They were the team that just wouldn't go away. The North Schuylkill Spartans were trailing Northwestern throughout their District 11 Championship game, but always found a way to stay in the game. In the end, the Tigers came up with enough big plays to salvage a 28-26 win, gaining their first District 11 Championship since 2002.

"What more could you want from a championship football game," asked Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. "We knew they weren't going to roll over. We got some good plays in the first half. We had a 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.

"They're such an attacking defense and were bringing pressure off the edge."

Northwestern struck first, with Frank Dangello hitting Taylor Breininger with the first of two touchdown passes that he would throw in the game. From there, the two teams exchanged blows, but neither put the ball in the end zone in the first quarter.

After the Tiger defense came up big and kept the Spartans pinned deep in their own territory, Breininger fielded a punt at midfield and sprinted through the North Schuylkill coverage team to the end zone to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead. Breininger now has 20 touchdowns in his career and has picked them up in almost every imaginable way, including 10 receiving touchdowns, four on interception returns, three on fumble recoveries and one each on a kick-off return, punt return and on a rushing touchdown.

Unfortunately, the punt return seemed to spark the Spartan offense and they came out on the next drive and marched 72 yards on just six plays to earn a second-and-goal from the 3-yard line. From there, 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 threw a 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, 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," said Dangello.

Northwestern held the upper hand throughout the game, but North Schuylkill wouldn't go away. A key moment came after Spartans quarterback Bobby Grigas sprinted into the end zone from nine yards out, cutting the Tigers lead to 21-13. Grigas, who also handles the kicking for North Schuylkill, missed the extra point.

The missed extra point became even bigger when the Spartans put together a drive that could have tied the game, finishing with Grigas hitting Richard Zahodnick on a 14-yard touchdown pass that cut the score to 21-19. The Spartans went for the two-point conversion, but Northwestern stuffed the play, leaving the Spartans needing another score.

The Tigers appeared to put the game away when Harry Hall broke free and ran 35 yards for the final Northwestern score of the game, giving them a 28-19 lead. Hall had a big night for Northwestern, picking up 168 yards on 26 carries. He credited the offensive line for helping him put up the numbers.

"The offensive line really stepped up in this game and the passing game really came through when we needed it to and the defense really did a great job this game," said Hall. "I'm really proud of the line and I'm really proud of everybody on the team right now."

North Schuylkill wouldn't go away though and cut the lead to just two. In fact, the Spartans had one final shot, but Grigas was unable to connect on four straight passes, handing the ball back to Northwestern with just under a minute left to play.