New Prairie vs. Northridge Semi-State Championship Game Preview

We have reached the last penultimate week of the Indiana High School Football season. Semi-state is the final stopping point on the road to Lucas Oil Stadium. 24 teams will look to advance to Indy next week. The Northridge Raiders and New Prairie Cougars will collide with a Semi-State championship at stake. With a ton of talent on both sidelines, this 4A Semi-State contest will certainly be enticing. With a ticket to state on the line, playmakers will be called upon to make big contributions for their teams. Northridge Raiders Northridge features a very balanced offense. They can be effective both on the ground and through the air. A large part of their success in both areas stems from the outstanding play of their dual-threat Quarterback Tagg Gott. Gott will keep the defense on it toes as he can distribute the ball around the field, but he also leads the team in rushing. Gott really is a jack-of-all-trades at quarterback. When throwing the football, he is very accurate and can make good throws. He has the crucial ability to stand in the pocket, take the hit and still make the throw. Gott runs with physicality. While most quarterbacks look to pick up yardage and then get down, Gott will fight for additional yardage. He follows his blocks in the same way that most running backs do. Gott is also a tough outside linebacker. The defense for Northridge loves to get pressure as they have recorded 54.5 tackles for loss this year. Impressively, Gott has 11.5 tackles for loss, but that is not the most on the team in that department. That distinction belongs to Ridge Howard, who has driven the opponent back on 12 occasions. Howard attacks and gets downhill. He is outstanding at getting to the football. He pursues well and when he gets there he is a textbook tackler. New Prairie Cougars For New Prairie, they are set up to run the ball and try to get the Northridge defense tired. All season long, [player_tooltip player_id="185209" first="Noah" last="Mungia"] has been at, or around, the top of the rushing charts in the state. Mungia has great vision and finds openings well. He has great speed and it seems as though he is just gliding. They will need to get the ball in his hands as much as possible. On the opposite side, Northridge will need to keep tabs on him at all times defensively. Much like Northridge, New Prairie can wreak havoc in the opposing offense’s backfield. Jacob Meyers has been outstanding at getting after the quarterback all year. He leads the way with seven sacks this season. Meyers has the ability to disrupt the passing game by speeding up the clock in the quarterback’s head. Meyers has the ability to make big momentum plays for the defense. If he can make a big play in a critical juncture, that could completely shift the balance of the game.