Leading 22-14 at the half over its rival Palmerton, and with the Bombers receiving the ball to start the second half, Northern Lehigh needed a defensive stop. The Bulldogs’ defense was able to stand tough and accomplish just that, forcing a quick three-and-out.

From there, the Northern Lehigh offense took advantage of that momentum, outscoring Palmerton 15-0 in the third and 29-0 in the second half on its way to a 51-14 victory over the Bombers.

“We thought we played sloppy in that first half,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout. “We had some penalties that really hurt us. We hurt ourselves. But we challenged our guys at half time to come out and get a big stop.

“That stop to start the third quarter I thought set the tone. To get that stop and then go right down and score was really big. We also take pride in having a one-way offensive line and defensive line, but I wanted to mention Landon Moll. Their big No. 78 Logan Anthony was doing some good things and giving us some problems, so we had Landon go both ways, and you could see the difference in the second half. He really stood out tonight.”

The Bombers and Bulldogs battled throughout the first half. Palmerton jumped out to a 7-0 lead off the legs of quarterback Jameson Trainer on its first possession of the game. The Bombers went 85 yards in 15 plays, with Trainer rushing for 82 yards on the drive, capped off by a two-yard Trainer touchdown rush.

Northern Lehigh would quickly answer and would quickly take control. A Grady Newhard touchdown run would make it 7-7 with 1:54 to go in the first, and after a Palmerton fumble would give the Bulldogs the ball at the Bombers 17, they would waste no time cashing in on a 14-yard hookup between quarterback Garrett Smoyer and Ryan Zambo to give Northern Lehigh a 15-7 lead after the first quarter.

Later in the second, the Bulldogs would get a big play on a fourth and 11 from the Palmerton 39-yard line when Smoyer would find a wide open Reese Lipsky for a touchdown to make it a two score game with 4:59 left in the half.

Palmerton, however, would not go away, putting together a nice drive to answer after a key Cale Young kickoff return would set up the Bombers with good field position at the NL 48-yard line. Seven plays later, Trainer would take it into the end zone from three yards out to make it an eight point game at the intermission (22-14).

“We definitely have been making progress. We definitely grew up in some areas tonight,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “But again, we can’t go three-and-out on offense. We can’t turn the ball over, and the big plays we let up on defense once again killed us tonight.

“The fourth and short conversions that we didn’t get in the third were also huge. In the first half, we moved the sticks and we did a good job of settling in defensively and getting them into some third and long situations. We just can’t get back into that same pattern that we have been in the second half. Our kids fought and battled and they never quit, but we need to be able to put together four quarters of complementary football.”

Northern Lehigh was able to play complementary football in the third, getting that three-and-out to start the second half and then also getting two huge stops — a fourth and two at midfield and a fourth and one at their own 41.

Two explosive plays in the third would then help the Bulldogs extend their lead to 37-14. A 20-yard Newhard scamper and a 65-yard Chris Frame outside run would put the game away.

Northern Lehigh would tack on two more scores in the fourth, once again from Frame and Newhard, to surpass the 50-point mark.

“What I really like about this group, especially our younger guys, is you can really get on them and they will respond,” said Tout. “We had a reverse setup earlier in the game and it didn’t go how we wanted it to, and Frame made a mistake, and I really got on him about it. He responded by going out and getting two big scores for us. That’s the type of kids we have.”

BIG PLAY DUO … Frame and Newhard made numerous explosive plays on the night. Newhard finished with 140 yards on just 12 carries and had three scores. Frame rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown, and also had 75 yards receiving and a touchdown.

RUNNING HARD … Trainer passed the 100-yard mark yet again this season, rushing for 129 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing for 135 yards.

STAYING HOT … Smoyer got under center three games ago for NL. Coming in, he was averaging 168 passing yards per game. He finished the game Friday with 175 yards through the air and three touchdowns.

No. Lehigh 51, Palmerton 14

No. Lehigh 15 7 15 14 - 51

Palmerton 7 7 0 0 - 14

Scoring Summary

P - Trainer 2 run (Sell kick)

NL - Newhard 12 run (Hanna kick)

NL - Zambo 14 pass from Smoyer (Raber run)

NL - Lipsky 39 pass from Smoyer (Hanna kick)

P - Trainer 3 run (Sell kick)

NL - Newhard 20 run (Hanna kick)

NL - Frame 65 run (Newhard run)

NL - Frame 65 pass from Smoyer (Hanna kick)

NL - Newhard 38 run (Hanna kick)