EASTON — Phil Stambaugh patted Carmine Diaz on the helmet as he came to the sideline.

Stambaugh is always coaching. And his Notre Dame Green Pond players are eager to learn.

As Stambaugh offered words of wisdom, Diaz and the Crusaders have proven to be quick studies.

That progress — and potential — was on display Friday night as Notre Dame Green Pond soared to a 49-19 win over Northern Lehigh.

A senior, Diaz showed his skillset in the win, catching eight passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns as Crusaders’ quarterback Matt Bodnar threw for 425 yards.

It was after Diaz scored his third touchdown of the night early in the third quarter, one that put Notre Dame up 28-0, that Stambaugh spoke to his talented receiver as he came off the field.

“He was telling me on sort of the play before that I ran a route wrong,” Diaz said with a smile. “He was helping me out. But it’s great. It’s a great thing, knowing that we can execute against any defense.”

The number matched Diaz’s career high for touchdowns in a game.

“He’s such a talented kid and a good kid, and he works hard,” Stambaugh said of Diaz, who suffered a season-ending injury in the summer prior to last season. “He developed into a leader for us in his play and also how he talks to his teammates. I’m just trying to clean things up with him and help him be as successful as he can be.”

But the Crusaders (5-1) are at their most lethal when they spread the ball around, something they did effectively Friday night. Jonathan Striba caught six passes for 68 yards and also carried the ball seven times for 55 yards and a score.

Alex Clark had three catches — including a 79-yard touchdown — for 104 yards. In all, seven different players caught passes.

“And that’s when we’re strongest, when the guys are able to execute and able to make our offense work,” said Stambaugh. “And you don’t know where the ball is going. And for a defense, it’s hard to stop.”

Northern Lehigh (4-2) was able to get on the board in the third quarter when Garrett Smoyer found Chris Frame for a 22-yard touchdown on fourth-and-nine to cut the deficit to 28-6 with 4:49 left in the period.

The Bulldogs forced two turnovers in the first quarter, a fumble recovered by Isaac Raber and an interception by Frame.

Down 7-0, Northern Lehigh was unable to covert on fourth-and-six from the ND 22-yard line. After Frame’s interception on the ensuing Crusaders’ drive, Northern Lehigh fumbled on first-and-10 from the ND 43-yard line.

The Bulldogs had a drive that ate up almost six minutes in the second quarter, but it ended with back-to-back incompletions from the Crusaders’ 21-yard line.

On the first play of Notre Dame’s next drive, Bodnar hit Clark for a 79-yard TD to make it 21-0.

Northern Lehigh drove to the Crusaders’ 23-yard line on its next possession, but CJ Diaz came up with a pick in the end zone with 35.1 remaining in the second quarter.

“I thought minimum we should have had a score on the board,” Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout said of the first half.

Notre Dame pushed its advantage to 42-6 early in the fourth quarter when Jason Frederick rushed in from nine yards out.

Ayden Oswald capped a five play drive on the Bulldogs’ next series with a 35-yard touchdown. Oswald carried three times for 59 yards on the possession.

“They’re a little bit different style of team than we are,” Stambaugh said. “A heavier run team. So like I said to our kids after, I give them credit for being able to adjust to that style, being able to shut it down, play well. A team like that is trying to keep the ball away from us. So we’ve got to get stops. And we’ve got to get the ball so that we can run our offense.”

Northern Lehigh’s final score came on a 13-yard touchdown run by Raber with 40.7 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“Now we’ve just got to rebound,” said Tout. “The positive was we fought in the second half. We just put ourselves in a hole in the first half. But we’ve got a good group.”

STAT LEADERS … Frame finished with three grabs for 50 yards and a score and nine carries for 37 yards. Grady Newhard carried the ball 18 times for 55 yards. Smoyer completed nine passes to seven different receivers for 118 yards. Oswald finished with eight carries for 81 yards.

UP NEXT … Northern Lehigh hosts Wilson next Friday, while Notre Dame travels to Pen Argyl.

Notre Dame 49, No. Lehigh 19

No. Lehigh 0 0 6 13 - 19

Notre Dame 7 14 14 14 - 49

ND - C. Diaz 21 pass from Bodnar (Talpas kick)

ND - C. Diaz 1 pass from Bodnar (Talpas kick)

ND - Clark 79 pass from Bodnar (Talpas kick)

ND - C. Diaz 38 pass from Bodnar (Talpas kick)

NL - Frame 22 pass from Smoyer (kick failed)

ND - Striba 1 run (Talpas kick)

ND - Frederick 9 run (Talpas kick)

NL - A. Oswald 35 run (Hanna kick)

ND - Murphy 13 run (Talpas kick)

NL - Raber 13 run (kick failed)