Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder brought up an old memory involving his Notre Dame Green Pond counterpart Phil Stambaugh.

The memory was from when the two were teammates at Lehigh University and they ran a play called “Harvard.”

The play was a two-point conversion play that worked well for Lehigh and with a slight adjustment to how the play is run, it worked well for Northwestern Thursday night.

The success of the play turned out to be critical, and tied the game at 21 in the third quarter. From there, the Tigers went on for a 35-34 win and a shot at a district championship next week against North Schuylkill.

The play followed a rapid-fire turn of events in the third quarter that saw Notre Dame quarterback Danny Darno go in from a yard out to finish off a 16-play drive, and with the extra point, the Crusaders went up 21-13.

On the ensuing kickoff, Cade Christopher took a reverse handoff from Mason Bollinger and went 82 yards for a touchdown. Needing a two-point conversion to tie, Snyder dusted off the old Harvard play that left senior Austin Sosnovik open in the front corner of the end zone.

“Phil and I ran that play back in college, and we dusted that one off from about 2016 or 2017 when we ran it here and it worked,” said Snyder. “You look like a genius when it works and not so much when it doesn’t, but I was willing to make some risky decisions in order to give our kids a chance to win.”

In addition to the touchdown on the kickoff return, Christopher had a big offensive night, picking up rushing touchdowns of 38 and nine yards, and throwing a touchdown pass when he hooked up with Sosnovik on a 38-yard strike.

On the night, Christopher rushed for 192 yards, scored three touchdowns, and threw for a fourth. Christopher did much of his damage during a wild third quarter that saw both teams score each time they had the ball, producing 36 points in the 15-minute span.

“Honestly, it was really fun,” said Christopher of the wild game. “We knew it was going to be a battle, and we worked all week for it. We just had to keep grinding, and we did that and came out with the win.”

With the score tied at 21, Darno found an opening off the right side and went in from 20 yards out, giving his team a 28-21 advantage. Northwestern (10-2) faked the “jet sweep” that they routinely run, and Sosnovik found a wide-open spot in the middle of the field where Christopher hit him with a perfect pass for a 38-yard touchdown to make it 28-27. Snyder rolled out the “New Tripoli Special,” another gadget play for the two-point conversion and a 29-28 lead in the game.

On the first play of the next drive, Darno looked for A.J. Lozano down the sideline and when defender Seth Kern fell, Lozano jogged easily into the end zone. However, the Crusaders (9-3) attempt for a two-pointer failed, leaving them up 34-29.

With the Tigers driving to open the fourth quarter, Ludlow picked off a Christopher pass at the Crusaders 1-yard line, but the Northwestern defense forced a punt and gave Christopher and the offense a short field at the Notre Dame 34.

On the seventh play of the drive, Christopher went in from nine yards out and another two-point attempt failed, leaving the score 35-34.

“We always find a way to make it work,” said Christopher. “Me and Clymer with that one-two punch always works, and with that line in front of us, there is nothing stopping us.”

Looking to go ahead late in the game, Darno was shaken up and went to the sideline. The Crusaders went to their Wildcat offense, and Ludlow took the snap and went through the middle for four yards.

The play left Notre Dame with a fourth-and-four at their own 30, and without their starting QB, Stambaugh elected to punt and Northwestern ran out the clock to preserve the win.

PICK THREE ... In addition to Ludlow’s interception, Christopher was also intercepted by Lozano late in the first quarter. Perhaps the biggest interception came from Eli Zimmerman, who stepped into the lane to pick off Darno on a fourth-and-20 play on the Crusaders first possession of the night. Notre Dame had driven down to the 15-yard line, but a personal foul call on a blindside block pushed it back to the 26 and set up the ill-fated fourth down play.

POST TURKEY FOOTBALL ... The winner of next week’s game against North Schuylkill (10-2) will get a trip to the PIAA playoffs. The District 11 champion will play the winner of next week’s first round state game between the District 2 and District 12 champs. That game will be played the following weekend.