Pound the rock.

Moments after his team defeated North Schuylkill 34-14 in the District 11 Class 3A championship game, Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder met with his players.

After the customary postgame conversation, the Tigers ended the talk by shouting that three-word phrase.

Pounding the rock was something Northwestern did all season, and on Friday night it was again the key to victory against the top-seeded Spartans.

Led by quarterback Cade Christopher, who ran for 214 yards on 27 carries, the Tigers kept the ball on the ground 50 times.

Once they grabbed a lead, they moved the chains and took time off the clock. That formula eventually led to the program’s fifth district title.

“These kids are grinders, and we outfight people and outscrap people,” said Snyder. “We did it on the ground again tonight against a team that no one gave us a shot to run the ball against. We don’t mind ... we just get out there and get the job done.

“They have an ability to dig deep, and give a little extra. In the locker room before the game, I told the guys that usually kids want to run through walls for the coach, but I’d run through a wall for these guys. They really deserve it. They’re so selfless. They fight together. And they make plays.”

In a game full of key plays, it was actually a series of plays that proved to be one of the key turning points.

After North Schuylkill trimmed a 21-6 Tiger advantage to just seven points right before the half, Northwestern opened the third quarter with a statement drive.

Between the running of Christopher and Dalton Clymer, Snyder’s club drove 55 yards in 10 plays to the Spartan 10-yard line. After keeping the ball on the ground the whole march, Clymer gave the ball to freshman Mason Bollinger, who then threw back to Clymer for a 10-yard score.

Not only did that extend the lead to 28-14, but the drive took over six minutes off the clock.

“That was amazing,” said Christopher. “Controlling the ball like that is something that wins games for some teams. I was just glad we were able to pick up first downs and keep moving the chains.”

“We got the ball coming out (in the second half),” said Snyder. “ I said, ‘We’ve got to score and push it back up to two scores, and then play football.’ We had a heckuva drive there coming out, and then after that we got the huge turnover there at the 1-yard line ... You have to make plays to win championship ballgames, and we did that tonight.”

Following the Tigers’ score, North Schuylkill (10-3) looked like it would respond. Thanks to a couple big runs by Jaxson Chowansky, the Spartans moved all the way down to the Northwestern 1-yard line. But a fumble, recovered by Eli Zimmerman, ended the threat.

“On the 1-yard line, you’ve got to score in games like this when you’re going back and forth,” said North Schuylkill mentor Wally Hall. “Then we had them pinned back, and on third down the quarterback made a big run.

“That’s their deal (running the ball and controlling the clock). They get those three yards a carry. That’s their game the entire year, and they’re very good at it. We couldn’t slow them down in their game. We just couldn’t get that stop we needed.”

Christopher gave the Tigers (11-2) some breathing room after that with a clutch 54-yard pickup on a third-and-nine from his own 3-yard line. From there, it was Northwestern’s defense that made stops the rest of the way.

Not only did they make stops, they put an exclamation point on the outcome.

Trying to rally late in the game, North Schuylkill’s Trevor Minalda hit Collin McGee with a short pass. The Tigers wrapped up the receiver, and Ty Meck ripped the ball out of his hands and raced 72 yards for a touchdown to make it 34-14.

“Our defense doesn’t get enough love,” said Clymer, who made plenty of big hits on defense. “We came up huge tonight. Everybody worked their butt off.

“On offense, we’re a very run-oriented team. That’s our game plan, and it’s been that all year. We can pass the ball and make plays when we need to, but holding on to the ball we knew had to be our No. 1 priority.”

Now the Tigers’ next priority will be on the state playoffs. They’ll face District 12 champion Neumann Goretti next week in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS ... North Schuylkill took an early lead on the second play from scrimmage when Minalda hit Joey Flail on an 83-yard post pattern. Flail beat Christopher on the play. “I actually let up that touchdown,” said Christopher. “He burned me a little bit, but I promised I wouldn’t let that happen again. We just had to overcome that early adversity.” Midway through the first quarter, Christopher hit Clymer with a throwback screen that went for a 26-yard TD that tied the score. A Christopher 27-yard run led to a Clymer 1-yard tally that gave the Tigers their first lead, and Christopher again made his presence felt late in the second quarter by escaping for a 58-yard scoring burst.

STUD SENIOR ... “Any team that’s winning a district championship has a stud, and Cade’s ours,” said Snyder. “He’s our playmaker. The ball’s in his hands 90% of the time ... He’s a team kid, and how he goes we go. And a lot of times he goes pretty good.”

SNOW SQUALL ... During the first half, a snow squall left the field with a white coating. “The snow, it’s District 11 championship football that you dream about,” said Snyder. “Our kids will remember this for the rest of their lives.”