Northwestern Lehigh defeats Northern Lehigh for the ” Mountain Road Rumble ” Trophy 34 to 33 ! @nwtigerfootball @Holmes5Justin @CChristopher08

Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News

Daniel Reed | September 3, 2021

Northwestern Lehigh defeats Northern Lehigh for the ” Mountain Road Rumble ” Trophy 34 to 33 on Thursday night at Bulldog Stadium !

Northwestern Lehigh sealed the victory when CB Jacob Peters intercepted Bulldogs QB Dylan Smoyer late in the 4th quarter. Northern Lehigh started the game on offense and drove down the field to score on their opening drive lead by senior RB Trevor Amorim, who had 53 yards on the drive, scored from 2 yards out for the games first score putting the Bulldogs in the lead 7 to 0. The Tigers would answer the call, and like the Bulldogs, marched down the field on their opening drive, Justin Holmes would score his first of 3 touchdowns, this one from just 1 yard out to tie the game at 7. Northern Lehigh would fumble on their next drive with the Tigers recovering the ball and taking it to the endzone for a defensive score to put the Tigers back in the lead 13 to 7 after the 2 point conversion was no good. After the first quarter, the score was still 13 to 7. The Bulldogs would answer with a score of their own when Dylan Smoyer would take it in himself from 4 yards out to put the Bulldogs back on top 14 to 13 with 10:02 to play in the first half. Northwestern Lehigh didn’t take long to respond, as Cade Christopher would break free and rush down the sidelines for 78 yards and the score putting the Tigers in the lead 21 to 14 after a 2 point conversion was good. The Bulldogs would once again, answer the bell, when Izaiah Ramos would make a great catch in the endzone for 26 yards and the score to tie the game at 21 with 6:15 to play in the first half. Northwestern would answer once again when quarterback Justin Holmes would score again, this time from 18 yards, putting the Tigers back in the lead 28 to 21 with 3:02 left in the half. Northern Lehigh would have another chance to score as they were deep in Tigers territory, but with time expired, the Bulldogs pass was incomplete in the endzone broke up by Jacob Peters, and that would end the first half of play with the Tigers leading the Bulldogs 28 to 21.

Northwestern Lehigh would start the second half on offense but would eventually fumble and turn the ball over to the Bulldogs with 8:29 to play in the 3rd quarter. It would only take the Bulldogs just under 2 minutes to put more points on the board when Izaiah Ramos would take the pitch left to the endzone to put Northern Lehigh behind by just 1 after a failed point after attempt 28 to 27 with 1:50 remaining in the 3rd. It was until about 8 minutes to play as both teams would battle back and forth, Northwestern Lehigh would go down field, deep into Bulldog territory only to fumble at the 4 yard line, giving the Bulldogs the ball back with 6:58 to play in the game. Not much would amount on the drive for Northern Lehigh and the Tigers would get the ball back once again. After a few minutes rolled off the clock, the Tigers would add to their lead when QB Justin Holmes would score his 3rd touchdown of the game, from 4 yards out, the point after attempt was good, and Northwestern Lehigh would lead 34 to 27 with just 2:46 to play. On the ensuing kickoff, senior RB and kick returner, Matt Frame would get the ball and race right, down the sideline for 93 yards for the score to put the Bulldogs within 1 point, trailing 34 to 33 with 2:30 left to play in the game. In a surprise, at least to me, the Bulldogs went for the 2 point conversion to take the lead, but was stopped just short of the endzone. The Bulldogs would try the onside kick but unfortunately for them, the Tigers would recover the ball at their own 47 yard line. The Bulldogs would get one more chance surprisingly but the drive would end when Tiger’s CB Jacob Peters came up with the interception, eventually sealing the deal for the Tigers. Northwestern Lehigh would take a few knees and end the game, winning this hard fought, back and forth battle for the “Mountain Road Rumble” Trophy 34 to 33.

Tigers QB Justin Holmes, who has verbally committed to Kent State, was my game MVP as he rushed for 225 yards on 29 carries behind a very solid offensive line. When asked about the 2 point conversion try near the end, Bulldogs coach Joe Tout said I hate, I hate overtime, especially when you are like ourselves with so many two-way kids. Why put them through that, why put us through another series and overtime? Northwestern Lehigh coach Joe Snyder was very pleased how his team responded tonight, saying… “coming around on a short week, only having one practice, the weather last night, we just found a way to make a play, here, there, even though it wasn’t the prettiest at times, we found out a lot about ourselves tonight, and I’m please with what we seen.” Snyder also said, “there were many guys all over the field tonight, told our seniors this is a night they will never forget.”

GAME PHOTOS…