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Northview wraps up summer camp with back-to-back scrimmages
With the month of July rapidly coming to a close, thus bringing an end to summer camp for high school football teams around the state of Indiana, Northview head coach Mark Raetz and his staff circled Wednesday’s scrimmage at home against South Putnam – Monrovia was originally scheduled to be a part of the Wednesday’s scrimmage but decided against making the trip to Brazil with inclement weather in the forecast – as well as Thursday’s scrimmage at Danville as a finish line of sorts to the preseason portion of the year before things get serious in August.
The scrimmages serve as a simulation for what’s to come when the regular season gets underway on August 23 against Terre Haute North and gives the Knights a chance to see someone else across the line of scrimmage for the first time in a while.
“It’s nice to go against somebody other than yourself. It’s also kind of nice to see where you stack up,” said Raetz. “We’ve known these guys for a while and know they’ve got a really good team this year – they’re probably the favorites entering the season in 1A – so we knew it would be good competition … It was good. And then [Thursday’s scrimmage at Danville], we’re seeing more good teams. Danville is in our sectional. McCutcheon is a bigger school than us, and then North Putnam kind of jumped in late. It’s good, though. It gives us a chance to see how our kids compete and handle pressure situations.”
After every eighth play, each team alternated sending their respective offenses and defenses on the field with the ‘drive’ beginning on their own 35-yard line.
Raetz said Wednesday’s scrimmage against the Eagles, a Class A powerhouse that could challenge for a trip to Lucas Oil Stadium in November, brought new things to light for his group, especially on the offensive side with South Putnam throwing a different coverage at them on the defensive line.
And while he acknowledged that there would be plenty of other areas to sharpen up after looking at the film later on, the 12-year head coach thought there were more positives than negatives to take from the night.
“I thought at times we hit some plays and then I thought at other times we struggled,” Raetz said. “We struggled up front, but this was also the first time all summer we’ve seen an odd front. That was a different look for us. It’s something we’re going to see throughout the season, so it was good to see that for the first time.”
Following Thursday’s scrimmage at Danville, Northview will return to campus on Friday morning for its final preseason practice before taking the last week of July off.
After that? The preparation for the Patriots gets underway in earnest.
“We take the week off to let everybody reset and recharge because as soon as August 5 hits, it’s all out until the season’s over,” said Raetz. “Hopefully, the guys come in and are physically and mentally ready to be better and are ready to compete because the jamboree will be here three weeks from Friday. So, things are going to get pretty real pretty quick.”