The way the regular season came to an abrupt halt a year ago wasn’t quite the way the Northern Lehigh football team wanted it to happen.

But Joe Tout and his Bulldogs coaching staff kind of expected the 2023 season to come to an end without a postseason appearance.

It didn’t take long, however, for Northern Lehigh to get back into the playoff picture after appearing in the championship game three of the last four seasons.

On Saturday evening, instead of sitting back and watching from the stands like they did last year, the third-seeded Bulldogs will welcome Pen Argyl, the No. 6 seed, onto their turf for a quarterfinal matchup in this year’s District 11 Class 2A tournament.

Not making the playoffs last year motivated the program, and the young Bulldog players from a season ago put complete trust in the “process” that Tout and his staff put in place for them.

“At one point last year, we were playing four freshmen and multiple sophomores,” Tout said. “So, we understood that there would be a process that would need to take place. Even this year, we are starting multiple underclassmen.

“So, our goal was to improve as the season went on and to qualify for the playoffs. We feel that our schedule has prepared us to be able to compete against any other 2A school in District 11.”

Tout feels that back in Week 3 — when they faced Pen Argyl — the Bulldogs started to believe in themselves and the players united to reach one specific goal – the place they’re at right now.

That contest was a fight until the end, but the visiting Bulldogs came out on top by a 26-14 score.

After that game, Tout thought the team could “expect to be back in the playoffs this year.”

And now, the program isn’t only in the playoffs, but their goal has changed from making the playoffs to competing for a title.

“We played Pen Argyl in Week 3, and we were losing in the fourth quarter,” Tout said. “It was at that point we turned our season around. So, our goal is to show them how much we have improved since Week 3.

“Both programs get similar type players. We are expecting a tough physical game.”

In that matchup, the Bulldogs held the Green Knights to just 119 yards rushing and only allowed 53 yards through the air.

Since then, the Green Knights have stuck to their style of play — smash mouth football — and rode it straight into the postseason. Pen Argyl posted 130 or more yards rushing in every single game after. Also, they have amassed 220-plus yards in three of its last seven games.

It’s their style of play, and Tout expects them to stick with it once again in Slatington this weekend.

“Yes, Pen Argyl will be happy running the clock and getting three yards a carry,” said Tout. “They are very physical, and they want to run the ball and set you up for play action passing.

“So, we need to match their physicality up front and our secondary can’t fly up to stop the run. Our front seven must have a good game.”

Leading the way for the Green Knights’ ground game are juniors Caiden Faust and Mason Soos. Faust has registered 206 carries for a team-leading 987 yards and 12 touchdowns. Soos, the team’s dual-threat quarterback, is second on the team with 152 carries for 769 yards and eight scores.

Tout said the Bulldogs are happy to be at home this week. But it definitely will be a whole lot different hosting a game on a Saturday rather than a Friday night.

“We can’t control the day of the week that District 11 has us playing. So, we aren’t worrying about that. I don’t like that it is a different schedule than we are accustomed to. We will make sure that our team gets up early in the morning and doesn’t sleep all day.

“We are also very happy that it is at night and not an afternoon game, like Pen Argyl is accustomed to. But we are excited to be playing a meaningful game in November.”