Fountain Springs, the home of the North Schuylkill Spartans, usually doesn’t provide good memories for the teams that enter their stadium.

But the last time Northwestern Lehigh played at North Schuylkill in 2014, the Tigers were able to come away with a District 11 2A championship.

The still unbeaten Tigers (5-0) will look to stay that way against a Spartans (3-2) ball club that has seen some ups and downs this season in the Times News Game of the Week.

The Northwestern defense was a unit coming into the season that was expected to take at least a little time to get back to its championship form from a season ago. That has not been the case at all.

The Tigers’ defense has once again played fast and physical, as they’re giving up just 5.8 points per game, with their first team defense allowing just one touchdown through five games.

What’s even more impressive is that Northwestern has not let up a score of any kind in the first half.

“This is a unit I thought was going to need some time to progress along, but I was wrong,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “The speed and tempo of our defense is once again right there. But we have had some guys really step up. We knew the strength of our defense was going to be up front, and those guys have been really good. Getting back Shane Hulmes in the middle has been big. Brady Zimmerman and Josh Wambold are guys that have come on for us. Similar to last year, we’re pretty solid on all three levels.

“And they’re a very good tackling group. You don’t see a lot of missed tackles. Our defense has given up just four touchdowns, only one on our first unit and only one rushing touchdown. So, again a group that is playing well.”

The Tigers’ defense will be taking on a North Schuylkill offense that boasts pound-for-pound the biggest offensive line unit in the Colonial-Schuylkill League this season. The Spartans offensive front averages close to 280 pounds. Last week against a struggling Jim Thorpe team, North Schuylkill tallied 417 yards of total offense, with 202 yards coming on the ground.

Quarterback Caden Mengel has been the main man for the Spartans’ offense. He passed for 215 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 33 yards in the 50-7 victory. Luke Miller also had a nice night against Thorpe, rushing for 100 yards and scoring three touchdowns.

“North Schuylkill does a good job with their game-planning. They try and take advantage of their size really across the board. But they will look to pound the football if they feel like they have the advantage there, or they will also look to throw the ball as well,” said Snyder. “They’re going to give you a lot of different looks, multiple sets, multiple motions. We’re going to line up in the trenches across from them and see how we match up. We’re again excited for the challenge.”

Northwestern got its passing game going last week against Lehighton, with junior quarterback Shane Leh throwing for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Hulmes was big in the passing attack with two receiving scores. And once again, the “human torch” Eli Zimmerman caught fire, rushing for 160 yards on just nine carries, with two rushing scores, including a 69-yard scamper.

“We made it a priority to get our passing game going last week. We just haven’t had to really pass the ball much this season, but we know as the season continues, there are going to be some games where we are going to need to make plays in the passing game,” said Snyder. “Shane Leh did a nice job for us last week. He threw for three and he ran for one. We’re always looking to be balanced offensively, and we know we can do that when we need to. Our guys at every level are just playing confident and with a ton of effort, and that’s the same approach we’re going to have come Friday night.”