Seneca Valley Holds Off Northwest, Wins 'Battle For Germantown' 16-8

It was the closest Battle for Germantown since 2008 but in the end, the Seneca Valley Screamin' Eagles captured their fifth consecutive King's Trophy with a 16-8 victory over the host Northwest Jaguars.

Trailing by one score with minutes left in the game, Northwest got the ball and began driving, looking for the tying score, but a Matt Callahan pass was intercepted by Seneca Valley's Kellen Staton to seal the win for the Screamin' Eagles.

"They were having some success throwing the football," Seneca Valley coach Fred Kim said. "When they had the ball down eight on that last drive, we knew they'd be going back to the passing game. Kellen made a perfect break on the football and pretty much sealed it."

The game ended up being a lot closer than it initially appeared it would be. After dominating the series over the last four years, Seneca was unable to put this game away and Kim believes that can be attributed to first-year Northwest coach Mike Neubeiser, who was a member of the Northwest staff when the Jaguars won the 2003 state title.

"Mike has done a fantastic job over there. I knew he was going to get his team ready," Kim said. "I knew those kids were going to come out playing hard. Northwest is tough. We didn't expect anything different from this game."

After building a 9-0 lead at the half, thanks to a first-quarter safety and a 22-yard strike from Tanner Vallely to Chad Smith later in the half, Seneca added to its lead in the third quarter when Darius Lewis scored on a 43-yard run. 

Three quarters into the game, it seemed that the Screamin' Eagles would run away with it but in the fourth quarter, Northwest quarterback Matt Callahan found Ryan Markush from 11 yards out and the two-point conversion made it a one-score game with minutes to play. After forcing a Seneca punt on its next drive, Northwest had a chance to tie but Staton's interception ended the Jaguars' chances.

Callahan finished with 138 yards passing to lead Northwest while James Jones-Williams led Seneca with 120 yards rushing. 

"I liked it a lot better when we were scoring a lot of points on them," Kim joked. "But this is one of the best rivalries in the county and it's better off when the games are this hard fought."