Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout challenged his football team before Saturday’s District 11 2A semifinal game against rival Palmerton.

After the Bulldogs lost to rival Palmerton just two weeks prior, he believed his team didn’t play with the effort and physicality they routinely prided themselves on.

The result: His players responded, controlling the line of scrimmage throughout the game and gashing the Blue Bombers defense in the run game, coming away with a 42-27 victory and a trip to the district championship.

From the onset, the Bulldogs (5-3) didn’t waste any time getting their offense going.

A 39-yard touchdown run by Matt Frame and a 12-yard pitch and catch from Dylan Smoyer to Trevor Amorim helped Northern Lehigh get out to a 13-0 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

Once again, turnovers cost the Bombers (3-5), who came into the game with a minus-eight turnover differential, as they committed three turnovers in the first quarter.

“Turnovers have certainly plagued us at times this season and we put ourselves in a hole early with those early turnovers,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “We also had a few chances to punch it in and we didn’t convert, Credit to them, they were physical from the get go.”

Late in the second quarter, a missed chance in the red zone by the Bombers proved to be a crucial turning point.

Trailing 13-7 after a Matt Machalik 90-yard kickoff return got Palmerton within a score, a nine-play drive that started at the Northern Lehigh 39-yard line ended at the three after a gutty stand by the Bulldogs defense. Palmerton had three plays from the three stuffed, turning it over on downs with 3:34 remaining in the first half.

Northern Lehigh took full advantage of the defensive effort, putting together a nine-play drive that ended with a 36-yard Frame scamper with just 2.7 seconds left on the clock to up its lead to 21-7. The Bulldogs’ rush offense was once again impressive, with Frame having 92 yards on the ground on the drive.

“We all felt the effort wasn’t there for us in that first game and today we matched their physicality, but the key was that stand and touchdown before the half,” said Tout. “We felt like we outplayed them and we could’ve possibly been down 14-13, but our defense came up with a huge stop and then we were able to go down and score.

“Pair that with our physicality and our success in the run game and that was definitely the difference.”

The Bulldogs looked like they put the game away midway through the third with a 10-yard Frame run that would made it a three-score game, but Palmerton continued to fight and actually got back within a score (28-21) early in the fourth.

A Machalik 2-yard touchdown run and a 27-yard hookup between Machalik and James Denicola gave the Bombers life, but as it did throughout the game, Northern Lehigh answered the call.

An immediate answer from the Bulldogs on the back of Frame, whose 39-yard run set up a 2-yard tally by Joe Abidelli, put Northern Lehigh back up by double digits.

And with 8:54 remaining, Palmerton couldn’t recover.

“We came out and definitely played with more effort today and more physicality,” said Frame. “I think getting our run game going last week against Schuylkill Haven gave us some confidence and this is always going to be a physical game between us.

“We love hitting each other and we were able to be the more physical team today.”

FRAME OF MIND ... Frame was certainly in the right mindset on Saturday, rushing for 264 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries. He also added a two-point conversion.

NEXT UP ... No. 2 seed Northern Lehigh will take on No. 1 seed Palisades at Whitehall High School at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday in the District 11 2A championship.