Chris Frame saw the ball.

And seized the moment.

The Northern Lehigh freshman picked off a fourth down pass Friday night against Salisbury and turned it into a big play for the Bulldogs.

It’s the kind of game-changing ability the program has grown accustomed to en route to back-to-back district titles.

And something that might be on the horizon again in the near future.

Northern Lehigh’s mix of youth and experience was on display in a 45-13 win over Salisbury to move back to .500.

“It’s fun to watch us. We’re much improved,” said Bulldogs’ coach Joe Tout. “We’re a much improved team from earlier this year. Our line is older, our skill guys are young.”

Northern Lehigh (3-3) put on a clinic on its opening drive, which started at its own 37-yard line and ended over eight minutes later with senior Jack Tosh running into the end zone from four yards out. The Bulldogs converted twice on fourth down and twice on third down to keep the series alive.

Salisbury faced a fourth and four on its opening series. And that’s when Frame pounced.

The freshman emerged from a scrum on a pass play with the ball, and bolted 35 yards for a touchdown with 0:38 left in the opening quarter.

“A lot of people came together and the ball was kind of stuck in the middle, and the Salisbury player started to catch it, so I just ripped it out of his hands,” said Frame. “It’s really big. Without that, if they score, they get momentum and it could stay with them. But starting off big was really helpful.”

It gave Northern Lehigh a 14-0 advantage and momentum.

The defense came up big again in the second quarter. The Falcons (0-6) drove to the Bulldogs’ 5-yard line, but were stopped on fourth-and-three on an incompletion.

Frame went 68 yards on a screen pass from freshman Garrett Smoyer on the ensuing possession to give Northern Lehigh a 21-0 lead.

“The first drive, that was one like last year, where we kind of grinded a bit,” said Tout. “We hurt ourselves with penalties but we were still able to overcome that. And then that (interception) was huge by Chris. Teams keep trying to go after him because he’s a freshman and they see his size (5-9, 155). But you come to a game you see what we see, which is the athleticism with the screen that he scored on. And he leads us in interceptions, but people are trying to go at him.

“Even last week, North Schuylkill, who is a veteran team, they scored on him, and then they tried to come at him again and he intercepted it. We know he’s gonna be a good one; he’s pretty darn good now.”

Frame finished with three grabs for 108 yards, while Smoyer was 10-of-14 for 152 yards and two scores.

“I try to do the best I can as a freshman,” said Frame. “I try to step up as much as I can. But our upperclassmen are really talented as well.”

The first half ended with Chase Moffitt booting a 25-yard field goal to make it 24-6 after Jason St. Leger broke loose for a 51-yard TD to get Salisbury on the board.

Smoyer hit sophomore Grady Newhard for a 30-yard TD on the first drive of the second half, and Bailey Smith came up with a pick to stop the Falcons’ first series.

Tosh powered in for his second score, this one from five yards out, on the next drive to push the lead to 38-6. After Northern Lehigh forced a three-and-out on the next Salisbury possession, Newhard (14 carries, 64 yards) capped an eight play, 29-yard drive with a 1-yard score to make it 45-6 with 0:35 left in the third quarter and bring the mercy rule into play.

The Falcons added another score when Derek Trinidad (11 carries, 147 yards) broke loose for a 68-yard touchdown with 2:36 to play in the game.

“They compete,” said Salisbury head coach Andy Cerco. “Before the game, that was our challenge. All week, our theme was about ability, and ability is about getting 1% better, incrementally better, incremental improvements over time is the greatest power known to man. So that was our goal this week, and every day we got 1% better, and compared to last week, we got 1% better this week. And you saw that out here.”

QUITE A NIGHT

... Tosh, who was crowned Homecoming King at halftime, finished with 18 carries for 92 yards on offense.

UP NEXT

... Northern Lehigh travels to Notre Dame Green Pond next week, while Salisbury hosts unbeaten Palmerton.