The annual Mountain Road Rumble was a one-way street on Thursday night.

Northwestern took control early and rolled to a 48-0 victory over rival Northern Lehigh.

“I would argue that we dominated in all three phases,” said Tigers coach Josh Snyder about his team’s performance. “Our offensive and defensive lines were phenomenal and then Eli (Zimmerman) almost returned that (punt) for a score. We played well in every way tonight.

“I really have to credit our guys for all the hard work they put in.”

After quarterback Shane Leh’s short touchdown run gave Northwestern an early lead, Zimmerman set up the next score when he returned a punt 61 yards to the Northern Lehigh 2-yard line. Dalton Clymer ran it in from there to put Northwestern up 13-0 with 3:23 left in the first quarter.

Northern Lehigh picked up a first down on its first drive of the game and wouldn’t get another until there were just 5:00 remaining before halftime. In between, its offense was dominated by a defensive line that sacked Bulldogs quarterback Garrett Smoyer five times. The Tigers held Northern Lehigh to just 26 yards of total offense.

“We had a lot of guys play really well last week (against Tamaqua), and it just carried over to this week,” said Snyder. “Jackson Huber is a guy that came out of nowhere last week, and he was great again this week.”

Clymer has taken his leadership role seriously both on and off the field. Against the Bulldogs, Clymer ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

“We’ve really been clicking, and the offensive line deserves all the credit. Right from camp, they just seemed to gel, and a lot of questions people had have been answered,” said Clymer.

Through the first two weeks, the Tigers have had sophomores Mason Bollinger and Leh sharing the quarterback spot. Last night - for the second straight week - freshman Brady Krimmel also got playing time under center in a mercy-rule victory.

Leh hit on five-of-eight passes for 87 yards, while Bollinger was 2-for-3 for 44 yards. Krimmel also completed a couple of passes for 41 yards.

“One downside of rotating quarterbacks is that they get half the reps in practice, but it is what it is,” said Snyder. “We’re going to stay this way with the two guys sharing the job. They are both playing well, and they both make mistakes, but the positives are outweighing the negatives, and I just want them to improve and practice hard and develop as quarterbacks.”

Meanwhile, Bollinger rushed for 37 yards and Leh ran for 12.

“I think it’s working well,” said Bollinger. “I think we all know our role, and we’re all fitting in well together.”

TOUGHER TIMES AHEAD … Northwestern will face is toughest task of the season next week when it travels to Blue Mountain to play the Eagles. Northwestern has outscored its opponents 97-6 in the first two weeks. Blue Mountain beat Jim Thorpe 35-0 last week. It plays powerful North Schuylkill tonight.

HOME SWEET HOME … Northern Lehigh gets to play its first home game of the season next week against Pen Argyl (1-0).