Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. But what if a team has both?

Northwestern certainly proved that this season winning both a District 11 Class 3A championship and a PIAA 3A state title.

And deservingly so, the Tigers are well represented on the 2024 Pennsylvania Football Writers’ 3A All-State team. Five Northwestern players were named to the team in Eli Zimmerman (RB), Bryer Reichard (DL), Shane Hulmes (LB), Brady Zimmerman (LB) and Mason Bollinger (Def. ATH).

After his record-breaking season, Zimmerman was also named as the 3A Football Player of the Year. Zimmerman finished the season with a school record 2,665 rushing yards with 27 rushing touchdowns, while adding 277 receiving yards and four receiving scores.

Zimmerman was dynamic on special teams as well, returning six punts for touchdowns, and also led the team with six interceptions from his defensive back position, giving him 19 interceptions for his career. Zimmerman’s 38 total touchdowns this season are also a school record.

“It’s a tremendous recognition for Eli and he deserves it,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “We call all these individual awards team awards, because we all know that it was a team effort for all these guys to get recognized in this way. We knew though, that Eli had a shot at this, and we’re all so excited he got it.

“He was a focal point for us in all three phases. Everyone knows how dangerous he was on offense, but to also return six punts for touchdowns and then lead us in interceptions, it tells you how special of a player he is.”

The Northwestern defense was once again special this season as it gave up just 150 yards per game and 7.9 points per game.

Reichard, Hulmes, Brady Zimmerman and Bollinger all received All-State recognition on the defensive side of the ball for the Tigers.

“To get four guys on an All-State team from one defense tells you how good that group was,” said Snyder. “I think it was the best defense in Northwestern history. You have Bryer, who can shut down one side of the field from his spot up front. And our other guys up front were great, too, and that really freed up Hulmes and Zimmerman to go out there and make plays. Brady led us in tackles, and he has such a high motor and plays with a lot of juice. When Shane Hulmes came back healthy, it took our defense to another level. He makes all the calls and changes out there and gets everyone in the right spot. And once he got into playing shape, we looked completely different.

“Mason was a defensive back last season, and we moved him to outside linebacker and that enabled us to play a lot more man-to-man, and that gave us the ability to dictate what offenses were going to do against us rather than the other way around. As Mason got more confident playing that position, he really settled in. A good example of that was in the Danville game where he made some big plays for us on defense.”

Snyder was recognized as the 3A Coach of the Year.

Snyder and his staff have been building a juggernaut over the past 13 seasons. Northwestern has been to five straight district championship games, winning three consecutive District 11 3A titles. Over the past three seasons, the Tigers have accumulated a 42-4 record. In his career as the head coach of Northwestern, Snyder has an overall record of 120-40.

“A lot of coaches are micromanagers. It’s their way or the highway. That’s simply not my style,” said Snyder. “I think I have the best staff in the state. I give them the autonomy to coach their units and build those relationships. We’re all very relationship-driven coaches. All of our coaches do whatever they can for our kids.

“We’re there to not only make them better at football, but also to help them become better people, family men and to contribute to society. I’m lucky that my coaches are all my best friends, and we get to do this together. I couldn’t do any of it without them.”