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Northwestern Lehigh just too much for Scranton Prep

Tagged under: District 11, District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 25, 2023

New Tripoli-

The matchup between the Tigers and Cavaliers pitted two very similar and run heavy teams against each other, but only Northwestern would be able to continue their success on the ground and come away with the convincing victory.

The evening started off with Prep choosing to receive the opening kick.  The Cavaliers would carve up the Tiger defense via a plethora of ball carriers including Quinten Palermo(8 rushes, 49 yards, 1 Fumble), Louis Paris, Reese Tanner, Liam Barret, Tae Weeks, and Treyvon Dickey on their opening drive.  They would drive all the way down to the red zone and then the Nortwestern defense would tighten up and force a turnover on downs after stopping the Cavaliers on a 4th down rushing attempt.  Northwestern would take over at their own 20 and proceed to be shut down by the Scranton Prep defense and be forced to go 3 and out.  The Cavalier offense would waste no time to find the endzone on their next drive as QB Louis Paris (9 rushes, 90 yards, 1 TD, 6-11, 40 yards, 2 INT) would take the first snap to the house on a 59 yard touchdown scamper to put the visiting Cavaliers up 6-0 after a blocked extra point attempt with 4:33 left in the opening quarter.

The Northwestern offense would look to respond on their next possession and respond they would.  The Tiger offense would look to their ground attack for a majority of the drive and they would find success on the legs of Leh, Clymer, Hildebrand, and Zimmerman.  The Tigers would cap off their drive with a 7 yard touchdown pass from Leh (8-11, 110 yards, 1 TD) to Shane Hulmes to put the Tigers on top of the Cavaliers 7-6 with 11:54 left in the half.

The ensuing Scranton Prep drive would be cut short after the third play when Quinten Palermo would be stripped of the ball and have it be recovered by Tiger linebacker Shane Hulmes at the 44 yardline.  Northwestern would stick to their guns and the ground attack and after a quick 7 play drive, they would find the end-zone once again.  This trip would be capped off by an 8 yard touchdown run by Dalton Clymer(29 rushes, 114 yards, 3TD).  The Tigers would elect to go for 2, but the Cavalier defense would stop them short of the goal line and with 7:43 left in the first half, Northwestern would lead 13-6 over Scranton Prep.

The following offensive series for the Cavaliers never got off the ground as the Tiger defense would force them to stop them on 4th down on their first set of downs to get the ball right back to the Tiger offense.   Once again the Tigers would go on a methodical drive downfield, however this time they would come up empty as they would miss a field goal wide left to keep the score at 13-6.  The Prep offense would take over just outside their own 10 yard line and with some help from some flags thrown on the Tiger defense, they were quickly across the 50 and in to Tiger territory.  The Northwestern defense would tighten up and then when the Cavaliers decided to go for it on 4th down, Breyer Reichard would find his way in to the Cavalier backfield and sack Paris on 4th down to get the ball back for the Tigers.  Leh would come on to the field and take a knee to send the teams in to their respective locker rooms for halftime.  At the half, the score was Northwestern 13 and Scranton Prep 6.

The third quarter would see Northwestern receive the kick from the Cavaliers.  The Tigers once again would pound the rock with Clymer and then as a change of pace, Leh would find Hildebrand down the seam for a huge 28 yard gain all the way down to the Cavalier 1 yard line.  Clymer would find his way in to the end zone on the next play to give Northwestern the 20-6 lead.

The Prep offense would come back out on the field in hopes to get the Cavaliers back in the game, but the Northwestern defense would have something to say about that.  The Tigers would force a quick 3 and out and get their offense back out on the field.  It would not take long for the Tigers to capitalize as Leh would find Hildebrand(4 rec, 65 yds, 1 INT) twice through the air on this drive for 30 yards and set up the Northwestern offense inside the Prep 10.  Clymer would take over from there and 2 plays later find the end-zone for his 3rd touchdown of the night as Northwestern would go up 27-6 with 1:35 left in the 3rd quarter.

The next Prep drive would be cut short again via a turnover.  This time it would be Tiger defensive back Eli Zimmerman( 7 rushes, 39 yards, 1 INT) who would step in front of a Paris pass and intercept it for the Tigers.  The Tigers would take their time moving the ball downfield with their steady ground attack.  However, this time the Cavalier defense would shut the door on the Tiger offense when they went for it on 4th and goal.  The Cavalier offense wasted no time in trying to move the ball quickly downfield as Paris found James Pappas for a huge 38 yard gain to get the Prep offense out of the shadow of their own end zone.  The Cavaliers would have their drive kept alive via a face mask penalty on the Tiger defense and then after another long 15 yard scamper by Louis Paris, the Tiger defense would once again force a turnover.  This time, Hildebrand would be the defender to step in front of the Paris pass, essentially closing out the game.  The Tiger offense would take the field and run out the clock on this PIAA 3A quarterfinal matchup.  The final score from Tiger stadium was Northwestern Lehigh 27 and Scranton Prep 6.

After the game I was able to catch up with Northwestern’s Dalton Clymer who when asked about the game plan for this evening said ” This was a very similar team to us, perhaps the closest team to us that we’ve faced all year on offense and defense. They had players all around and were a dual threat just like us.  Out of the gate we came out a little slow, not the first time that’s happened all year, it wasn’t nice, but like I said in one of my other interviews once the team settled in and getting a feel for the other team we were able to settle in and get in the groove and keep scoring and shutting them out.”  When asked about his offensive line and helping get him another 3 touchdowns this evening he said “Fantastic, they’ve done good all year and they did it again tonight. Ya know it’s been nothing new, every week they dominate up front and that’s why we’re winning.  That opens up the run game and the pass game, all the credit has to go to them.”

I was also able to speak with Devon Hildebrand of the Northwestern Tigers after the game and when asked about the preparation for this week against Prep he said “Offense is really explosive, they got some playmakers, but we had a great game plan moving guys around and matching up against who we want. It worked out in the end, everyone got the matchup they wanted and it worked out beautifully.”  When I asked him about his game sealing interception in the 4th quarter he said “It was amazing,  I saw him release, got a little jam on him, and I ended up making the play, celebrating with my guys and marching down the field to put the game away.” When I asked him about next week he said “I’m just gonna enjoy this one, but it’s back to business on Monday, gotta go 1-0 and keep preparing and doing what we do”

With the loss, Scranton Prep’s season comes to a close with a record of 12-2.  Northwestern Lehigh with the victory reaches 14-0 for the first time in school history.  Next week, Northwestern will take on the Wyomissing Spartans (12-1) who are fresh off their own Quarterfinal victory over Danville 48-27.

Check out the updated PIAA Football Playoff Bracket

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