No matter what football coach you talk to, they will highlight that winning the battle in the trenches on both sides of the line of scrimmage is the key to coming away with a victory.

Fortunately for Northwestern, it has headed into each one of its matchups this season with the physicality and strength up front to dominate in that area.

The Tigers have won that battle week after week, and the result is a 12-0 record, a third consecutive District 11 3A championship and a third straight berth into the PIAA 3A state tournament.

Northwestern will host District 12 champion Conwell-Egan in the first round of the 3A state bracket on Friday at 7 p.m. in its quest to get back to the state championship game.

The young men in the trenches responsible for those dominant performances have been Colton Popp, Jackson Bailey, Jeremiah Gornicz, Jared Meck and Bryer Reichard on the offensive line, and Meck, Reichard and Jackson Huber on the defensive line.

Running the football and stopping the run is what this Tigers team has been all about. Northwestern is averaging 286.5 rushing yards per gam,e with Eli Zimmerman leading the way with 1,840 yards and 21 touchdowns at over 13 yards per carry.

On defense, Northwestern is giving up just 80.33 yards per game on the ground. The three-man defensive front of Meck, Reichard and Huber have combined for 202 total tackles, 11 sacks and 31 tackles for loss.

“I want to first and foremost give credit to our offensive line coach Dave Kerschner, and our defensive line coach Rich Kulp. Those guys do a great job, and they have our guys up front operating as one each week we go out there,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder.

“And it’s not like we run one scheme. We run a pretty sophisticated scheme in particular with our run game. Our guys have to communicate, and they don’t have a lot of time to do that. And in our no huddle system, if we make an audible, they all do such a great job of communicating in a short amount of time. They all do such a fantastic job, and in all facets, whether that’s in the run game, in pass protection or in our screen game, getting out in front and blocking downfield.

“And then on the defensive side of the ball, we switched to a three-man front a number of years ago and Bryer, Meck and “Hubie” have been really good and really tough. They have got a ton of tackles for loss, and they have done a great job of stopping the run and also at getting interior pressure. We owe a lot of our success to both of our line units.”

Northwestern’s opponent in District 12 champ Conwell-Egan has a record of 8-3 and defeated Simon-Gratz in the title game, 24-12. The Eagles are also a team that depends on its play up front for success.

Egan operates a run-first offense, and has a talented duo of running backs in Monty Zoryea and Sincere Fairley. Heading into the District 12 championship game, Zoryea led the Eagles in rushing with 815 yards and nine touchdowns. Fairley rushed for 399 yards and six scores. It’s all about the run game for the Eagles, which has been the catalyst for them anytime they have played well on the season.

“They have a talented group of running backs. Probably the best we’ve seen all season long,” said Snyder.

“They look to play downhill and it’s a smash mouth style, like most of the teams play in their league down in that area. They do it well, but with that being said, we think we matchup with them pretty well. The goal is to limit their yardage in the run game, and then give our offense the chance to make plays.

“On defense they will go 4-4 or 3-4, and they have a really talented defensive end that can be a game-wrecker at times. So, we have schemed up some wrinkles to try and take advantage of his aggressiveness. We’re always going to look to run it, but we’re also going to look to keep them off-balance. We’re going to give them some different looks, shifts and motions and try to cross them up and give ourselves a chance to go out there and win the football game.”