Northridge football preview: Knights try to figure out puzzle with new coach, odd school boundary
Northridge High football players practice on July 30, 2020 at Northridge High School in Layton.
Northridge High football players practice on July 30, 2020 at Northridge High School in Layton.
Northridge High football players gather after practice on July 30, 2020 at Northridge High School in Layton.
Northridge High football players practice on July 30, 2020 at Northridge High School in Layton.
Northridge High football players practice on July 30, 2020 at Northridge High School in Layton.
LAYTON — On the morning of July 30, the F-35A Lightning II fighter jets that so commonly launch from Hill Air Force Base did indeed launch, but not in the normal path where they bank from south to west.
The jets did all sorts of maneuvers that normal bystanders don’t see, including the Northridge High football players, who normally see the jets shortly after takeoff just to the east of the football field.
“It is unique. It’s funny at Woods Cross I dealt with the freeway noise, but now that you come here you’re like, ‘Oh yeah I remember that,'” Knights head coach Andrew Fresques said.
He was the first Davis County coach to switch seats in a busy coaching shuffle spring after Braden Mitchell stepped down at Northridge and moved to Wisconsin.
Fresques left a Woods Cross program that’s supposed to, on paper, win Region 5 this year and possibly make a deep playoff run.
As Fresques said in the spring, the pull of the alma mater — he graduated from Northridge in 2001 — was just that strong.
“I can’t complain, I enjoy being back,” he said. “It was really weird walking back in the school, so many great memories. And it’s nice, being close to my family, being five minutes away … be here a lot and still be with my family a lot,” he said.
So now he tries to figure out the confounding Northridge puzzle: how to have a good team and program when the players grow up playing for a handful of different youth football programs — Layton, South Weber, Clinton and Sunset — and don’t really get to know each other until high school.
It’s already hard enough. Then the COVID-19 shutdown happened about a week after he was hired.
“It was so hard not to get to know these young men who I’m working with,” Fresques said. “At the end of the day, football’s great and all that, but I want to make sure that they’re doing well in school, that they’re being good sons at home, that they’re doing great in the community. That was tough.”
For the players whose only real in-person glimpse of him was at his introductory meeting in a school auditorium, it sounded harder.
“It was really hard at first because I only knew him through Zoom meetings and text messages, but after we got here, we all grew on him pretty quick and he grew on us,” lineman Austin Joy said.
June 1 came and the video calls, lonely at-home workouts and isolation ended for everyone. It was especially crucial for the Knights, who, like always, have to do a fair bit of “Hi, nice to meet you” at the start of the year.
“Our team’s going to depend on how quick we can focus on the mental aspect of things, how quick we can understand the little things are what makes a big difference, discipline. That is a thing I am just harping on,” Fresques said.
Offensively, the Knights will spread it out. If anyone wants to try reading the tea leaves to see what exactly Northridge will do with that spread, look no further than the stat sheets of Fresques’ Woods Cross teams.
And, by the way, he brought a sizable chunk of his offensive coaches to Northridge from WX.
In 2017, the Wildcats passed for 2,771 yards and ran for 1,511 with 57.8% of plays being pass plays.
In 2018: 3,286 pass yards, 1,036 rush yards, 65.5% pass plays.
In 2019: 2,957 pass yards, 1,323 rush yards, 57% pass plays.
There’s usually three or four receivers on the field and only one football, but it might work out.
“We definitely have the speed. Speed and agility is our team for sure,” senior Brooks Ashton said.
As for who’s going to replace two-year starting quarterback Colby Browning, Fresques said there were three names in late July: a senior named Famous Williams, junior Roman Kuykendall and sophomore Easton Gertge.
As for who’s going to replace Utah State receiver Otto Tia? No one.
“All of us are, like, fairly equal to each other, not all spread out. There’s not 1’s or 2’s, we’re all like good and equal with each other,” Ashton said.
QUOTABLE”They do fun stuff,” Austin Joy said, talking about the jets.
“Like that,” he said, pointing as a jet did some sort of roll combined with a hard turn.
WHAT’S NEWAndrew Fresques is the new head coach and the offensive/defensive schemes are new.
Northridge will face Provo (Oct. 14) for the first time in school history.
FACTS AND FIGURES2019 season: 2-8 (1-6 Region 1). Northridge beat Viewmont on the road in the season opener, then didn’t win again until beating Layton 41-28 on Oct. 11.
2020 strength of schedule: 50-62 (.446).
Players to watch: Amaree McDaniel (WR/S), Dylan Madrigal (LB), Austin Joy (OL/DL), Carson Ormond (OL/DL), Chase Davis (OL/DL), Robby Howe (DL), Brooks Ashton (WR/CB), Logan Smith (K/DB/WR), Hudson Tanner (S/WR)
Returning starters: 7, and they’re all two-way players.
Strength/weakness: Young talent/depth
NOTESNorthridge is 21-7 all-time against city rival Layton, and the 21 wins have come by an average of 13.7 points — though it seems to come in waves.
From 2009-14, Northridge won six straight by minuscule margins: 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 2 points. From 2001-04: 24, 30, 32 and 24 points.
SCHEDULEAug. 14: vs. Viewmont, 7 p.m.
Aug. 21: at Taylorsville, 7 p.m.
Aug. 28: vs. Davis*, 7 p.m.
Sept. 4: at Fremont*, 7 p.m.
Sept. 11: at Weber*, 7 p.m.
Sept. 18: vs. Clearfield*, 7 p.m.
Sept. 25: at Roy*, 7 p.m.
Oct. 2: vs. Syracuse*, 7 p.m.
Oct. 9: at Layton*, 7 p.m.
Oct. 14: vs. Provo, 7 p.m.
* – Region 1 game
