Huskies aim to knock out Raiders in sectionals for second year in a row

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- After a shutout of South Bend Riley last week in the first round of sectionals, the Saint Joe Huskies are now turning their focus to a clash of the heavyweights, as they get ready to take on the undefeated Northridge Raiders.

Last Friday, the Saint Joe Huskies dominated Riley with a 38 to zero victory.

"I loved what our defense did, we were in attack mode and we mixed things up really well, and people communicated really well and they did what they usually do, which is attack and be a good physical defense. Offensively, I was thrilled with our start especially, and I liked how we picked things up in the second half," said Ben Downey, Huskies head coach.

Their prize for beating the wildcats? A date with the Northridge Raiders, a team that hasn't lost a game since Halloween 2025, where they lost in the second round of sectionals to, you guessed it, the Saint Joe Huskies. Head coach Ben Downey knows even with how well his team played last week, there are still areas for improvement as they prepare to take on a Northridge squad that has scored 28 or more points in every game this season.

"The defense is going to be facing a stiff offensive opponent, so we just need to do what we're capable of doing, and that we focus on the next play. Offensively, we need to limit the self inflicted wounds, we are a very explosive offense, when we're not hurting ourselves," said Downey.

"Having confidence in each other and knowing that we have each other's back when we're going to make the next play, just picking each other up, getting to that next play, trusting in our offense, defense, special teams, I think that's where we'll excel most as a group," said Maddon Martin, junior cornerback.

A win for the Huskies would send them to the sectional championship for the second year in a row.

With this team playing some of their best football all year, Downey says this team has momentum, and is continuing to get even better.

"We're still improving, and that's what you want, you want to be peaking during the playoffs, we certainly have things to improve upon. Every time we watch film, we see more things that we can improve upon, as a staff and as a team, so we're improving the way that we want to, but we know we have to take more steps tomorrow in order to be victorious," said Downey.

The Raiders and Huskies will kick off from Leighton Stadium at 7 p.m.