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Fast and furious start sends Northwestern Lehigh to easy victory over rival Bulldogs

Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| August 30, 2024

Behind Eli Zimmerman’s for first half touchdowns, the Tigers demolished the Bulldogs.

NEW TRIPOLI- The adage of Murphy’s Law states: “Anything that can go wrong, and at the worst possible time.” For the Bulldogs of Northern Lehigh that came Thursday night in a Schuylkill/Colonial opening night showdown with the PIAA 3A state championship finalist, the Tigers of Northwestern Lehigh. NW Lehigh took advantage of several Bulldogs miscues and scored eight straight times in the first half en route to a 56-7 demolition at Tigers Stadium before a packed house on an overcast evening.

Northern Lehigh received the opening kickoff, but went three-and-out and were forced to punt, that was when Eli Zimmerman took the punt from the Bulldog 41 and found running room down the home sideline to make his first deposit in the end zone with just 3:45 taken off the clock.

Zimmerman the picked off an errand Bulldog pass to setup his squad deep inside Bulldog territory. Quarterback Shane Leh then hit Zimmerman in the flat and the speedster did the rest scoring from nine yards out making the score 14-0 at the 5:17 mark of the opening quarter.

It didn’t get any better for the visitors in the opening half. Northern Lehigh turned the ball over four times and could only muster a negative ten yards on the ground in the first twenty-four minutes of the contest, something they could not afford against high high-powered Tiger offense, who scored over 650 points last season on their way to Cumberland Valley in December.

After Eli Zimmerman’s younger brother Brady, picked off another Northern Lehigh pass, Eli would cap off another drive by going in from 29 yards out to make it 21-0 with 2:23 left in the first quarter. Seth Kern would add the PAT and the rout was on. Northwestern scored 47 points last week against Wilson.

On the opening play of the second quarter the older Zimmerman scored once again on a dazzling 60 yard scamper, when it appeared he was tackled for just a twelve yard gain, but Eli kept his balance before a knee touched and found his way for fourth score of the night making it 28-0. Zimmerman played on defense last year and is now getting his shot in the backfield and making the most of it.

Seth Kern, who kicked 8 PAT’s on the night, then got into the action by taking another Bulldog point on right side of the field, proceeded back to his left, got a convoy of blockers out from and reeled off a 59 yard punt return making it 35-0 with 9:57 left until intermission.

Leh would then get into the mix for the Tigers as he would rush for a score from seven yards out on a fourth-and-goal play and then connect with Kern on a 43 yard pass play, Kern took a short pass across the middle and outrun the Bulldog defense to find pay-dirt and a 49-0 lead with still 4:22 left on the clock in the second quarter.

Northwestern would add to their total on the very last play of the half as Leh would loft a perfect pass to Kern down the middle for a 30 yard score and a 56-0 lead as the teams headed for the locker room.

With a running clock for the entire second half, and the Tigers giving their starters the half off, Northern Lehigh did avoid the shutout with a 18 yard touchdown pass from Ayden Oswald to Ryan Zambo completing the scoring on the night.

Coach Josh Snyder, said after the game “It was critical that the defense came up big with that stop early in the contest. Force them into the passing game early as we knew they would try to use the run game to control the time. They were uncomfortable throwing the ball and we were able to take advantage of creating turnovers and scoring off those mistakes.”

Northwestern Lehigh’s defense held the Bulldogs to an 0-for nine on third down conversions. But Northern Lehigh did convert 3 of 5 on 4th down plays. The defense also forced five turnovers and the offense converted each of them into touchdowns.

The Tigers now 2-0 on the season will be on the road next Thursday night at Paul Farnan Field to face the Bangor Slaters (0-2)7 p.m. The Slaters lost to Lehighton 33-7 last night. The Bulldogs (1-1) will also be on the road “Up On The Hill” at Pen Argyl (0-1) at 1:30 p.m. The Green Knights lost to Tamaqua 38-7 and will be at Palmerton (0-1) tonight.

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