Dalton Clymer doesn’t really have a favorite position.

The Northwestern junior is happy to line up wherever his team needs him.

That mindset is prevalent throughout the program, where players move around the field without hesitation.

It’s that sort of versatility and selflessness that has helped the Tigers sustain their success over the years.

And it was on full display again last Friday, as Northwestern ripped off 28 unanswered points in a 35-14 victory over Lehighton to move to 4-1 on the season.

Clymer ran for 176 yards and two touchdowns, and also caught a TD pass in the win. In addition, he added seven tackles, including one for a loss. That effort earned him the Times News Player of the Week honors.

“It’s awesome,” said Clymer, who also was credited with half a sack. “We have a lot of skill guys; a lot of people that could play 100 different positions on the field. To have Cade (Christopher) who can be wide receiver, quarterback, running back, to be able to switch me in and out to be able to block and stuff like that, it keeps teams on their toes, which is huge. So that was big in the game.

“We knew what we had to do at half. What we were doing wasn’t working. We came up with a good defensive scheme, and were just able to move people around and figure out some stuff to swing that momentum.”

A late score before the end of the first half tied the game at 14-14. The Tigers’ defense forced a punt on the Indians’ first possession of the second half, before getting a key stop on fourth and one at Lehighton’s 44-yard line on its second possession to shut the Tribe out in the third quarter.

“We ask so much of our kids, to play three ways, really, on offense, defense and special teams,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “And then within those three-way players, you have a guy like Clymer, who has taken reps at quarterback for us; taken reps at running back; plays a good bit of fullback for us; and excels at all of them.

“I’m pretty excited with the way the game played out for him. He’s done a lot for us offensively this year, hasn’t really been able to pop that big run, but he was able to on Friday night, I think he got the longest run of his career around 40 or 41 yards and breakout in the open. He’s a pounding, big, physical running back. He doesn’t have great moves or great speed, but he hits the hole and gets positive yardage for us. And for him to have a breakout game, career rushing night for him, he caught a pass for a touchdown, too. It was just an outstanding offensive performance for him.”

Clymer scored all three of his touchdowns in the second half.

The junior had a seven-yard rush before catching a six-yard touchdown pass from Christopher, who was also the Times News Football Player of the Week earlier this year, in the third quarter. Clymer added a three-yard run in the fourth period.

“Him and Cade (Christopher) have a pretty nice give-and-go game going back-and-forth there between them,” said Snyder. “I think he (Clymer) has had his best halves in the second half of games. He gets stronger as the game goes on. I’m excited for him. I think we have the possibility of having two 1,000-yard rushers in the backfield, and I think he’d be the first one to tell you that the line has a lot to do with that. They’re big, physical kids, and they’re very well coached. We can get after opposing defenses in a number of different ways.

“I’ve been real happy with our running game. We broke the single game rushing record earlier in the season, had over 420 yards rushing again the other night, and he has a lot to do with that.”

It doesn’t matter what position he’s playing or how much he scores, Clymer only cares about one thing.

“Winning,” he said with a smile. “That’s what I love more than anything else, and losing is what I hate more than anything else. Whatever helps the team the most...I love running the ball and being able to control stuff, but whatever helps. If it’s me blocking, if it’s me running routes, whatever it takes to win, that’s what I love.”

Clymer has carried the ball 69 times for 482 yards (6.99 yards per carry) and scored a total of eight touchdowns this season.

The Tigers are third in the area in total offense and total defense. Northwestern is averaging 373.4 yards per game, and allowing 218.6 yards per game.

Clymer has learned from a young age that maybe his best position is wherever he is needed next.

“Growing up, I played on the line starting off in youth,” said Clymer. “So coming all the way up, you’re learning all these different positions and for me, it’s just kind of been about getting that experience, getting to experience a lot of different positions, learning how to block the right way.

“Like we talked about with versatility, it’s just set me up to have success and be able to play a lot of different positions and be good at what I do, and learning a lot of different skills over the years has helped.”