Ayden Oswald knows Northern Lehigh is far from a finished product.

But the senior can see that the Bulldogs are building something special.

Northern Lehigh flexed its muscles and showed the signs of a program that has all the pieces of a potential powerhouse with a 46-22 win over Palisades on Friday.

It was the type of performance that Oswald — and others — saw coming.

“There’s a lot more versatility with us,” said the senior. “Last year, we were a run heavy team and we had a lot of young kids (playing). Those young kids got their experience. They’re ready. They’re ready for the big moments.

“But then we also have returners like me; I tore my ACL last year, we had three other starters that also had season-ending injuries, and they’re back, with the young players that got experience. We’re really just putting everything together. We’re far from what we can be, and we have a lot more to build on, but this was one of the games where we could show what we had.”

And Oswald delivered the dagger Friday night.

The Pirates answered a pick-six by Chris Frame on the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter with a 95-yard kickoff return by Ashton Fitzgerald to cut the Northern Lehigh lead to 27-15.

Oswald returned the favor, taking the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to the end zone to push the Bulldogs lead to 34-15.

“That whole unit had an answer,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout. “We never gave them that momentum to get back in the game, and that kind of sealed it, I thought from that point.”

The Bulldogs (3-1) got plenty of big plays. And they got them in a hurry.

Quarterback Garrett Smoyer hit Chris Frame for a 75-yard score on the second play from scrimmage in the first quarter to make it 7-0.

Touchdown runs from Isaac Raber and Grady Newhard in the second quarter helped Northern Lehigh take a 20-8 lead into halftime.

Frame struck again with a 23-yard interception return early in the third quarter, which made it 27-8, before Palisades (0-4) answered with the kickoff return.

The Bulldogs have needed fourth quarter comebacks down by 14 points in their previous two wins this season. That wasn’t the case Friday.

“It feels pretty good,” said senior Landon Moll. “We showed up in the first quarter … did our assignments from the beginning, and the scoreboard shows.”

“Last year, we had three wins total,” added sophomore Ryan Zambo. “Now in our fourth game, we’ve got our third win. It’s awesome.”

After Oswald’s kickoff return for a score, Zambo hauled in a 41-yard touchdown from Smoyer, a ball that was tipped up in the air but he was able to bring in.

Newhard, a junior, added his second score of the night with 7:29 left in the fourth quarter to push the Bulldogs’ advantage to 46-15.

Friday night was another step forward for a Northern Lehigh team that is just getting started.

“We threw a bunch of the guys right into the fire last year,” said Tout. “The thing that I’m proud of is, Garrett, Chris Frame, Ryan Zambo who starting defensively, those guys all kind of took it to heart and said, ‘We’ve got to lift.’ They had good weight room years, and you can see it right now. They’re now being successful at the varsity level, where last year, they’re all smart kids and they knew our defense, they knew our offense, it was just the physical aspect of it. Now they’re just a year older. And that’s the difference. That’s part of it.

“And the other one is you can’t simulate repetitions, varsity repetitions. JV reps gives you something, but those kids have an advantage over other sophomores in that they are used to the speed and physicality.”

STAT LEADERS … Smoyer finished 10-of-12 for 212 yards and two scores. Frame had four grabs for 116 yards and a score. Newhard had 13 carries for 108 yards and two TDs. The Bulldogs put up 401 yards of total offense. Palisades QB Jack Trickel was 15-of-29 for 238 yards and two TDs. Lincoln Cook caught six passes for 109 yards, while Greg Borgeson had four grabs for 52 yards and two TDs.

ANOTHER ONE … For the second week in a row, Colin Karetsky had a pick for Northern Lehigh.

RIVALRY WEEK … The Bulldogs will travel to Palmerton next Friday.

No. Lehigh 46, Palisades 22

Palisades 8 0 7 7 - 22

No. Lehigh 7 13 20 6 - 46

Scoring summary

NL - Frame 75 pass from Smoyer (Hanna kick)

P - Borgeson 7 pass from Trickel (Haubert pass from Trickel)

NL - Raber 7 run (kick failed)

NL - Newhard 32 run (Hanna kick)

NL - Frame 23 interception return (Hanna kick)

P - Fitzgerald 95 kick return (Borgeson kick)

NL - A. Oswald 84 kick return (Hanna kick)

NL - Zambo 41 pass from Smoyer (kick failed)

NL - Newhard 31 run (kick failed)

P - Borgeson 10 pass from Trickel (Borgeson kick)