EASTON - Northwestern welcomed back a number of key pieces in its Week 4 meeting with Wilson. And it proved to be the missing piece the Tigers were looking for early in the season.

The Tigers railed from a five-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and then held off Wilson for a 29-26 victory on Saturday afternoon. It was Northwestern's first win of 2017."We had a tough first three weeks this year," said quarterback Deven Bollinger. "Wilson looked good coming into the game today; they have a really good running back and a really good quarterback. A few guys stepped up today. Our line did very well. Our wide receivers got open."One of the main pieces the Tigers welcomed back was senior wide receiver/running back Phil Dangello. And his impact was felt from the opening kickoff until the final whistle.After Northwestern (1-3) retook the lead midway through the fourth quarter with a 14-play drive, capped by one of Bollinger's three touchdown passes - this one to Caleb Clymer - the Tigers' defense delivered on Wilson's next possession. A couple of penalties kept the Warriors out of game-tying field goal range,forcing them to punt the ball back to Northwestern.And as the Warriors sought one last stop on defense, they couldn't seem to find an answer for Dangello lining up in the wildcat formation. He ran seven straight times to run out the clock, including two pivotal first downs that kept Wilson's offense off the field."I told the guys it's a new season that starts today," Tiger coach Josh Snyder said. "Obviously we got some guys back that we haven't had the first three games. We made some mistakes, and we left some plays on the field, but we made enough plays to win."He [Dangello] was the heart and soul of our team in the offseason and in the weight room. He is a playmaker, our go-to guy that we put all over the field. Situations happened that he wasn't available. The game plan was to get him the ball in as many ways as possible."Northwestern struck first on its first possession with a five-yard touchdown run from Jaylen Smith. But Wilson had an answer a little more than a minute later.The Warriors (2-2) tied the game at 7-7 after running back Job Goodman scampered 53 yards for a touchdown midway through the opening quarter. After a quick series for the Tigers' offense, Wilson quarterback Cameron Clark connected with wide receiver Alec Snyder for an 88-yard touchdown to break the tie."We were worried about those two guys - Goodman and Clark. They were about as much as we could handle," Snyder said. "In that last series, we were looking for a negative play. They jumped offside I think to start and they had the holding that put them back. But we still made some plays in that sequence."The two teams would trade touchdowns throughout the rest of the game. A 62-yard touchdown run from Goodman, his third of the game, gave Wilson a 26-21 lead late in the third quarter.That lead would diminish on Northwestern's next possession as Bollinger delivered what proved to be the game-winning TD to one of his favorite targets in the passing game."We didn't have any really big explosive plays. A lot of the plays we had were just gritty," Snyder said. "To finish in the end zone on drives instead of settling for field goals was huge."BEST OF THE SEASON ... Head coach Josh Snyder called Bollinger's effort on Saturday his best game of the season. And it's hard to argue after the sophomore quarterback threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns.LOOKING AHEAD ... Snyder and the Tigers hope this win will help build momentum for this group, which hosts Pen Argyl on Friday at 7 p.m.