Galen A. Lentz/The Gazette Northwest's Mr. Everything, Brian Shaw (8), who is featured in the column below, helped the Jaguars zoom out from under Seneca Valley's shadow with a 19-14 win over the Eagles.

But this year Northwest suffered a surprising loss to Frederick and was in jeopardy of missing the playoffs Friday when it hosted neighborhood rival Seneca Valley, the only team to defeat the Jaguars last year.

However, Northwest (4-1) got big efforts from its three playmakers on offense and had one of its strongest defensive efforts of the season to capture a 19-14 victory. Head coach Randy Trivers called it the biggest win in school history.

"This is a landmark game for us because it gets us over the hump of being Seneca Valley's little brother," said Trivers after being carried off the field by his team. "This was a playoff-type game for us, and so will every other game for the rest of the season."

The game had the makings of a shootout early in the first quarter as both teams marched down the field with impressive scoring drives on their first drives. However, both defenses tightened up after that and turned the contest into a low-scoring affair.

After scoring the game's first touchdown on a 3-yard plunge in the first quarter, Northwest junior running back Eugene King gave the Jaguars the lead for good late in the second quarter when he caught a screen pass from senior quarterback Brian Shaw and followed his blockers into the end zone for a 17-yard score.

After rushing for 80 yards on 13 carries and scoring all three of Northwest's touchdowns, King had high praise for his offensive line.

"My running came from them and they've been doing it all season," King said. "This game means more to me than the Super Bowl because now we have bragging rights everywhere we go."

Seneca Valley's secondary did a fine job of shutting down the Jaguars' passing attack, but the Screaming Eagles were victimized by Shaw's scrambling ability. On numerous occasions, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound Shaw had no receivers open and ran up the middle to pick up several key third downs that prolonged scoring drives and burned time off the clock late in the game.

Seneca Valley (3-2) struggled with its offense throughout the game and had particular difficulty converting on third downs. Although they tallied more than 130 yards of offense in the first half, the Screaming Eagles could not come up with the yardage they needed on big plays and trailed, 19-7, late in the fourth quarter.

However, Seneca scored with slightly more than a minute remaining when senior quarterback Bobby Walko hit junior wide receiver D.J. Chaney from 15 yards out to pull the Screaming Eagles to within five points.

After recovering the ensuing on-side kick, Seneca Valley had a chance to win the game on its final drive. But Northwest's defense came up with several big stops and Walko's final pass sailed just out of reach of senior wide receiver Eric Yancey to seal the win for the Jaguars.

"I expected to win and for us to come back like that at the end says a lot about our football team," Screaming Eagles head coach Terry Changuris said. "They got key third downs and we didn't, and we didn't play as aggressively as we have been."