Back-to-back.

Northern Lehigh’s pounding ground attack and dynamic special teams play on Thursday helped it come away with its second consecutive district championship.

The Bulldogs were in control from the start, defeating Tri-Valley 40-15 in the Class 1A title game.

It didn’t take long for Northern Lehigh’s power running game to make an impact with AJ Jimenez-Wittong popping an inside handoff and going 59 yards for the score on the Bulldogs’ third play of the game to take a 7-0 lead with 10:35 to go in the first quarter.

“Tri-Valley is as good as advertised,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout. “They are fast and they are physical, and the plan early was to mix it up and jump to a couple of different sets. But then AJ popped that one early, so then the plan was to go right at them with the run game.

“The offensive line did a phenomenal job as well, because they loaded up the box against us.”

The Bulldogs (11-1) would tack on a second score at the start of the second quarter off a beautiful 17-yard pitch and catch in the right side of the end zone between quarterback Nick Frame and Izaiah Ramos to make it 13-0. Northern Lehigh would then get a crucial special teams score late in the second quarter to carry a 19-0 advantage going into the half.

After a drive stalled out at the Tri-Valley 11-yard line at the 1:51 mark, the Bulldogs’ defense was able to force Tri-Valley to punt from its own 31. Nolehi’s Bailey Smith was able to shoot through the line of scrimmage, blocking the punt, and completing the scoop and score to extend its lead.

The play served as a huge swing for Northern Lehigh, which looked to only be heading into intermission with a 13-point advantage and with Tri-Valley receiving the second-half kickoff.

“That score for us right before the half was huge, because I thought we gave away a touchdown not scoring on our previous possession after driving all the way down there,” said Tout. “You’re thinking that you should be going into the half 20-0 and you don’t get that score, but then Bailey blocks that and scoops and scores.

“Credit to him, because he’s been so good on special teams all year for us. But yeah, once you have the three-score lead at the half, you feel really good that you have taken control of the game.”

The Bulldogs’ special teams play made yet another significant impression around the nine-minute mark in the third quarter with Ramos getting loose.

With Tri-Valley punting from its own 38-yard line, Ramos fielded the punt from the Northern Lehigh 29, got room around the left edge, and then made a nifty cut to the middle of the field around several Tri-Valley defenders to put the Bulldogs up 25-0.

Ramos - who was injured for a majority of the regular season - returned last week and has certainly added speed and explosiveness to Northern Lehigh’s offense since returning.

“You can see the difference,” said Tout. “Izaiah has that gear that nobody else has. His punt return was huge, and the momentum swings are always so big in these types of games.

“It’s great to have Izaiah back. You see how well he complements our other guys like AJ and John Abidelli, who run the ball with physicality.”

Trailing 25-0, Tri-Valley did put together a few scoring drives to try to get back into the ball game.

Tri-Valley answered Northern Lehigh’s punt return with a 76-yard kickoff return score from Reece Huntzinger on its ensuing possession, and then later in the fourth quarter - at the 9:36 mark - while trailing 33-7, Tri-Valley struck again on a 28-yard hookup between quarterback Kole Miller and running back Kameron Wetzel to make it an 18-point game.

Tri-Valley would get the ball right back on a well-executed onside kick that ricocheted hard off a Northern Lehigh player.

But as they have been able to do all season long, the Bulldogs complementary football approach sealed the outcome, with Northern Lehigh turning Tri-Valley over on downs. Its offense then put together an 11-play, 85-yard drive that ended in an Ayden Oswald 7-yard score to put the game away.

“Playing the schedule that we have played this season, and getting wins over really good football teams like Northwestern and Notre Dame, learning how to win those close games, that helps you to be confident in big games like this,” said Tout. “I told our guys to come out and make a statement tonight, and they were able to do that.”

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE ... With Northern Lehigh’s win over Tri-Valley, the Bulldogs captured their second straight district championship, and fifth district championship, in school history. This season also serves as the 12th 10-win season for the program.

WHAT IS NEXT ... The Bulldogs will face Lackawanna Trail either next Friday or Saturday in the state playoffs. Lackawanna, the District 2 champion, defeated D-1 champ Jenkintown 40-7 in Thursday night’s sub-regional game.