Northern Lehigh set the tone early in its District 11 Class A semifinal against Mahanoy Area on Friday night.

The Bulldogs used a grinding 11-play scoring drive on their opening possession, and then continued to chew up yards and control the clock on their way to a 30-7 victory over the Bears.

Northern Lehigh’s first drive started at its own 44-yard line and eleven plays later ended with a Nick Frame 13-yard scamper, taking almost seven minutes off the clock.

After forcing the Bears to punt on their opening possession, the Bulldogs went right back to the ground on their second possession, going 83 yards in 11 plays capped off by a 26-yard hookup between frame and tight end Austyn Smyth to give Northern Lehigh a 15-0 lead early in the second quarter.

“I thought we came out and did a good job of taking control of the game. We did enough to come away with the win,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout. “Coming in, you’re coming off a win over one of your rivals, and you win your division and this week, even though it’s a playoff game, it’s kind-of that in between game, so I feel like that coupled with some illnesses that were going around the school, we just didn’t have the consistency we usually like to see or have.”

The Bulldogs (10-1) finished the second quarter strong, punching in another score at the end of the half on a five-yard Frame run to hold a 23-0 advantage at intermission. Northern Lehigh would then hit a bit of a lull in the third quarter, surrendering a Mahanoy touchdown on the Bears opening possession of the second half. The Bears came out strong, switching to a quarterback-option style offense with Colm McGroarty, which helped them put together a 10-play, 66-yard drive finished off by a Ben Manley six-yard touchdown run.

Mahanoy also held Northern Lehigh scoreless in the third quarter and forced a Bulldogs interception.

“Give Mahanoy a lot of credit,” Tout said. “They went back to McGroarty and they were able to move the ball a little bit in the third quarter. We knew we were going to get a physical team in this one and their kids didn’t quit or pack it in at half, they kept playing tough. But we did prepare for their possible offensive switch and practiced against it this week and we were able to do a much better job against it as the second half went on and we also were able to turn them over a few times in the fourth quarter, so we were happy with that.”

The Bulldogs picked it up in the fourth, once again grinding out another time-consuming drive, going 62 yards in 13 plays to up their lead to 30-7 with 6:06 remaining in the game. Northern Lehigh also had two interceptions in the fourth quarter.

PERENNIAL POSTSEASON ... With their win over the Bears, the Bulldogs have now qualified for three consecutive District 11 championships games. They will be looking for their 10th overall district championship when they take on Tri-Valley Friday night at Lehighton.

WELCOME BACK ... Senior do-it-all athlete Izaiah Ramos returned to action against the Bears after missing most of this season with an injury. Ramos made an instant impact, rushing for 63 yards, catching four balls for 26 yards. He also had an impressive one-handed diving interception in the fourth quarter.

MOVE THE CHAINS ... The Bulldogs had 17 first downs in the first half.