Welcome back to another season of our high school football Overtime column.

Once again this year, Overtime will try to go behind the scenes and inside the numbers.

The goal of our feature story each week is to provide information that game stories or preview articles might not have touched on. Sometimes we’ll look back at the previous week’s games and other times we’ll look ahead to what’s coming up next.

Meanwhile, in the statistical portion of Overtime, Rod Heckman will provide research into the boxscores. He’ll not only tell you how often something has happened in school or area history, but he’ll find out when it happened last and who did it.

Overtime will kick off this season with a look at what’s new at Northwestern High School. We’ll also provide information on Palmerton interceptions, Jim Thorpe relying on its defense, Tamaqua going deep, and a few other subjects.

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Game day for Northwestern football is going to be different this week — in more ways than one.

The first change is when the game will be played. Instead of the normal Friday night kickoff, the Tigers will host Salisbury tonight.

The second change will be found inside the stadium. Tonight’s game will be the debut of Northwestern’s new turf field.

“We’re very excited,” said Northwestern Athletic Director Jason Zimmerman. “I am certain everything will run great, but even after doing this for a number of years, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad bit nervous. I basically have to manage a new facility with a new layout. Fortunately we have great people serving our athletic department and maintenance staff so if there are any hitches, I am very confident we will be able to handle them.”

Zimmerman said that plans for the turf field had been in the works for years and there has been plenty of cooperation in making sure everyone is satisfied with the finished product.

“My coaching staffs have been with me on this endeavor every step of the way,” he explained. “I received a lot of solid input from all of them. The coaches, along with our student-athletes, were my motivator to see this through.

“There were times throughout the past few years that I didn’t think this was going to become a reality for our school. My staff and my student-athletes have been absolutely awesome through all of the delays and relocation of practices and games while the construction process has been going on.”

Zimmerman said he also took advantage of several area school districts that already had turf at their facilities to get advice during the process.

“I relied heavily on Northern Lehigh, Palmerton, Lehighton, and Whitehall during this process,” Zimmerman said. “They were always willing to provide me with good, sound advice based on their experiences.”

Once it became official that the turf field was going in and that it would be in place for this season’s home opener, Zimmerman knew exactly how he wanted to christen it.

“The Thursday night concept was something I always wanted to do for several reasons,” he said. “I believe it may spark a little attendance boost the first week of school. I also believe it will provide the participating teams more media coverage, being one of the only shows in town.

“Another nice advantage is that it will give our football, cheerleading, and band families a chance to sneak out for a nice long weekend with school being off Friday and Monday. Last, but maybe one of the big driving forces for (head football coach) Josh (Snyder) and I was the fact it gives us a chance to have a normal routine. Kids will go to school, do their pregame rituals, and play the game. Having a game on a day that school is not in session breaks our normal routine.”

The excitement for Thursday’s game can be felt throughout the school and community, according to Zimmerman. But the impact the field will have on the school district will be felt long after the game ends.

“We’re looking forward to finally getting on the field for the first time,” Zimmerman said. “After that, there won’t be much down-time on that field between practices and games for our football, field hockey, boys soccer, girls soccer, cross country, cheerleading, and band programs. Add in youth fooball games, and there isn’t much open time left in the stadium.”

Zimmerman saved his biggest thank you for last.

“This project would not have been possible without the generosity of Lehigh Valley Health Network. They were huge corporate sponsors of this project,” Zimmerman said. “We have been lucky enough to be working with LVHN’s Athletic Training Services Department since 1989. Although they have gone through a string of name changes since that time for a variety of reasons, our relationship has remained strong.

“As a result, we were able to enter into a 12-year agreement with them for our Athletic Training Services in which cash and services provided equates to approximately $1.2 million over the life of the agreement.”

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AIR RAIDERS ... It’s no secret that Tamaqua’s Brayden Knoblauch and Matt Kistler had a record-breaking night last Friday against Line Mountain.

Not only did the two set school records for yards passing (347) and receiving (192) in a game, but the duo also combined on an 86-yard touchdown. The last time the Blue Raiders completed a longer scoring strike was Oct. 31, 2003 (160 games ago) when Matt Wagner finished a 95-yard TD pass from Aaron Smith during a 21-20 victory over Marian.

The aerial attack also meant the ground game wasn’t needed to produce a victory. In fact, the 50 yards rushing the Raiders totaled was the fewest in a Tamaqua win since Sept. 14, 2012, when it had 40 in a 26-18 triumph over Shenandoah Valley.

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DOUBLE THE PICK-SIX ... The defense played a huge role in Palmerton cruising to a victory over Palisades last Friday.

The Blue Bombers intercepted four passes, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Both Ethan Recker and Jordan Nelson came up with pick-sixes for head coach Chris Walkowiak during the 47-6 decision.

In the last 25 years, this marked just the eighth time that a Times News area team had two interception returns for touchdowns in the same game. It was the second instance for Palmerton, as Tre Nelson and Dominic Shivone both had pick-sixes on Oct. 24, 2014 in a win against Salisbury (that contest was also the last time the Bombers had four interceptions in a game). Marian and Northern Lehigh have also done it twice, while Northwestern and Lehighton have each done it once.

Palmerton is rather familiar with TDs off interceptions. A year ago, the nine Times News area squads combined for five pick-sixes, and three of them were by the Blue Bombers.

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JUST ENOUGH ... Jim Thorpe pulled out a narrow 10-7 victory over Schuylkill Haven Friday, receiving a touchdown from Colin Binder and a field goal from Chris Condly.

In the last 40 years, that marked just the fourth time that the Olympians scored 10 or fewer points and still won.

The other three include a 7-6 victory over Tamaqua on Sept. 12, 2014, a 10-0 shutout of Schuylkill Haven on Oct. 20, 2007, and a 3-0 decision against Saint Clair on Sept. 18, 1987.

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SCORELESS HALF ... Northern Lehigh failed to produce any points in the first half of its game against Wilson last Friday before pulling out a 14-10 victory.

Over the last 30 years, the Bulldogs were just 5-77 in games in which they were held scoreless in the first two quarters.

While Nolehi didn’t reach the end zone in the first half, neither did the Warriors — producing a rare 0-0 halftime score. In those previous 30 years, there had been only six other times the Bulldogs had played a 0-0 halftime tie, and only two times where they went on to win. Those two times were Sept. 7, 2012 against Notre Dame (12-7 win) and Oct. 18, 2002 against Northwestern (10-7 victory).