The Warriors (4-2) will face Graham (5-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Dallas Stadium in a matchup of 1-0 Mad River Division squads.
“I think our kids are excited,” said Warriors coach Lance Lambert. “Our community is excited. This game in the past couple of years has been one that has kind of determined for us how our season was going to go after this point. I think our kids are ready to go. Obviously both teams are 1-0 in the league so there’s a lot to look forward to that’s for sure.”
Northwestern is hoping to get off to a fast start in their quest for their first division title since 2018. Five of the six teams in the Mad River Division are .500 or better this season; a year ago only Northwestern and Indian Lake finished the season with more than three wins.
“It’s up for grabs and I think every week you’re going to have to be prepared,” Lambert said. “We have teams that are physical, their identity is about running the football and out-hitting teams. I think each week you’re going to see different teams kind of have to battle it out and survive and advance.”
Northwestern is 4-2 for the second straight season, suffering losses to both Miami East and Kenton Ridge in Weeks 3 and 5 in back-to-back seasons. They fell to Kenton Ridge 21-17 two weeks ago despite having five turnovers.
“You never know when you’re close to overcoming the mountain top,“ Lambert said. ”Most people give up after a few times. We just have to continue to bounce back, learn from those losses and pay closer to attention to detail. We have to do the little things like taking care of the football, reducing penalties in big moments and making plays - that’s going to be the difference for us. Something that we’ve preached to our kids lately is that we’ve got to get over those obstacles by doing the little things.”
Northwestern is led by dynamic senior quarterback Ried Smith, who has thrown for 1,107 yards and seven TDs and has rushed for 418 yards and nine TDs.
“Everything runs through Ried for us and he does a great job,” Lambert said. “He can run and he can throw the football. He’s that dual threat type of kid that allows our offense to run efficiently. We’ve got a lot more kids on the edge right now that are older and more athletic this year, and so we’re just doing a good job of being able to spread the football out and kind of be that balanced offense that we want to be.”
He has a strong group of playmakers in his brother, junior wide receiver Rennen Smith (633 all-purpose yards, seven TDs) and junior Mason McDermott (563 receiving yards, four TDs). Defensively, senior Xander Stacey leads the Warriors with six sacks.
Northwestern will face a tough test in Graham, whose lone loss came against undefeated London 42-0 in Week 5. A year ago, the Falcons beat the Warriors 37-21. Northwestern is playing in its third straight road game and fourth of the season.
Last week, the Falcons trailed Benjamin Logan 21-20 in the fourth quarter, but reclaimed the lead on a 1-yard run by junior Danny Hoke en route to a 26-21 victory. Hoke and his brother, sophomore Jakob Hoke have combined for 1,294 and 16 TDs.
“They’re big and they’re physical up front,” Lambert said. “They do a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage. That’s really what it comes down to for us is being able to defensively handle them up front and run to the football and do what we’re supposed to do.”
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