Northwestern Lehigh football strikes early, often in rout of rival Northern Lehigh

Northern Lehigh’s plan Thursday night was to take the opening kickoff and attempt to take the air out of its annual Mountain Road Rumble game against Northwestern Lehigh.

It was evident three plays into the contest that the Tigers were going to have none of that.

The Bulldogs produced a net of minus-3 yards on their first series before Tiger Eli Zimmerman got his hands on a punt return.

Forty-one yards later, Northwestern Lehigh led. Things only spiraled downhill faster for Northern Lehigh after that.

Zimmerman then scored on a run and a pass reception in the game’s first 10 minutes and the rout was on.

Northwestern scored the first eight times it touched the ball and rolled to a 56-7 mercy-rule win at Tiger Stadium in Lynn Township.

“Coach Snyder said this week that we had to come out firing,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a rivalry game. We didn’t know what really to expect. Anything could happen on any given night.”

Zimmerman touched the ball four times. He scored two rushing touchdowns, caught a TD pass and returned an interception to the Northern Lehigh 12-yard line midway through the first quarter.

Fellow senior Seth Kern also had a stellar night on limited touches. His interception set up Zimmerman’s first rushing touchdown, a 29-yard run late in the first quarter.

Kern then reversed field after catching a punt and ran 59 yards for a score at the 9:57 mark of the first half. His 30-yard touchdown catch on the last play of the second quarter gave the Tigers a 56-point cushion. He also kicked all eight extra points.

Northern Lehigh, meanwhile, had minus-10 yards rushing and threw four interceptions in the first half.

“We are disappointed,” Bulldogs coach Joe Tout said. “I thought we’d compete a little bit more. I’m not ecstatic. For the first time in years, we get to play a school our size and it’s not in the playoffs.”

Northern Lehigh plays fellow 2A schools Pen Argyl and Palisades the next two weeks before taking on 3A Palmerton in Week 5.

The Bulldogs were a Class A team the previous two seasons before bumping up to 2A for the next two years.

“It’s going to be awesome,” Tout said. “We’ll rebound and I told our kids that we expect to come through the next couple games, and we start to beat up on people.”

Northwestern has pounded many opponents in recent years thanks to a cycle of several classes full of talented players in all phases of the game.

The Tigers scored 670 points on their way to last year’s PIAA Class 3A final. They racked up 47 first-half points in last week’s season-opening shutout over Wilson.

Things are not perfect, but Northwestern has it going well again early in 2024.

Zimmerman, who has been a defensive standout during his career, is getting a chance to shine in other facets of the game.

“He can do it all,” Tigers coach Josh Snyder said of his senior. “I’m glad he’s on display. He deserves it. He’s been in the shadows of some pretty good football players during his career. He excels on defense, but to get the ball in his hands in multiple ways and see him explode on the field — he’s tough to tackle, he’s strong.”

Zimmerman’s 60-yard TD run appeared to be stopped 40 yards from the end zone, but he spun around and kept his balance after nearly being taken down on the first play of the second quarter.

The defense also made Northern Lehigh consistently spin its wheels. The Bulldogs committed five turnovers, all of which led to Tigers touchdowns.

“I thought it was critical that our defense came up with a stop early in the game,” Snyder said. “Win first down and put them into passing situations where they are a little more uncomfortable. We were able to do that throughout in the first half.”

Brady Zimmerman, Eli’s younger brother, and Michael Lagowy also had interceptions in the first half for Northwestern. Bryer Reichard recovered a fumble that led to a Shane Leh 7-yard touchdown run. Braxton Lakatosh and Braidon Berk each had two tackles for loss and Jared Meck had another for loss and one for no gain as the Tigers dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

Northern Lehigh, which was 0 for 9 on third down, avoided the shutout when Ayden Oswald hit Ryan Zambo on an 18-yard touchdown pass on fourth down. The Bulldogs converted three of five times on fourth down.

Northwestern (2-0) visits Bangor (0-2) next Thursday at 7 p.m. Northern Lehigh (1-1) visits Pen Argyl (0-1) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7.

NORTHWESTERN 56, NORTHERN LEHIGH 7

Northern Lehigh; 0; 0; 7; 0 — 7

Northwestern; 21; 35; 0; 0 — 56

ORDER OF SCORING

First quarter

NWL: Eli Zimmerman 41 punt return (Seth Kern kick), 9:25

NWL: Shane Leh 9 pass to Zimmerman (Kern kick), 5:17

NWL: Zimmerman 29 run (Kern kick), 2:23

Second quarter

NWL: Zimmerman 60 run (Kern kick), 11:48

NWL: Seth Kern 59 punt return (Kern kick), 9:57

NWL: Leh 7 run (Kern kick), 7:50

NWL: Leh 43 pass to Kern (Kern kick), 4:32

NWL: Leh 30 pass to Kern (Kern kick), 0:00

Third quarter

NL: Ayden Oswald 18 pass to Ryan Zambo (Anthony Hanna kick), 3:03

TEAM STATISTICS
NL     NWL
First downs 5; 12
Rushing Yds 35-29; 26-168
Passing Yds 42; 85
Passing 3-8-4; 5-10-0
Punts 3-28.0; 1-18.0
Fumbles-lost 1-1; 1-0
Penalties-yards 3-15; 4-29

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing : (Northern Lehigh) Grady Newhard 9-1; Isaac Raber 2-3; Chris Frame 3-(-7); Ayden Oswald 6-(-6); Garrett Smoyer 1-(-3); Noah Gosart 5-20; Reese Lipsky 3-9; Kaden Quinones 3-2; Mason Rothrock 3-10; (Northwestern) Eli Zimmerman 2-89, 2 TDs; Shane Leh 3-2, TD; Landen Matson 1-(-1); Mason Bollinger 3-13; Braxton Lakatosh 5-22; Chase Sukanick 2-2; Evan Wagstaff 2-1; Kendall Wikert 1-15; Kollin Stringer 3-19; Jesse Yenser 1-11; team 1-(-7); Landon Gauweiler 2-2.

Passing : (Northern Lehigh) Oswald 3-6-3, 42 yards, TD; Smoyer 0-2-1; (Northwestern) Leh 5-9-0 85 yards, 3 TDs.

Receiving : (Northern Lehigh) Newhard 2-24; Ryan Zambo 1-18, TD; (Northwestern) Kern 1-30, TD; Bollinger 1-(-2); Zimmerman 1-9; Matson 2-48, TD.

Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com