North Schuylkill's Gavin Mentzer is hoisted into the air by Aiden Zilker after the Spartans defeated Notre Dame-Green Pond 26-23 in overtime in Friday's District 11 Class 3A semifinal (Photo by Justin Reed / Skook News).

EASTON — Caden Mengel and Kaden Knox went to offensive coordinator Pete Stanakis and called their shot.

Getting the ball in overtime with a chance to win the game, the North Schuylkill quarterback and his offensive tackle were on the same page … “Let’s run quarterback counter,” they said.

The North Schuylkill offense executed the play to perfection, with Mengel following Knox into the end zone on a 10-yard run that gave the Spartans a dramatic 26-23 road victory over Notre Dame-Green Pond in a District 11 Class 3A semifinal Friday night.

The walk-off win, North Schuylkill’s second over Notre Dame-Green Pond this season, advances the Spartans (8-3) to next Friday’s district championship game against top-seeded Northwestern Lehigh, a 40-12 winner over Saucon Valley in the other semifinal, at 7 p.m. at Lehighton.

“I told Coach Pete, right when they kicked the field goal, run quarterback counter,” Mengel said. “I’m getting in the end zone, either way, and it happened.”

North Schuylkill forced overtime by overcoming a 20-10 deficit in the fourth quarter. Mengel’s 13-yard run with 4:22 remaining capped a nine-play, 66-yard drive that sliced the deficit to 20-17.

The Spartans’ defense got a quick three-and-out as Notre Dame (9-2), in an exact repeat of its play late in North Schuylkill’s 31-29 victory in Week 3, couldn’t run the clock out with a fourth-quarter lead.

The Spartans got the ball back with 3:53 remaining and Mengel engineered a 10-play that reached the Notre Dame 6-yard line. But the Spartans couldn’t punch it in the end zone for the game-winning score before running out of time, and Gavin Mentzer booted a 23-yard field goal with 17.9 seconds left to tie it.

“They’ve been doing that the whole year,” North Schuylkill coach Wally Hall said of his team’s resiliency. “They’ve been fighting their rear ends off, more importantly staying together. They’re believing in each other, playing for the guy next to them, playing for the guys that are injured. Just taking one play at a time and making something happen.”

North Schuylkill won the coin toss for overtime and chose defense. The Crusaders gained seven yards on a first-down pass from Matt Bodnar to Jonathan Striba, but defensive end David Martinez tackled Aaron Gordon on second down for a 1-yard loss and Bodnar fired incomplete on third down.

Mark Talpas’ 22-yard field goal on fourth down gave the Crusaders a 23-20 lead.

That’s when Mengel and Knox approached Stanakis, who consulted with Hall.

On the next play, Mengel dashed into the end zone to give North Schuylkill the walk-off win.

In the first meeting between the teams Sept. 6 in Fountain Springs, Mengel hit Luke Miller with a 9-yard TD pass on the final play of the game to give North Schuylkill the victory.

“It was great. I was getting a little déjà vu when everybody was crowding around me,” Mengel said. “It was awesome. You can’t ask for something better than that.”

Mengel’s heroics capped a big night by the junior quarterback. Mengel finished with 207 yards rushing on 23 carries, running a lot of read-option plays that allowed the Spartans to control the clock and keep Notre Dame’s high-powered offense off the field.

Mengel’s big night was critical since North Schuylkill was playing without Miller, the team’s leading rusher, receiver and scorer. Miller was injured in the Spartans’ Week 10 win over Pottsville and did not dress for Friday’s game.

Sophomore Angel Ortiz picked up the slack, rushing 24 times for 87 yards and a 4-yard TD run in the third quarter that put North Schuylkill up 10-7. Kolton Joyce added nine carries for 19 yards as North Schuylkill ran the ball 63 times for 325 yards and collected 21 first downs.

“We kept pounding the rock. The line played outstanding tonight,” Mengel said.

Mentzer also had a big night for North Schuylkill. First, his 31-yard field goal in the first quarter gave the Spartans an early 3-0 lead.

Trailing 7-3 at halftime after a Striba TD run, Mentzer successfully recovered his own onside kick to open the second half, which led to a touchdown drive.

Later in the game, he ran 2 yards on a fake punt to gain a first down and continue a drive — the first time he carried the ball in a game in his career.

“That is the first time I’ve ever carried the ball. It was very exciting,” Mentzer said. “Coaches put their trust in me, all I had to do is not let them down.

“The onside kick … we never did it before but we practiced it a lot in practice. We knew we were prepared for it. Our whole kickoff team was prepared for it when it was called. They put a lot of trust in me. That means a lot to me.”

North Schuylkill won despite losing tight end Kevin Jones and linebacker Cooper Carl to injuries during the first half and having two touchdowns called back by penalties in the third quarter.

The Spartans’ defense came up big when it counted, making a key red zone stop in the fourth quarter and only allowing one big play — a 59-yard bomb from Bodnar to Alex Clark that put Notre Dame up 20-10.

Bodnar finished 17-of-33 for 278 yards, giving him 4,071 yards for the season, but North Schuylkill didn’t allow the quick strikes that haunted them in the first meeting and then got the big stand in overtime.

It all adds up to a playoff win for North Schuylkill and a trip to the District 11 Class 3A championship game.

“It was the whole team. We have so much heart,” Mengel said. “I’m so proud of my team for not giving up. We had Kevin Jones go down and we just rallied around that. We played for him, we played for Luke, we played for Cooper Carl who went down. It was an all-around effort.”

District 11 Class 3A Semifinal

North Schuylkill 26, Notre Dame-Green Pond 23

North Sch. (8-3)         3          0          7          10        6  —    26

NDGP (9-2)                0          7          6          7          3  —    23

NS — FG Mentzer 31

ND — Striba 7 run (Talpas kick)

NS — Ortiz 4 run (Mentzer kick)

ND — Striba 1 run (kick failed)

ND — Clark 59 pass from Bodnar (Talpas kick)

NS — Mengel 13 run (Mentzer kick)

NS — FG Mentzer 23

ND — FG Talpas 22

NS — Mengel 10 run (no attempt)

Team Statistics

                                          NS               NDGP

First Downs                      21                14

Rushes-Yards                    63-325        15-64

Passes                                3-12-1         17-33-1

Passing Yards                   40                278

Total Yards                       365              342

Fumbles/Lost                    1-1              0-0

Penalties                            8-77            9-85

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: North Schuylkill — Mengel 23-207, Ortiz 24-87, Joyce 9-19, Smith 4-11, Mentzer 1-2, Mogish 2-(-1). Notre Dame-Green Pond — Striba 8-37, Gordon 5-26, Bodnar 2-1

PASSING: North Schuylkill —- Mengel 3-12-1, 40. Notre Dame-Green Pond —- Bodnar 17-33-1, 287.

RECEIVING: North Schuylkill — Smith 1-20, Mogish 1-12, Joyce 1-8. Notre Dame-Green Pond — Diaz 5-82, Striba 4-63, Clark 1-59, Boyd 3-31, Driscoll 3-28, Gordon 1-15.

INTERCEPTIONS: North Schuylkill — Joyce. Notre Dame-Green Pond — Gordon.