It looked familiar — but this time, it was even more decisive.

For the second time this season, Northwestern Lehigh met a physical, battle-tested North Schuylkill team — and once again, the Tigers found a way to win.

The second-seeded Tigers built a four-touchdown lead in the first half and rolled to a 49-21 victory over the third-seeded Spartans in Friday night’s District 11 Class 3A semifinal.

The defending PIAA Class 3A champions have now won 28 straight games, improving to 12-0 as they advance to next week’s district championship against unbeaten top seed Notre Dame-Green Pond.

Northwestern also defeated North Schuylkill 49-18 on Sept. 26 — but both matchups were rugged, physical battles. The Tigers trailed 18-13 at halftime in the first meeting before rallying for the win, and they expected another hard-hitting test Friday.

“This was one of the weirdest first halves of football that I’ve been a part of,” said Northwestern coach Josh Snyder. “You go up 28-0, they get a big play — wacky football. But what I liked the most was our resiliency. We stayed composed, and we responded.”

Northwestern struck first with a 90-yard drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown run from Brady Zimmerman. The Tigers added three more touchdowns in the second quarter — a 20-yard scoring pass from quarterback Shane Leh to Shane Hulmes, an 8-yard strike to Mason Bollinger, and an 18-yard keeper by Leh — to build a 28-0 lead.

“It was a physical football game — an old-school Donnybrook,” Snyder said. “We knew how tough North Schuylkill was from the first time we played them. But our guys were ready. I’m proud of our senior group for what they’ve accomplished. It was their last game at Tiger Stadium, and they’ve left an incredible legacy.”

North Schuylkill (8-4) answered with a 46-yard touchdown run from Caden Mengel, then closed the half with a wild score as time expired. On second-and-goal from the 3, the quarterback appeared to be stopped near the line, but the ball popped loose and ended up in the hands of Luke Miller, who scooped it up and ran it into the end zone to make it 28-14 at halftime.

“We just needed to take a breath and play football,” Snyder said. “We were up two touchdowns and getting the ball to start the second half. I liked our odds.”

Leh said that message kept the team grounded. “Coach told us to flip the page,” he said. “He told us, ‘Forget about it — who cares what happened before? We’re up 28-14.’ We came out in the second half strong. You saw our resilience.”

Northwestern’s defense provided the spark it needed early in the third quarter when Michael Lagowy came up with a key interception to stop a promising North Schuylkill drive. A few plays later, Leh hit Zimmerman for a 72-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 35-14, and the Tigers never looked back.

“They were marching, and we needed a play,” Snyder said. “Michael stepped in front like a center fielder and made a huge interception. That was the momentum swing. We never looked back.”

Bollinger added a 1-yard touchdown late in the third, and senior running back Braxton Lakatosh — who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season — powered in from a yard out early in the fourth. Leh found Zimmerman for the two-point conversion to start the running clock at 49-14. Miller’s 54-yard run in the closing minutes capped the scoring for the Spartans.

Leh accounted for four touchdowns — two passing and two rushing — and nearly reached 100 yards on the ground. “I love running the ball,” Leh said. “When the ball’s in my hands, my goal is to get as many yards as I can or get in the end zone. I’m really thankful for my offensive line and my blockers — guys like Braxton, Chase Sukanick, and Brady Zimmerman. They make it easy to trust what’s in front of you.”

Lakatosh called the win a milestone night for the team. “We played them on homecoming, and we were down at halftime that night,” he said. “We wanted to come out swinging tonight, and that’s what we did. Getting 1,000 yards is every running back’s goal, but I just want to thank my line (Colton Popp, Braidon Berk, Nolan Koehler, Devin Rex and Maddox Hurdle) for that. They do their job, I trust them, they trust me — that’s why it works.”

The Tigers once again showed balance and selflessness on offense, piling up 485 total yards with contributions from every level of the lineup. Northwestern spread the scoring among multiple playmakers, while its defense — which has delivered in different ways each week — stood tall again.

The Tigers limited Miller, the leading rusher in District 11 who entered the game with 2,454 yards on 209 carries and 32 touchdowns, to fewer than 100 yards before his late scoring run. The defense also came up with two interceptions and consistently contained the Spartans’ big-play ability.

“Our playmakers are unselfish,” Snyder said. “We have four or five guys with double-digit touchdowns, and they don’t care who gets the credit. They just want to win.”

UP NEXT ... The win sets up the matchup everyone’s been waiting for — an unbeaten showdown between Northwestern and Notre Dame-Green Pond (12-0) for the District 11 Class 3A championship. “We’ve been taking it one week at a time,” Leh said. “But in the back of our minds, we’ve been wanting this. Notre Dame’s the team we want to beat. We’re excited for the challenge.”

“We’ve been hoping for this,” Lakatosh added. “It’s been marked on our calendar. Winning a district championship is a goal for all of us, and we’re going to work and get it.” Snyder said the Tigers won’t take the moment for granted. “Now that we’re here, we’re extremely excited for this matchup,” he said. “It’s two great teams. We’ll enjoy this one for a night, then hit the film. Our guys are ready for another big-time game.”

N’western 49, N. Schuylkill 21

North Schuylkill 0 14 0 7 - 21

Northwestern 7 21 13 8 - 49

NW - Zimmerman 15 run (Sukanick kick)

NW - Hulmes 20 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)

NW - Bollinger 8 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)

NW - Leh 18 run (Sukanick kick)

NS - Mengel 46 run (Urban kick)

NS - Miller 3 run (Urban kick)

NW - Zimmerman 72 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)

NW - Bollinger 1 run (kick failed)

NW - Lakatosh 1 run (Zimmerman pass from Leh)

NS - Miller 54 run (Urban kick)