FOUNTAIN SPRINGS Momentum was slipping.

And so was the lead.

After having its 21-7 halftime advantage whittled to just two points midway through the fourth quarter of Friday's District 11 Class AA championship game, Northwestern knew it was in dire need of a big drive.

Fortunately for the Tigers, they got it. And because they did, the program was able to celebrate its fourth district title.

"I didn't necessarily have to say anything (before the drive)," said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. "I thought it was a drive that we had to flip the field position. Our kick return put us in great field position. I knew if we could grind a couple (first downs out, we'd be okay)."

Three second-half possessions had resulted in two punts and a turnover for Northwestern, allowing host North Schuylkill to get back in the game. The Spartans had just punched in a score with 7:18 left in regulation, cutting the margin to 21-19.

What followed will now be part of Tiger history.

Like Snyder said, Taylor Breininger put his team in great position with a 22-yard kickoff return to the Tiger 43-yard line.

Two running plays netted five yards and put Northwestern in a third-and-five situation. After a timeout Joe Colucci, who hadn't thrown a pass all season, took a handoff and then tossed a short spiral to Cam Richardson. The Tigers' leading receiver jumped high to haul in the ball and then just got his feet inbounds for a seven-yard pickup.

The gain was enough for a first down at the Spartans' 45.

"We've been running that play for a couple of weeks in practice now," said Snyder. "We had it in our back pocket for a similar situation. We thought maybe we could run that on the goal line some time ... We called a timeout to talk about the play, and I said, 'We're going to roll the dice here. We're not going to play it safe.' I thought I was a little bit conservative at times in the third quarter. I didn't take many shots in the play-action game and I wish I would have a couple of times.

"Joe Colucci took it, and we practiced it probably five times this week. He made a play and Cam tip-toed the sideline. It was a heckuva throw and a heckuva catch and it kept the drive going."

"We were thinking about possibly running another play and coach said, 'Let's go for it,'" said Richardson. "We needed the first down and we pulled out one of our trick plays. And it worked. We ran it in practice and we just had to execute it."

Following the gadget play, Richardson ran three straight times and picked up just under 10 yards.

That left the Tigers with fourth-and-inches.

This time Snyder went to his team's bread-and-butter, leaving the outcome in the hands of his offensive line.

Quarterback Frank Dangello kept the ball on a keeper. At first the senior signal-caller seemed to be stopped short, but Dangello and the pile kept moving. When the ball was spotted and the chains brought out, Northwestern barely had another first down.

"That's where the offseason work pays off," said Dangello. "We just pushed. We work hard in the weightroom all offseason. That was just effort there. Thank God we were able to get that. I was just praying that it would go in our favor and thankfully it did."

"That was a little too close for me," said lineman George Haddad. "That was a QB wedge. We said we need just one yard and that's what we got. I was just like, 'Please let it be a first down', and thankfully it was."

Snyder almost tried something different in that situation, but decided the keeper was the way to go.

"We went to the wedge in that situation," said Snyder. "For a half a second we thought about a play to the outside to try and pop one but we didn't. I thought we had a very nice secondary push. When they say football's a game of inches, they're not lying because we got that by a hair or so. That kept things going for us."

Harry Hall made sure there would be no more measurements, as the area's rushing leader took the next snap and broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run. The play capped the 57-yard, eight-play drive. With Brandon Miller's extra-point, Northwestern had a nine-point lead with four minutes left. The score forced North Schuylkill to have to score two times to win, something it ended up not doing.

"We ran an Iso there for the touchdown," said Snyder. "There was no hole and Harry bounced to the outside, much like he did all night because they were jamming it up in there. His skills in open space just took over. We got that touchdown, which was huge at the time."

"I think everybody knew when the drive started that we really needed to shift the momentum," said Hall. "We needed to have a good drive. The line pulled it together and realized what we needed to do. They made everything happen and the backs just executed behind them."