The District 11 Class AA football champion Tigers' season ended over a month ago. But the awards and accolades are still rolling in.

Northwestern had two players selected to the Pennsylvania Football Writers' Class AA All-State last week.

After a drought of six straight seasons without a player on the team, Northwestern has now had two players in each of the past two seasons make the team. Taylor Breininger was named to the team as a defensive specialist and Cam Richardson, after making the team as a defensive specialist last season, was named to the team as a wide receiver. Mac Storm also made it as a lineman last year. Both Richardson and Breininger are seniors.

Northwestern Lehigh head coach Josh Snyder was pretty sure that Richardson would make the team, but wasn't sure where he would be placed, since his defensive numbers weren't as impressive as they were in 2013. The main reason for the drop in his defensive numbers was because teams had learned their lesson and didn't challenge him as often.

Richardson was still a strong defensive player, but his offensive importance to the Tigers was undeniable.

"He had a great offensive season and I was thinking that he might be the offensive specialist," said Snyder. "But he turned out to be the receiver.

"I would have been extremely disappointed if he wouldn't have landed on that all-state team again this year."

Against Salisbury, Richardson pulled in four touchdown passes, something no other Northwestern player had ever accomplished. He also rushed for a touchdown, tying the school record of five touchdowns in one game. A week earlier, Richardson burned Saucon Valley when he ran for a touchdown, completed a touchdown pass and also caught a touchdown pass, something else that no other Northwestern Tiger had ever done.

Breininger scored a touchdown in almost every conceivable way this season, including returning two fumble recoveries, three interceptions, a punt return and a kick return for touchdowns. Throw in five receiving touchdowns and Breininger didn't miss many ways to score.

More than the numbers though, Breininger was a proven leader and had a way of coming through when it was most needed.

"When you sit back and look at stats, Taylor's stat line is just incredible," said Snyder. "But when you step outside of the stats, whenever we needed a big play, it was only a matter of time before Taylor provided us with that big play."

Snyder also pointed out the contribution that both players made in being team leaders, including Richardson taking a younger player to task for missing workouts. Both are considering various college options, with a number of schools pursuing both players.

"They'll leave a huge hole to fill," Snyder pointed out. "They're just great all around kids who made our program better and they're both very deserving of being all-state. We wouldn't have had the season that we did without their contributions."