Northridge football preview: Offseason changes, headwinds doing little to buffer Knights’ outlook
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- Box Elder’s Cole Mortensen (4) leans for a tackle attempt against Northridge’s Zach Smith (19) in a Region 5 football game Friday, Sept. 9, 2022, in Layton.
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- Northridge quarterback Porter Olsen lets a pass fly during a Region 5 football game against Bonnevillle on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Layton.
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- Northridge High’s Zach Smith, left, runs for a touchdown in a Region 5 football game against Box Elder on Friday, Sept. 9, 2022, in Layton.
LAYTON — Northridge High’s football team has had an interesting offseason.
First, head coach Andrew Fresques sent in the team’s helmets for reconditioning — that’s required by rule — and to get painted matte black in December.
Then, Fresques brought in new defensive coordinator Kitt Rawlings in the winter, and simultaneously moved last year’s DC, Michael Murphy, to offensive line coach. Rawlings brought with him a “sophisticated” defense.
“It’s sophisticated but it’s pretty simple because it’s still coverages. It’s your usual — cover one, two, three, four — but he does a really good job. He makes it really easy and on paper he explains it really well. He doesn’t make it too hard, but you definitely got to study,” senior receiver Zach Smith said.
Closer to the start of summer, two prospective starters, Jacob Speredon and Ryan Tillman, transferred to Farmington and Viewmont, respectively. Then, the Knights gained transfers including Tucker Keller (Fremont) and Gabe Carlson (Layton).
Then, the helmets Fresques sent in back in December hadn’t been sent back to Northridge by late June, which forced the team to move its padded team camp from June to July, after the July 4 moratorium.
The changes and headwinds, in conjunction with last year’s 2-8 record, have done little to buffer the Knights’ spirits or outlook on 2023.
The Knights have a lot of their typical talent and athleticism at the skill positions. The team doesn’t have a lot of size, nor is it particularly deep despite having bumped overall team participation from 83 kids to around 95 this year.
But the Northridge team feels as though it should at least improve on last year’s two-win record, which itself included four Region 5 games in which the Knights either led during the fourth quarter or were within one possession.
“I see a lot of culture, a lot of family, a lot of brotherhood here. We all get along pretty good. This year, we have a lot of returning people, so I don’t see too many problems. If we do what we do, we’ll have a good year,” junior safety Jaxon Fresques said.
Smith, at 6-foot-2 and around 205 pounds, is probably the most well-known name on the team. He’ll be a three-year starter at receiver/tight end, led the team in catches and yards last year and will also play middle linebacker.
Smith was a team captain this year and, as a prospective three-year starter, is somewhat the elder statesman on the team and knows a lot of players’ eyes will be on him.
“It’s not hard but it’s not easy. It’s because you want to be everyone’s friend, you don’t want to be the big guy on campus, but you gotta kind of push people around and make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Smith said.
Porter Olsen played quarterback for half of the Woods Cross game last year, then started the final four games and enters this year as the prospective starter.
In the four starts, he threw for 1,216 yards (304 yards per game), 11 touchdowns, seven interceptions, completed 59.9% of his passes and gave the Knights legitimate chances to beat both Viewmont and Bountiful.
Malu Lumpkins and Jaxon Fresques, Andrew’s nephew, return at receiver, and the team is very excited about some of the upcoming receivers, including Jake Benzley, Azavier McDaniel, Dontae Dyson and Chase Harris, in what’s typically a pass-heavy offense.
The key to putting it all together is up front, where Blake Jonas is the only returning starter on the offensive line, which itself is blocking for a new group of running backs.
“What needs work is really taking pride in the trenches. … Really, everyone knows that’s involved with football that the game’s still won in the trenches, and really taking pride in that and getting guys to want to play there,” coach Fresques said.
The offense has also emphasized finishing games and finishing drives, since it saw a handful of games get out of reach in the fourth quarter last season.
From his first year as head coach in 2020, Fresques said he and his staff have put an emphasis on watching film to the team, and getting players to understand that work outside of practice will make a difference.
He thinks it’s helped the Knights, who return three defensive starters but none of their main defensive playmakers, learn Rawlings’ defensive scheme and ideas.
