Championship pedigree.

It didn’t happen overnight, but in Year 12 under head coach Josh Snyder, the Northwestern football program is rolling. The Tigers have qualified for four straight District 11 championships, and have won back-to-back District 11 3A titles.

“Four straight championship appearances and back-to-back championships. We’ve been playing pretty good football here for a while and we’ve never been able to do that in our history, so we’re proud of this run that we’re currently on. We definitely have things rolling right now, and it starts with the offseason,” said Snyder. “It starts with being big, fast and physical, and that’s a credit to our players getting in the weight room and putting in the time. It’s become something that they really love doing and they compete in there and they have fun. And then that mentality has transitioned over to the field. You have to have good players to be good as well, and when you pair that with a strong work ethic, I think you’re going to continue to see success.”

Preparation has also been a staple of the Tigers’ success over the past four seasons, and Snyder believes there aren’t many other programs out there that prepare as thoroughly as they do.

“When a program is having the type of success that we have been fortunate enough to have as of late, there a lot of people that contribute to that. We have a great coaching staff here, and we all trust each other. I don’t micromanage. I coach a position group and I call the offense, and then I let our other coaches do their thing and they do a phenomenal job,” said Snyder. “Also, the time our coaches put in preparing our players, and then the players put the time in as well studying. I think we’re one of the most prepared teams in the state every week. Our coaches do it the right way, and our players know how much we care about them and they feel it, and that in turn inspires them to play hard and play tough.”

Northwestern certainly looked prepared in a 58-8 rout of Palmerton in last week’s District 11 3A championship game. The Tigers came through with 466 yards of total offense, including 309 yards on the ground, and held the Bombers to just 198 yards of total offense, which was 233 yards less than what Palmerton was averaging on the season.

Preparation will once again be key this week as Northwestern will take on District 2 champion Scranton Prep in New Tripoli on Friday night. The Cavaliers defeated an always tough Neumann Goretti squad last week in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A football playoffs, 23-16.

The Scranton Prep offense is constructed much like the Tigers, where it looks to spread the ball around to numerous playmakers. Coming into last week’s contest against Neumann Goretti, Quinten Palermo led the Cavaliers in rushing with 898 yards and 13 touchdowns. Dual-threat quarterback Louis Paris has also had a nice season for Prep, throwing for 1,073 yards and 16 touchdowns, while also accumulating 437 yards on the ground with 10 scores.

Wide receiver Liam Barrett leads the Cavaliers with 31 receptions for 572 yards and eight touchdowns, and all-purpose player Treyvon Dickey has 356 yards rushing and 197 receiving yards.

“They are built a lot like we are in the fact that they don’t have just one go-to guy. They have a bunch of guys they get the ball to, and that always makes a team dangerous. They run a ton of formations and motions, and they’re led by a good quarterback who is a good runner and a nifty passer. You can tell they’re well coached,” said Snyder. “It’s going to be another challenge for us. They have a bunch of guys that do some tough things with the ball in their hands.”

Balance will once again be vital this week for the Northwestern offense. The Tigers were able to execute in both the run and pass game last week against the Bombers, with quarterback Shane Leh throwing for 157 yards and a score, while also rushing for 44 yards and a touchdown. Tough-running tailback Dalton Clymer continued his terrific season, rushing for 130 yards and two touchdowns, upping his season totals to 1,595 yards rushing and 26 rushing touchdowns.

Prep played tough defensively against Neumann Goretti last week, forcing two interceptions on heralded Saints’ quarterback Mekhi Wharton, and shut out Goretti in the second half. The Cavaliers are giving up just over 170 yards per game to opposing offenses.

“They’re a defense that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. You look at them, and there isn’t really a glaring weakness to exploit, so the key again for us is we are going to need be balanced. We’re not going to be able to just line up and run the ball 35 times. We’re going to need to throw it, and make plays in the passing game as well. But this is a confident group, and we still have some bullets in the chamber that we haven’t fired yet,” said Snyder. “There are eight teams left in the state in 3A right now, which means all of these teams are going to be good football teams. As always, we’re looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity,”