FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — There isn’t a single reason unbeaten Northwestern Lehigh sits atop the Class 3A high school football rankings in Pennsylvania.

That would be cheating the 2024 version of the Tigers (6-0, 4-0 Red).

There are a lot of reasons. They’re good in every facet of the game and had all that on display Friday night when they punished North Schuylkill 49-7 in a Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division matchup at Ghosh Orthodontics Field at Spartan Stadium.

Most impressive in the victory over the Spartans (3-3, 2-3) may have been their response after falling behind 7-0 when Luke Miller raced home from 61 yards out on the game’s first possession.

It was an unfamiliar position for Northwestern to be in. Then, adding to it, the Tigers were forced to punt on their first offensive possession.

“They came out and punched us in the mouth,” Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder said. “And I think they just wanted to take the air out of the ball.

“I think, if they could stay up by a touchdown or two, they would have been really comfortable just running it and using those big guys to just chip away.”

But, after being forced to punt on their first possession, Northwestern found its groove.

The Tigers’ next five possessions ended with touchdowns. Four came via the ground game that, on the night, accounted for 416 of the team’s 545 total yards. Eli Zimmerman, who finished with 269 yards on just 13 carries, scored two of those five touchdowns on runs of 70 yards and one yard. Seth Kern scored on a 1-yard run, and quarterback Shane Leh hit Josh Wambold and Shane Hulmes with scoring passes of 21 and 10 yards, respectively.

“I’m glad it happened,” Smith said. “We haven’t faced much adversity this year and I really liked the way we came bouncing back after that.

“I think we scored five straight touchdowns to end the half, then almost punched another one in going into halftime. Our guys never got worked up, never pressed the issue. We just sort of played football, and we hadn’t had to do that this year. I’m happy with the way our team responded.”

That they did.

And, while the Tigers’ offense was piling up big numbers, the defense was making stop after stop. North Schuylkill finished the game with 169 yards of total offense, with 69 of those yards coming on its first possession, including Miller’s 61-yard scoring run. For the game, the Spartans managed just five first downs and were forced to punt seven times.

And while Northwestern’s offense was strong all around, with Leh connecting on 6-of-10 passes for 118 yards and three touchdowns, it was Eli Zimmerman who set the pace for the Tigers all night long.

The 5-foot-8, 160-pound senior put on a show. Nine of his 13 carries were good for 10 yards or more, including gains of 70, 58, 39, 29, 18 and 17 yards.

“He doesn’t need much,” Smith said. “He can make a lot out of a little, or nothing.

“His balance, his center of gravity, he’s always got that forward lean. I think defenders are a little flat-footed when they get to him, and he’s not afraid to lower the shoulder and bounce off, spin, cut back.”

Northwestern put the game into a mercy rule situation early in the third quarter when Leh hit Mason Bollinger with a 14-yard touchdown toss, then closed out scoring later in that quarter when Landon Matson scored on an 18-yard run.

N’western 49, N. Schuylkill 7

Northwestern 7 14 28 0 - 49

N. Schuylkill 7 0 0 0 - 7

NS - Miller 61 run (Mentzer kick)

NW - E. Zimmerman 70 run (Kern kick)

NW - Kern 1 run (Kern kick)

NW - E. Zimmerman 1 run (Kern kick)

NW - Wambold 21 pass from Leh (Kern kick)

NW - Hulmes 10 pass from Leh (Kern kick)

NW - Bollinger 14 pass from Leh (Kern kick)

NW - Matson 18 run (Kern kick)