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October 6, 2008 Greetings from San Diego, California. No matter where I am, I always pay attention to the local sports landscape, and prior to Novi's great victory over Livonia Stevenson Friday night, I kept replaying a conversation I had with Coach Dave Ray almost 10-years ago. While developing up-and-coming gridiron stars for the Novi Colts, the primary motivation was to inculcate a persona that would resonate over the entire football program, that would reach it's crescendo by the time they became Varsity players. The message was simple... If you line up against the Novi Wildcats, you had better be prepared for one of the most physical contests of your life. You will get early and often, high and low, and when the whistle blows just know that in another 30 seconds, you're going to get hit again. In October 2000, the Novi Wildcats hosted Portage Northern in the 1st round of District Playoffs, and they featured All-American running back, and Michigan-bound recruit, Kelly Baraka. The Cats out-hit and out-hustled their opponent that night, defeating the visitors 24-14 and after the game, Baraka came across the field, looked at the Novi Coaching staff and said, "Man, I haven't been hit like that all year, maybe any year!' It's good to see that all these years later, the pride and tradition that personifies Novi football is still alive and well, even though most the current players were only in 3rd or 4th grade during the Novi/Portage Northern playoff game. Tradition never graduates, and we'll see this version of the Novi Wildcats back in the playoffs in a few weeks. As far as their opponent? I will guarantee they will be hit hard, early and often. (c) 2008 Novi
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