-8 Northridge.
One thing is for sure: he isn't.
"We haven't played very good to be overconfident," Dodson said. "We haven't played 48 minutes of good football where we can say we're real confident. We can't worry about who we're playing."
There "Ain't No Future in the Past," Gill sings.
Amato got his team to believe this last Friday. A 17-0 sectional win by a 1-8 team in the regular season is why coaches spew about being 0-0 when the postseason starts.
"You can't look back," Dodson said. "The past is the past. You can't do anything about the past. You can do something about the present. There will be no more football games after Friday night if you don't take care of the present." [[In-content Ad]]
On country singer Vince Gill's CD "Souvenirs," Gill sings about how there "Ain't No Future in the Past."
Frank Amato and his Northridge Raiders can testify to that.
On Oct. 31, Amato, in his first year as head football coach at Northridge, persuaded his team to wipe away its past. The 1-8 record in the regular season? Never happened.
The players, eager to find some sort of success to salvage the season, bought into what Amato was selling. They swaggered into "Death Valley" and stunned the 5-6 Tippecanoe Valley 17-0 in a second-round sectional matchup.
The Raiders are 1-0 in the 1997 postseason.
"One of our philosophies - I've been a proponent of this since 1985 - is every week we start 0-0," Amato explained. "Our goal is to be 1-0 after Friday's game. I used that philosophy at (South Bend) St. Joe, and we're using it here.
"What we did Friday night was a learning experience, but once I turn the tape off Saturday morning, we're 0-0 again. We don't dwell on the good or bad. That's something we've spent all year trying to ingrain here."
"Here" is Northridge. Amato's St. Joe teams were traditionally top-10 teams, and now he's trying to bring that same success to Northridge. The last time the Northridge Raiders saw the sectional finals was 1989 - and, irony of ironies - they beat Amato's St. Joe squad 12-10 to get there. The team they faced in the sectional finals then was NorthWood, the same team they will host at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
NorthWood beat Northridge. That's the closest the Raiders have come to winning a sectional championship.
Amato will go up against a familiar foe - Rich Dodson. Amato's teams and Dodson's NorthWood Panthers have crossed paths often in the 1990s.
The two coaches gushed praises toward each other.
"Frank does a very good job of getting his teams ready for big football games," Dodson said. "At St. Joe, his teams were always ready to play well. Their win didn't come as a shocker to me."
"Number one, NorthWood is extremely well-coached," Amato said. "Rich and his staff do one of the best jobs in all three phases of the game - offense, defense and kicking game. Number two, NorthWood is probably the best second-half team I've ever coached against. There's no such thing as a safe lead against NorthWood. NorthWood teams get stronger and better as the game goes on."
Amato paused, chuckled. "They're also real good in the first half," he added.
Yes, the two coaches and their teams know each other.
Northridge and NorthWood, both Northern Lakes Conference teams, met earlier this season. NorthWood won 40-18 on Northridge's field.
Northridge and NorthWood run option offenses. The difference is, NorthWood's option offense has helped the Panthers compile a 9-2 record and seventh-place ranking in Class 3A.
NorthWood's offense is run by sophomore quarterback Charlie Roeder. Roeder has passed for more than 1,600 yards and rushed for more than 700. Opposing coaches say he has the poise of a senior, and if he continues to progress, could be a Division I football player.
"Our kids understand the basic concepts of the option play," Amato said. "The problem is, we can't simulate NorthWood's option in practice as well as they can simulate ours. That's because of numbers. We have 38 players on our roster. We don't have anybody who can simulate Charlie Roeder or Aaron Huber. Speed will be much more accelerated at the game compared to what we see on the practice field."
The first time the teams met, it was halfback Huber who did the damage. Huber scored four touchdowns, one of them a 57-yard punt return.
"Our defense has to play balanced," Amato said. "If we overload on Huber, Roeder will throw to four outstanding receivers. Roeder can hurt you running the ball, too. Our defense can't give up the big play."
Northridge's offense and defense played well against Valley. The Raider offense rushed for a season-high 234 yards. The Raider defense made key stops when the Viking offense went for it on fourth down.
"When you look at Northridge's offense, you have to be ready to stop the option," Dodson said. "That's their bread and butter. Then you have to prepare for some misdirection plays off the option. Obviously, we work with the option. Our defense goes against it every day in practice. It helps the defenses.
"We have to be ready to expect the unexpected this game. Everybody is picking Northridge as the underdog. Sometimes when you're the underdog, you play loose. You take chances. You do trick plays - like an onside kick. You do a few trick plays that the other team is not expecting."
Much talk was made about the Raiders drawing a bye. With the bye, they had two weeks off between their last regular-season game and their 17-0 win over Valley.
People, Amato said, were right when they talked about how key that two-week layoff was. He credited the break as being a big reason the Raiders won.
"(The two-week break) definitely helped us," he said. "Number one, it gave us the opportunity to heal up. Number two, it gave us the opportunity to work on fundamentals. We practiced football. We didn't prepare for an opponent. We didn't know who we would be playing. We practiced nothing but offensive and defensive fundamentals for one week."
Dodson and his coaching staff were impressed with Northridge's win over Valley.
"Their quarterback (Jody Weldy) has gotten much better from the first time we saw them," he said. "He's making better decisions off the option. He threw the ball well and hit big passes against Valley. Add to that they have some nice-sized linemen in (Matt) Gibson and (Lane) Detweiler. They're an improved football team."
Valley helped out the Raiders with dropped passes and penalties that stalled drives. Amato needs the same from NorthWood.
"We will have to play one of our best games of the year to be competitive," he said. "We need breaks. I'm going to be honest with you. We will need some breaks.
"If we play with the same intensity, if we get the same physical play, we will be in a position to be competitive in the fourth quarter. And from all indications in practice, that will be the case."
Hope for some breaks. Hope that the offense can put together long drives that will keep the football out of NorthWood's hands. Hope that the defense, which has seen the option play in practice, will not give up big plays. Hope that NorthWood's vaunted special teams do not give the Panthers good field positions.
These are things Amato is looking for.
Dodson was asked if there was any chance his 9-2 team could look past 2-8 Northridge.
One thing is for sure: he isn't.
"We haven't played very good to be overconfident," Dodson said. "We haven't played 48 minutes of good football where we can say we're real confident. We can't worry about who we're playing."
There "Ain't No Future in the Past," Gill sings.
Amato got his team to believe this last Friday. A 17-0 sectional win by a 1-8 team in the regular season is why coaches spew about being 0-0 when the postseason starts.
"You can't look back," Dodson said. "The past is the past. You can't do anything about the past. You can do something about the present. There will be no more football games after Friday night if you don't take care of the present." [[In-content Ad]]