It’s the matchup everyone following PIAA Class 3A football this season hoped to see in the state final.

A rematch of last year’s teams. The two top-ranked teams in the state, both sporting unblemished records. A year after they needed overtime to figure out who was better last season.

Northwestern Lehigh and Avonworth will kickoff at 1 p.m. Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School.

The Tigers seek to repeat. The Antelopes will want revenge.

“We are very excited to once again reach the PIAA State final for the third season in a row,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “Last year’s game versus Avonworth was an incredible game and it should be another great matchup.”

The Antelopes have been winning handily in the playoffs, with their last three wins all coming by 16 points or more over Penn Cambria (31-15), Imani Christian Academy (30-6) and North Catholic (44-24), which was the most any team has scored on them this season.

Avonworth averages 230.3 yards per game on the ground and 169.6 in the passing game for the season.

Senior quarterback Carson Bellinger has completed 105 of 154 passes this season for 2,287 yards with 29 touchdowns just two interceptions.

Junior Dimitri Velisaris leads the Antelope run game at 7.5 yards per carry (1,492 yards on 200 carries). He’s scored 24 times and has posted nine 100-yard outings.

Senior Luca Neal is the team’s leading receiver and second-leading rusher. He caught 46 balls this season for 966 yards and 11 scores. He also has 659 yards on 52 rushing attempts (12.7 yards per carry) this year, including nine touchdowns and three 100-yard games. Add in some return yardage and Neal has amassed 1,725 yards all-purpose yards in 2025.

“Avonworth presents many different challenges with how versatile they can be,” said Snyder. “They have a well-balanced attack, starting with their run game and big offensive line. We will have to show different looks and win on first down. We need to eliminate the big play and make them work for their points.”

The Tigers’ are just as capable, probably more so, offensively. They plan to take advantage of what the ‘Lope defense presents.

This year’s Northwestern offense has been historically explosive. The team broke three program records last week

The single-season scoring record of 670 that was set in 2023 is now at 685 and counting.

The single-season record for yardage is not at 6,378, an all-time program best. And the team has passed for a program record 2,753 yards.

“We look forward to another great day at Cumberland Valley with our school and our community supporting us,” said Snyder.