The Triple Crown.

In horse racing, the Triple Crown is made up of three races — the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes — and it takes a fast and physical thoroughbred to emerge victorious in all three.

Northwestern captured its own Triple Crown on Friday night, winning its third straight District 11 3A championship by defeating North Schuylkill 36-7.

The Tigers are a team made up of all kinds of workhorses and thoroughbreds that have played a fast and physical style of football throughout their three-year championship run.

“I’m just proud of our guys for shouldering the expectations all season long and always playing for each other and always coming together as a team,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder.

“One district title is tough to get in itself, two is tougher yet and then to get three in a row, that’s a testament to the program right there. That’s creating a winning program. That’s not just one or two good players or one or two good classes. That’s a program coming back year after year. That’s the fifth straight district championship game that we have played in now.

“I’m just so proud of my coaching staff, the community and the players for the program we have built here over the past 12-13 years.”

It didn’t take long for the Tigers to get on the scoreboard. Shane Leh would score on a quarterback designed run on Northwestern’s first play from scrimmage, going 73 yards around the right side to make it 7-0 at the 9:10 mark of the first.

The Tigers would then put together a physical tough-running drive on their second possession of the first quarter, going 12 plays and 99 yards, with Eli Zimmerman finishing off the march from the one on a direct snap play.

Zimmerman and Mason Bollinger combined for 10 carries on the drive to give Northwestern a 13-0 lead after one quarter of play.

A safety for the Tigers would be the lone score of the second quarter as the Northwestern defense would take advantage of a terrific punt from Josh Wambold that would pin the Spartans’ offense at their own 4-yard line.

Defensive tackle Jackson Huber would come up with back-to-back run stuffing plays, with the second stopping the North Schuylkill runner behind the goal line.

The Tigers would take a 15-0 lead into the intermission after a dominant defensive first half.

The Spartans lost dynamic dual-threat quarterback Caden Mengel to an injury early in the game, but still Northwestern’s team speed on the defensive end was too tough for North Schuylkill to handle.

“We know North Schuylkill had a lot of injuries coming in and they lost one of their key players early in the game, but that doesn’t deter or stop our defense from playing their style of football,” said Snyder. “Our defense is a gritty bunch. They like to keep people out of the end zone, they like to play stingy and they like to stop the run.”

The Tigers’ offense would then find their rhythm and pace in the third quarter, scoring 21 unanswered in the frame to extend their lead to 36-0.

A 36-yard Zimmerman dash would set up a 3-yard Bollinger rushing score for Northwestern’s first score of the second half.

On the Tigers next possession, Zimmerman would break loose again, this time down the left sideline, where he would weave his way through traffic and take the ball 73 yards for a touchdown at the 7:21 mark of the third.

Zimmerman would also add a 31-yard scamper with 4:28 remaining in the third to put the game into the mercy rule.

It was once again a dominating rushing performance from Northwestern, which has owned the line of scrimmage against each and every opponent it has faced this season.

The Tigers finished the night with over 380 yards on the ground to help them come away with the District 11 3A gold yet again.

“The run game is where everything starts for us. We had all types of different drives tonight. We had some explosive plays and we also had some gritty drives, like the drive when we went 99 yards in 10 or so plays,” said Snyder.

“I’m really proud of our guys up front. They showed us a 50-front and our guys up front did a good job against it. With the wind, we couldn’t really get our passing game going, so we couldn’t take advantage of the cover zero that they were giving us. But that’s ok. We had some up and down moments, and again that’s ok. Our mentality moving forward is to go out there and have fun and just get it done however we need to get it done, and keep moving forward and onto to the next game.”

Eli Zimmerman was once again electric for the Tigers. He finished with 228 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Northwestern’s first team defense has not allowed many points on the season. The Tigers’ first team defense has pitched an impressive eight shutouts.

Northwestern is putting itself in elite company in District 11 history. The Tigers have won three straight District 11 3A championships and they have played in five straight District 11 championship games. Northwestern has a record of 49-5 over the past four seasons.

The Tigers will play the champion out of District 12 champ Conwell-Egan Friday night at Tiger Stadium.