ORWIGSBURG - In 2012, the Northwestern Tigers won the Eastern Conference championship and used it as a springboard to a District 11 title the following season. The Tigers were hoping to do the same this season with another Eastern Conference championship, but Blue Mountain (9-2) had other plans as the Eagles beat Northwestern 51-30 on Friday night.

Northwestern's troubles started early when it trailed 7-0, but came back on the next drive to a first-and-goal from just inside the Blue Mountain 10-yard line. Then, Trevor Cunningham rushed the ball down to the three, where the drive stalled. The next two plays lost a total of 10 yards and Hunter Miller had to come on to kick a 30-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3."Obviously, we wanted to put that one into the end zone, but we still felt pretty good about where we were at that point," said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. "It was early and we thought we would be able to get some stops, so we weren't too concerned."Blue Mountain exploded for 16 points in the second quarter, with the first two coming on a safety when Devin Bollinger was caught in the end zone. On the ensuing kickoff, from the 20-yard line, Cam Umbenhauer turned in a 75-yard return to put the Eagles up 16-3.However, Northwestern didn't look like a team that was giving up. The Tigers came right back with a short field and went 56 yards in six plays, wrapped up by Deven Bollinger hitting Trevor Cunningham for a 24-yard TD pass.The Eagles found a previously unused offensive weapon in wide receiver Nate Calderone, who pulled in three passes for 30 yards on the next drive, before Mason Dallatore ran in from three-yards out to put Blue Mountain up 23-9 with just under a minute left in the half.Blue Mountain had the ball first to start the second half.After a false start penalty from their own 25-yard line, the Eagles faced a first-and-15 when junior quarterback David Krewson hit Calderone, who was wide open, and went 80 yards to put the Eagles up 30-9."We really wanted to hold them on that drive and look to build some momentum, but there was a mix-up on that play and the guy was wide open," explained Snyder. "That definitely hurt us and changed the complexion of the game."From there, Blue Mountain was able to dominate the third quarter and before long, the Tigers found themselves down 44-17 to open the final 12 minutes.Cunningham would break open for a 64-yard touchdown run, and Bollinger hit Caleb Clymer for a 13-yard TD pass in the fourth, but Northwestern couldn't hold down the Eagles offense, as they fell 51-30.BIG NUMBERS ... The 51 points given up by Northwestern were the most since Catasauqua beat the Tigers 57-3 in the 2012 season finale. Northwestern also gave up 57 points to Northern Lehigh in a 57-19 loss that same season. The loss to the Rough Riders, which came on November 2, 2012 was also the last time the Tigers lost by 21 or more points.WALKING WOUNDED ... Phillip Dangello and Anthony Colucci were both out of the lineup against Blue Mountain with injuries. Dangello missed the final three games, while Colucci missed the last six. Senior Tyler Foster was in uniform, but didn't get any carries after suffering a dislocated shoulder two weeks ago.FINAL FOUR ... The senior class won an Eastern Conference championship as freshmen, a District 11 championship as sophomores, played for a district title last season and for an Eastern Conference this season, giving their class four championship game appearances."That's quite an accomplishment," said Snyder. "Those guys have nothing to hang their heads about, they did an excellent job and leave having put this program on the right path."