Northview football embraces out-of-region schedule to rebuild, sacrificing playoff eligibility

Northview head coach Mario Drayton overhauled the Titans' football schedule this fall, loading it with out-of-region opponents. The move costs the program its GHSA playoff eligibility but gives a roster thinned by graduating seniors room to rebuild.

The decision, first reported by The Messenger, the school's student newspaper, followed years of lopsided losses, coaching turnover and a shrinking student section at home games. Northview has won two or fewer games in each of the past six seasons, the Gwinnett Daily Post reported Sept. 3.

"I felt like now it was a necessity," Drayton told The Messenger, adding that it was important to prove the program can be successful and that players can say they gave everything they had.

The Titans are 1-3 through four games, according to MaxPreps. Their lone win came Sept. 4 at Berkmar, 20-12.

Losses include a 24-17 season opener against Johns Creek on Aug. 21, a 26-7 defeat to Drew on Aug. 28 and a 56-21 loss to King's Ridge Christian on Sept. 18.

Northview sits at 0-0 in AAAAA Region 6 play. MaxPreps still lists two region games on the remaining schedule: Oct. 9 at home against Chattahoochee at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 16 at Clarkston at 7:30 p.m. The rest of the slate features non-region opponents, including Trion, Towers, Johnson and Banks County. Whether those two region contests affect the team's playoff standing is unclear from available records.

Senior David Omiye said the team accepted the trade-off. He told The Messenger that nobody was shocked by the decision and that players believe they "still benefit more from out-of-region than in-region," even though it disqualifies them from the postseason.

The Messenger described a program that had been outmatched physically, facing teams "almost twice the size of the Titans." Drayton framed the schedule change as a morale play for the entire school, not just the sideline. He told the paper that students cannot simply abandon a team because it is losing.

Northview's 25-year-old football program now enters the second half of its schedule. The Titans host Trion on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m., then travel to Towers on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m.