FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — Eli Zimmerman took a handoff on a play designed to go outside the tackle.
The Northwestern senior, often the fastest player on the field in games, patiently waited for his blockers to lead the way. He then waited for the opposing defender or two to decide which way they were going to attempt to fill the gap or take on the block.
Then, it was a blur.
Zimmerman hits the hole and is into the second level of the defense in a blink.
North Schuylkill was the latest foe to find out how difficult it is to bring down Zimmerman. He rushed for a school-record 271 yards and two touchdowns and Northwestern played its best offensive game of the season in a 49-7 win Friday at Ghosh Orthodontics Field.
Brett Snyder’s 266 yards in a 1995 game against Notre Dame-Green Pond was the previous Northwestern record.
Zimmerman earlier this season broke head coach Josh Snyder’s school mark for career punt returns for touchdowns.
“He’s got a lot of God-given talent,” Josh Snyder said of Zimmerman. “You can’t practice those moves and those instincts and that center of gravity. He’s a hard worker who has transformed his body since last year to carry it 20 times a game. The last guy we had like that was Cade Christopher. But Eli is different. He’s smaller, more a jitterbug. He only needs a crease.”
North Schuylkill’s Luke Miller only needed an opening off right tackle and a soft left edge in the Northwestern defense to outrun everyone for a 61-yard touchdown on the game’s third play.
The Spartans defense then forced a punt after the Tigers managed only 12 yards on four plays on their first drive.
After that, however, it was all Northwestern.
The Tigers scored on their next five series, then their first two of the second half to improve to 5-0 this season.
Zimmerman’s 70-yard touchdown run on Northwestern’s first offensive play of its second series got the Tigers even at 7. Seth Kern’s 2-yard TD run two minutes into the second quarter gave Northwestern the lead for good.
The Tigers defense then returned to its usual dominant self. It forced the Spartans into six punts and an interception on their next seven series.
Other than Miller’s 61-yard TD run, North Schuylkill managed only 49 yards on its other 23 plays in the first half.
Brady Zimmerman’s interception led to brother Eli’s 4-yard TD run for a 21-7 advantage and the rout was on.
“It was a little rough,” Mason Bollinger said of the early deficit, Northwestern’s first this season. “But we knew we could come back. It was something we hadn’t faced before. But we got it done with 49 unanswered points. it was a good way to end it.”
Bollinger caught five passes for 92 yards and a touchdown as Northwestern’s passing game also clicked. Shane Leh completed nine of 13 passes for 133 yards and three scores to counter the Tigers running game that produced 426 yards on just 36 carries.
“We got punched in the mouth,” Zimmerman said. “We didn’t get off the bus right away. We had to really respond, stay together. Things are not going to go our way all the time. North Schuylkill is a well-coached team, so they found something that we didn’t know.
“It was business as usual [after that]. We knew what happened, just a little miscommunication. We stayed together because we knew if we freaked out, things weren’t going to go our way.”
Things have gone Northwestern’s way the first six weeks of the season. Snyder’s crew has outscored foes 280-36.
It has home games against Pottsville (3-3) and Jim Thorpe (1-5) before heading to Tamaqua (6-0) and Southern Lehigh (5-1) to finish the regular season.
NORTHWESTERN 49, NORTH SCHUYLKILL 7
Northwestern; 7; 28; 14; 0 — 49
North Schuylkill; 7; 0; 0; 0 — 7
ORDER OF SCORING
First quarter
NS: Luke Miller 61 run (Gavin Mentzer kick), 10:18
NWL: Eli Zimmerman 70 run (Seth Kern kick), 3:47
Second quarter
NWL: Seth Kern 2 run (Kern kick), 10:13
NWL: Zimmerman 2 run (Kern kick), 8:05
NWL; Shane Leh 18 pass to Josh Wambold (Kern kick), 5:45
NWL: Leh 5 pass to Shane Hulmes (Kern kick), 1:22
Third quarter
NWL: Leh 14 pass to Mason Bollinger (Kern kick), 8:52
NWL: Landen Matson 18 run (Kern kick), 3:14
TEAM STATISTICS
NWL NS
First downs 22 6
Rushes-Yds 36-426 27-155
Passing Yds 144 15
Passing 10-16-0 4-11-1
Punts-avg. 1-45.0 7-45.7
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 7-65 7-67
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing : (Northwestern) Eli Zimmerman 13-272, 2 TDs; Seth Kern 6-33, TD; Mason Bollinger 2-11; Shane Leh 6-34; Landen Matson 2-23, TD; Kemurray Morgan 1-2; Chase Sukanick 2-14; Braxton Lakatosh 4-36; (North Schuylkill) Caden Mengel 3-3; Luke Miller 13-82, TD; Kolton Joyce 3-5; Angel Ortiz 4-11; Sam Wall 4-54
Passing : (Northwestern) Leh 9-13-0, 133 yards, 3 TDs; Sukanick 1-3-0, 11 yards; (North Schuylkill) Mengel 4-11-1, 15 yards.
Receiving : (Northwestern); Zimmerman 1-3; Bollinger 5-92, TD; Shane Hulmes 1-5; Josh Wambold 1-18, TD; Matson 1-15; Lakatosh 1-11; (North Schuylkill) Miller 1-(-3); Landen Smith 1-3; Michael Mogish 1-14; Joyce 1-1.
Morning Call senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com
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