Tigers top Nanticoke to reach EC final
Northwestern sophomore Harry Hall racked up a total of 237 yards rushing with four touchdowns as the Tigers rolled over Nanticoke 50-21 in the semifinal of the Eastern Conference Class AA Tournament.
The Tigers are the top seed in the tournament and will host North Schuylkill Friday night in the championship game. Second seeded North Schuylkill downed North Penn to advance to the championship.
The Tigers scored on each of their first three possessions to jump out to an 18-0 lead after a two-point conversion and two point-after kicks failed. Hall got the scoring started when he dashed 32 yards on Northwestern's first possession of the game and he would go on to score three more times on runs of 25, 67 and eight yards.
Nanticoke, members of the Wyoming Valley Conference in District 2, used running back Pat Hempel for most of its yardage. It was Hempel who got the Trojans first score of the night with a 26-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. Northwestern didn't take long to respond when Cam Richardson intercepted quarterback Joe Levandowski giving the Tigers the ball at their own 33-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Hall dashed 67 yards up the middle of the field to give the Tigers a 25-7 lead.
Northwestern scored two more times to take a 38-7 lead into halftime. The Tigers went right back to work on their first possession of the second half. After Nanticoke went three-and-out to start the half, a 20-yard punt gave the Tigers the ball at the Nanticoke 33-yard line. Five plays later they were back in the end zone when Cam Richardson ran three yards for the score, which put Northwestern up 44-7 and put the mercy rule into effect.
"We were prepared and we knew that they had won three out of their last four games," said Richardson. "So we knew they got in here on a squeaker, but we knew we could put up some points against them."
The Tigers defense, which has been strong all season, got into the scoring frenzy when Taylor Breininger picked up a fumble and ran down the sidelines for 30 yards to put the Tigers at 50 points on the night. In all, the Northwestern defense would intercept Trojans' quarterback Joe Levandowski three times to go along with the fumble recovery.
From there on out, Northwestern got younger players into the mix and sophomore Brett Schillinger made the most of the opportunity, picking up 49 yards on six carries. Freshman Ryan Hipensteel took over at quarterback for Frankie Dangello and didn't put up any passes, but moved the offense down the field late in the game before taking a knee on the final play.
"It's nice to get back to the postseason and for our guys to come out and have a performance like this," said head coach Josh Snyder, who was on the coaching staff in 2009 when Northwestern lost to Bethlehem Catholic in the Eastern Conference playoffs. "It seems like we're just clicking on all cylinders at the right time, right when you're supposed to at the end of the season, so that's a good feeling."
Northwestern is playing some of its best football of the season right now, including its win over previously undefeated Catasauqua two weeks ago that gave them the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"We learn each week from our mistakes and I definitely think we're getting a lot better," said Richardson. "That was a really big win for us last week and it's difficult coming off of a big win sometimes, but we came back and fought hard tonight."