Northern Lehigh never flinched.

The Bulldogs didn’t blink when they needed to make a play against Notre Dame of Green Pond on Friday night.

They found ways - on offense, defense and special teams - to deliver against the Crusaders when it mattered most.

Northern Lehigh carried a bulldog mentality into the game and came away with a massive 40-33 win over a Notre Dame team that was previously unbeaten in the Colonial-Schuylkill League’s Red Division.

The Bulldogs (6-1, 3-1) put together a 10-play, 63-yard drive that started with 4:22 on the clock and ended with 0:18 left in the game and Alexander Jimenez-Wittong in the end zone for the third time in the game to snap a tie game before Chase Moffitt buried the extra point to make it 40-33.

It also came after Notre Dame (5-2, 4-1) quarterback Danny Darno found AJ Lozano for a 59-yard score on a drive that lasted one play and needed 11 seconds.

But Ethan Karpowich blocked the ensuing extra point, keeping the game tied and giving the Bulldogs a chance to put together the game-winning drive.

“Just keep grinding,” Northern Lehigh coach Joe Tout said of the mindset. “Nothing magic. We moved the ball all night, it was just a matter of, ‘Do we have enough time?’ We had to burn a timeout early in the half. That was it. Because we don’t want to go wide and start throwing, but we were able to move it enough where it did setup the play-action, so that was huge for us.”

The game-winning drive featured two big completions from Nick Frame to Jack Tosh for gains of 16 and 10 yards, the latter coming with 0:30 left and putting the Bulldogs’ at the two-yard line.

It was the defense that delivered on the Crusaders’ final drive. Notre Dame took over after the touchdown at its own 44-yard line, but the series resulted in two incompleteness before the pressure got to Darno and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Sam Frame Jr., one of four Notre Dame turnovers.

Northern Lehigh rushed 67 times for 344 yards, with Nick Frame carrying the ball 24 times for 204 yards, while Jimenez-Wittong finished with 70 yards on 18 carries.

“Some of those plays, you have AJ blocking for him, you have Ethan Karpowich, we have big strong kids,” Tout said of Frame’s rushing in their midline option attack. “The other thing we did tonight, we put Jayden Krempasky at tight end. We didn’t play him as much defensively, but Jayden at tight end, he did an incredible job.”

The Bulldogs couldn’t have asked for a better start, scoring two touchdowns in their first five offensive plays to build a 14-0 lead. Frame bolted 61 yards for a touchdown on Northern Lehigh’s second play from scrimmage.

“Once you make a big play in this house, everybody goes crazy and it gets everybody up,” said Frame.

Notre Dame tied the game for the first time at 20-20 with Darno scoring from 26 yards out on the first possession of the second half. Darno was 10-of-19 passing for 237 yards, and rushed for 104 yards on 14 carries.

The Bulldogs answered with a 14-play, 73-yard drive that ended with Jimenez-Wittong scoring from three yards to put Northern Lehigh ahead 27-20 with 3:37 to play in the third.

An interception by Frame and a fumble recovery by Austin Smyth ended the Crusaders next two possessions and kept the Bulldogs in front 27-20 after three quarters.

Darno broke free and scored from 18 yards out on Notre Dame’s next drive to make it 27-27 with 9:22 to play.

Northern Lehigh’s next drive, which started at its own 40-yard line after a great return by Grady Newhard, ended with Karpowich going in from three yards out. But a missed extra point kept the lead at 33-27 with 4:47 remaining.

And it was Karpowich who delivered the big block after Notre Dame’s next score to keep the game tied at 33-33.

“This is Northern Lehigh football,” said Jimenez-Wittong. “We love to battle.”

BIG PLAYS

... Smyth ended Notre Dame’s first series with an interception. The Bulldogs also had Ayden Oswald recover an onside kick in the first half.

BIG WIN

... The victory comes two weeks after Northern Lehigh suffered a 31-0 loss at home to North Schuylkill, and a week after Notre Dame beat the Spartans 36-24.

KEEP IT MOVING

... Northern Lehigh had a 19 play drive that covered 70 yards and began with 6:05 left in the first quarter and ended when Frame capped the series with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Smyth with 7:22 to play in the second quarter to make it 20-6.