GREEN POND - With 1:19 left to play in Friday night's District 11 Class AA championship game, a small group of Northwestern fans started to chant.

As time was winding down on the Tigers' season the sidelines were serenaded with "Thank you seniors."It was a fitting close to a group of players that began their freshman year the same time Josh Snyder took over as head coach."They were freshmen when we took over and we asked them to jump into our philosophy and put their trust and faith in us," said Snyder, whose club dropped a 32-22 decision to Notre Dame. "They jumped in with both feet. They really trusted us and worked hard. And we pushed them hard. They made a lot of sacrifices and they never complained or moaned about it."They played for three straight championships - an Eastern Conference title and two district finals. They left everything on the field and you saw them fighting even at the end. That's what I'll take away most about these guys. They left the program better off than how it was when they got here. They left a heckuva legacy for Northwestern Tiger football."As ninth-graders, the program suffered through a 3-7 season. But what followed will be a three-year stretch that will be talked about for years to come.First there was a 9-3 record and an Eastern Conference title. That was followed by last year's district title and a final mark of 11-2. And finally, with many not knowing what to fully expect from this year's squad, the seniors closed their careers with another 9-3 campaign and a district runner-up finish."We're a close-knit group and we helped each other all year and it got us to this championship game," said senior quarterback Dylan Snyder. "It was a great time this year. We had some new guys fill in and it was just a fantastic year. I couldn't have asked for anything else.""We're pretty close ever since NYA (Northwestern Youth Association) and stuff," added classmate Joe Colucci. "We've grown up together and we knew we were a pretty good group when we were in 130s. Last year we won a championship and we almost did it again this year."Like Snyder (5-6, 165 pounds) and Colucci (5-8, 157), many of the senior class aren't blessed with tremendous size.Instead, they play with heart and determination."Many of these guys are literally in the 5-6, 5-7 range and weight around 160, 170 pounds," said Coach Snyder. "They just run around like crazy animals out here flying into people and putting their bodies at risk for the betterment of the team. That's what they were."They were tough players and you can win a lot of football games if you've got those kind of kids. And they have. They won 29 games in three years and that's something to be proud of."Probably the most decorated of the senior class is Harry Hall, the 5-9, 175-pounder who broke almost every rushing record there was at Northwestern."I told him some things after the game, one of them being that you took us on a helluva ride the last three years," said Coach Snyder. "I told him for how good of a football player you are, you're a better person and that's what I'm going to miss. And that's saying a lot, because he's a helluva football player."Hall was so devastated by the loss and the end of his career, he couldn't talk to reporters after the game.Other classmates shed tears, probably more about the journey ending than the actual defeat.Those emotions will pass eventually and the true nature of the group will surface in the weeks to come."Every year has different seniors," said Coach Snyder. "One group is way different than the other. These guys are honestly fun-loving and they don't get real serious about anything. It's always light in the locker room, even before games. That was an adjustment for me. The group last year was laser-focused. This group was a little different but they always came out ready to play."