“I thought they’ve picked it up really, really fast. In some aspects, I feel like they can be ahead of us even on the offensive side of the ball,” Fresques said.
He and Rawlings know each other through each other’s affiliation with Woods Cross High. Rawlings was a record-setting running back at Woods Cross in the 1980s, and Fresques was Woods Cross’ head coach from 2017-19. They talked in the offseason and, eventually, Rawlings became the new DC.
It amounts to one of the more significant changes Fresques has made in his Northridge tenure so far, and it comes ahead a two-year period that will see an already challenging Region 5 schedule become tougher with the additions of Roy and Clearfield.
There’s some headwinds, but the Knights feel like they’re in a good spot to deal with them.
“We’ve got a better culture than last year, more leaders. Definitely gonna see a lot more younger guys stepping up, which is good. We look ready to play a game in 30 days,” Jaxon Fresques said in early July.
QUOTABLE
Going back to the switch at defensive coordinator, Andrew Fresques said he’s tried to preach about not having egos on the staff.
“I tell the kids, next year as we reevaluate too if we got opportunities to — if Lincoln Riley wants to come coach and call the offense, I’m bringing him in. He’s coaching and calling the offense, know what I mean?” he said.
“My job is to put the best team together, best staff together, and that was an opportunity to get a heck of a coach in here.”
FACTS and FIGURES
2022 season: 2-8, 0-5 Region 5. Northridge’s five region losses came by 3, 8, 12, 14 and 35 points. In four of the region losses, the Knights either led in the fourth quarter or trailed by one possession.
2023 strength of schedule: 47-60 (.439)
Returning starters: 5 offense, 3 defense
Strength/Weakness: Team unity./Depth.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Zach Smith, SR., TE/LB: Smith is Northridge’s best overall player and most likely a future college player. He had team highs of 58 catches for 682 yards and five TDs and will play middle linebacker this year.
Porter Olsen, SR., QB: Olsen started out as a receiver, became the starting quarterback for the Viewmont game last year, threw for 309 yards and four TDs and the job was his from then on. His 344-yard, two-TD game against Region 5 champion Bountiful was the best performance by a QB against Bountiful all season.
Jaxon Fresques, JR., WR/S: He made 89 tackles last year, which was third on the team and tops among returners, to go with 432 receiving yards.
Malu Lumpkins, SR., WR: Lumpkins is the second-leading returning receiver with 561 yards and five TDs last year.
Hudson Heywood, SR., S: Heywood co-led the team with two interceptions last year and is one of three defensive returners.
Andrew Hadley, JR., DL: One of three returners on defense. He had 24 tackles last season.
DID YOU KNOW?
Northridge last won a playoff game in 2012 and is 0-6 in the postseason since.
Northridge is 21-10 all-time against city rival Layton in the battle for The Sword but has a three-game losing streak against the Lancers, the longest losing run against LHS in school history.
Andrew Fresques has been a head football coach the last six seasons (WX from 2017-19, NHS from 2020 to now), and his teams’ records in that time have alternated between winning and losing: 7-5 in 2017, 2-8 in 2018, 8-3, in 2019, 0-10 in 2020, 7-4 in 2021 and 2-8 in 2022.
All-time record against teams on the schedule: 2-0 against Murray, 21-10 against Layton, 5-1 against Kearns, 1-1 against Box Elder, 17-8 against Viewmont, 0-2 against Bountiful, 6-7 against Bonneville, 3-2 against Woods Cross, 13-13 against Clearfield and 8-9 against Roy.
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
After the season opener at Murray, Northridge has five straight home games including against rival Layton and three region games against teams either expected to be in the top half of Region 5 or close to it
The back half is filled with rivalry games against Bonneville, Clearfield and Roy. There’s also a stretch of three road games in four weeks to end the season.
SCHEDULE
All games 7 p.m.
Aug. 11: at Murray
Aug. 18: Layton
Aug. 25: Kearns
Sept. 1: Box Elder*
Sept. 8: Viewmont*
Sept. 15: Bountiful*
Sept: 22: at Bonneville*
Sept: 29: at Woods Cross*
Oct. 6: Clearfield*
Thurs., Oct. 12: at Roy*
* — Denotes Region 5 game
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.
