FOUNTAIN SPRINGS The Tigers knew they were walking into a tough situation when they found out they had to travel to North Schuylkill to face the undefeated Spartans for the District 11 Championship. Not only are the Spartans a good team, but after losing to Northwestern by one point in last year's Eastern Conference Championship, they were out for some revenge.

The Tigers were able to stand up to the challenge and down North Schuylkill, 28-26, grabbing a spot in the state playoffs, which begin next week."What more could you want from a championship football game," asked Northwestern coach Josh Snyder. "We knew they weren't going to roll over. We got some good plays in the first half, we had that field goal into the wind that we just missed and a couple of penalties that put us behind the eight-ball that we couldn't recover from."Once again, field position, special teams and a stingy defense were part of the game plan for Northwestern. After stopping North Schuylkill on the first drive of the game, Northwestern came back to put together an 11 play drive that culminated with Frank Dangello hitting Taylor Breininger for the first of two touchdown passes that Dangello would have in the game.Northwestern held a 7-0 lead through the rest of the first quarter as the two teams traded blows and kept each other from getting into the end zone. Breininger would literally take things in his own hands when he fielded a punt at mid-field and sprinted through the North Schuylkill defense, giving the Tigers a 14-0 lead. Breininger also has a kick-off return for a touchdown, three interception returns for touchdowns and two fumble recoveries for touchdowns this season.Oddly enough, the punt return seemed to spark the Spartans offense and they came out on the next drive and marched 72 yards on just six plays to put themselves in a second-and-goal from the three, when John Rupinski cut into the end zone and brought North Schuylkill back to within a touchdown at 14-7.Late in the second quarter, Dangello put the offense to work again and made a big strike on a 55-yard pass to Cam Richardson that put the Tigers up 21-7. The Spartans fumbled on the ensuing kick-off return and the Tigers looked to score again before the half, but the drive stalled on the 24, leaving Brandon Miller to attempt a 41-yard field goal into the wind. The kick sailed just right of the goal post and the first half ended with Northwestern up by 14 points."We came in at halftime thinking that if we got a touchdown that we would maybe be able to make that the back breaker," said Dangello. "But they fought hard and they were in it the whole time. Both teams fought hard, a credit to both teams. Our offensive line; I told them that they were going to win it for us and they did."Harry Hall also had a big night for Northwestern, picking up 168 yards on 26 carries and also credited the offensive line for their play."The offensive line really stepped up in this game and the passing game really came through when we needed it to," said Hall. "The defense really did a great job this game as well. I'm really proud of the line and I'm really proud of everybody on the team right now."While Northwestern seemed to hold the upper hand, the Spartans continued to battle back throughout the game. A key play came when North Schuylkill missed an extra-point following its second TD. On their next touchdown drive, the Spartans were forced to go for a two-point conversion and couldn't convert. That would become a key point when North Schuylkill put together a late drive that cut the score to 28-26.Northwestern attempted to run out the clock after recovering an onside kick, but its drive stalled and it had to punt the ball away. Punter Brandon Miller lifted a high kick down to the three yard line and the coverage team allowed only a small return, leaving the Spartans to try to go 94 yards with just 1:44 left to play in the game.Spartans quarterback Bobby Grigas was unable to connect on four straight pass plays, turning the ball over on downs with under a minute to play. Dangello took two snaps and kneeled on both with North Schuylkill out of timeouts and unable to stop the clock."Not a lot of calls went our way tonight, but I thought our kids just battled and battled. I can't say enough about our defense," said Snyder. "Rupinski is a heck of a running back and their O-line was the talk of the town and the talk of the state and he never really got going."The win sends the Tigers into the PIAA playoffs against District 2 champ Dunmore at a site and time to be determined.