This past Friday night at Spuller Stadium, two undefeated Summit Athletic Conference teams went to war in what ended up being as advertised — a thriller that went down to the wire. The Northrop Bruins hosted the North Side Legends with unbeaten records on the line. It was one of the hottest tickets in Northeast Indiana in Week 3 and both teams delivered. When it was all said and done, the Bruins went on to defeat the Legends 25-16.

Northrop star and Ohio State commit Quay Guilford finished with two rushing touchdowns in the victory. While he was impressive, it was the Bruins’ defense that came up big with clutch stops to help seal the victory. After speaking with him after the game all Guilford had to say was, “We’re the head and not the tail.”

Going into the the game, Northrop defensive coordinator Kalen Desrosiers spoke to me about how important the matchup against North Side was for their defense.

“It’s a real chance for our defense to prove itself. The whole defensive backfield either has D1 offers or interest. Ife Emedobi is a huge prospect on the rise,” coach Desrosiers said.

North Side quarterback Jaydin Rivers finished with 216 yards passing to go along with two passing touchdowns (Maalik Moore and MarKus Williams), but ultimately the Bruins defense got huge stops when they needed it most. “There’s 11 pieces to the defensive puzzle, and we needed all 11 tonight. Complete team effort,” Northrop defensive coordinator Desrosiers said.

Dee Hogue led all Bruins with 11 tackles and two PBU’s. Seniors defensive lineman Cornelius Jackson add nine tackles, 4 tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. Eligah Collins added nine tackles as well, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a sack on the evening. Finally, Guilford contributed seven tackles, including one for a loss and one PBU.

Northrop quarterback David Callison had a rough first half, throwing a pair of interceptions, but maintained composure in the second half. It took a team effort to pull out this gritty win over an improved North Side team.

“We played great as a team. Our kids did a great job persevering and sticking together through adversity,” Northrop head coach Quentin Bowen said about the victory. His Bruins are off to an incredible start to the 2025 season as they have accomplished the program’s first 3-0 start since 1977. In addition to that, it’s their first three-game winning streak in 13 years.

North Side Battle Tested Early To Prepare For Postseason

For the Legends, they fall to 2-1, but have no reason to hang their heads as they went into halftime against Northrop with a 10-7 lead and even had a 16-13 lead in the 4th quarter, but with two clutch touchdown runs by DaMeon Hogue and Guilford, the Bruins were able to seal the deal. North Side head coach Ben Johnson spoke with me briefly about the loss to Northrop. “It’s a long season. I’ll take the lesson now to be better for postseason success,” coach Johnson said.

North Side’s defense was also phenomenal for the majority of the game before allowing 12 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to Northrop. Strong defensive performances by Jalen Jackson, who led the team in tackles with seven tackles and one for a loss. B.J. Johnson Jr. and Moore caught both interceptions that were thrown by Callison. Junior defensive lineman Leslie Woodson and Jamarcus Martin were all over the backfield on Friday as well. Woodson finished with six tackles (two for a loss) and forced a fumble. Martin finished with five tackles (one for a loss) and a fumble recovery.

In Week 4, Northrop will travel on the road to face the 2-1 Homestead Spartans. Meanwhile, the Legends return home to host the 0-3 Concordia Cadets.