You hear the phrase “Titletown” being thrown around a lot lately about New Tripoli.

It’s with good reason as Northwestern Lehigh High School’s fall sports teams again made the start of the school year a mess for opposing schools both near and far.

The story of the Tigers’ sports season has not been fully written. The football team would still need two wins to be state champions, so the official end may not come until the first weekend in December.

Having said that though, the Tigers of the gridiron are 14-0 and set to face Danville in the semifinals Friday night at Berwick High School.

In their two PIAA games this season, the Tigers have outscored Conwell Egan and Scranton Prep by a combined score of 81-7 and picked up the first shutout win for Northwestern in a playoff game in 21 seasons.

Individually, running back Eli Zimmerman and quarterback Shane Leh continue to close in on individual records. Zimmerman is closing in on the school’s record for rushing yardage and rushing touchdowns in a season as a senior. Meanwhile, Leh is still a junior and has two of the top five passing yardage totals for a season in school history.

If Northwestern wins the final two games, it will become the third Northwestern Lehigh team this fall to win a state championship and to do it with an undefeated season.

The Tiger boys and girls soccer teams both completed that task earlier this month when they both celebrated championships at Eagle View Middle School in Mechanicsburg.

“I know I have been following the other teams and I was at the football game last night (November 15 against Conwell Egan) and it was amazing,” said senior Nate Kinzel of the state champion boys soccer team. “It’s so perfect that we are all going for state championships and all have perfect records. We’re all rooting for each other, come out to games when we can.”

If Zimmerman and Leh are the names to remember for football, Jake van Lierop is the name to know in soccer.

The senior set school records for goals in a season (74) and goals in a career (105) as he assembled a year for the ages that helped the boys team to its second state championship in three seasons and a 28-0-0 record.

The girls team loses just four seniors from this year’s roster and figures to be powerful again in 2025. For now though the girls team is enjoying its perfect 28-0-0 season and enjoying the sparkle of gold medals from the program’s first state championship.

The Lady Tigers had four players score at least 20 goals and dish off at least 20 assists this season. Senior Paige Bissell scored 35 goals, including the only two goals Northwestern scored in the PIAA championship game when they defeated Cathedral Prep 2-1 in double overtime.

“It’s great to win a state championship and finish with a perfect record, and then you also get to follow the boys team and the football team and we’re all sort of in this together,” said senior soccer player Brook Balliet.

The Northwestern field hockey team also qualified for states with a 20-4-0 record and championships in both the Colonial League and District 11.

In all, four Tiger teams – football, boys soccer, girls soccer, and field hockey – picked up district championships this fall.

The young Tiger volleyball team qualified for districts and won one match before falling to Allentown Central Catholic, who was coming off an East Penn Conference championship and wound up as the district runner-up this season.

The Tigers had three of the top six finishers at the girls District 11 golf championships this season with junior Gracie Scheffler qualifying for states with a third-place finish at districts.

The cross country team was not shutout as a pair of seniors finished with spots in the state championship meet at Hershey.

Senior Sophia Cornell made her third trip to states after picking up a District 11 medal for eighth place in the district competition. Another senior cross country runner, Xander Giandomenico, competed in his first state competition by finishing 11th at districts, just shy of earning a district medal.

And while Northwestern doesn’t have a tennis team, it does have a tennis player who also had a big fall season.

Mallory Connor finished second in the 2A district singles championship playing as an independent. Connor will return for her senior season looking to take a further step in the postseason.

“It’s phenomenal when the kids all come together for each other and are all cheering each other on and talking about how great the other teams are doing,” said boys soccer coach Nate Hunsicker. “There’s a lot of support among the students and from the community. People who don’t even have kids on the soccer team are talking about it and even coming out to games sometimes. It’s fantastic.”

Hunsicker, along with girls soccer head coach Jordan Smith and football mentor Josh Snyder, are all graduates of Northwestern Lehigh and former Tiger athletes.