You could detect a little bit of a rough texture around the edges during Northwestern’s opener on Friday night.

But those rough edges could be excused. Because the core of the Tigers’ performance was perhaps the best its been in a couple of years.

The result was a thrilling 42-41 overtime victory over Notre Dame of Green Pond.

The ground game was the story of the night for Northwestern as it rushed for 312 yards with both Devon Bollinger (149 yards) and Nick Henry (114 yards) piling up impressive numbers.

Coach Josh Snyder wasn’t even sure when the last time was that the Tigers had two players over the 100-yard mark in the same game.

“We challenged these guys because we’re known for our ground game and we haven’t shown that the past couple of years,” acknowledged Snyder. “We stressed that in camp that we were going to run the ball and they had to be strong and they had to open holes for our backs and they did that tonight; I’m very proud of them.”

Quarterback Bollinger had been forced to run in previous seasons but with added quickness that he developed during the offseason, the Tigers have designed some running plays for him and they worked well. Late in the game, the Tigers simply rode Bollinger’s legs. That was especially obvious on an 80-yard fourth-quarter drive when he ran for 55 of the yards.

“We wanted to come out and show that we can run the ball,” said senior lineman Hayden Bobbyn. “We’ve been challenged to get our team back to being a running team that controls the ball and we did that tonight and it was against a really good team.”

With Northwestern leading 35-28 with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame was putting together a good drive when DeFranco hit DeJesus on a 16-yard connection down the left side of the field. The ball was jarred loose after the catch and Justin Rodda alertly jumped on the ball to stop the drive and give the Tigers the ball at their own 30-yard line with 1:58 to play.

On the third play from scrimmage, a snap from center sailed over Bollinger’s head and was recovered by DeJesus at the Northwestern 20-yard line. Two plays later, DeFranco hit Sanders on a 10-yard strike to tie the game. Northwestern couldn’t mount a drive in the remaining time and the game went to overtime.

On their first possession, the Crusaders hurt themselves with a penalty and two incomplete passes. But Northwestern was then flagged on an interference call in the end zone to give DeFranco another shot and he again connected with Sanders for the fourth touchdown of the night for the tandem.

On the extra point, the snap was bobbled and the Crusaders couldn’t get a kick off leaving them up 41-35.

Northwestern got its chance and Bollinger scampered nine yards to the one-yard line. On the next play, another bad snap had to be covered up leaving the Tigers with third down at the two. Bollinger dashed right into the heart of the line and came out the other side in the end zone to tie the game. Connor de Wit kicked the extra point to give Northwestern the win and start the celebration.

“Coach Snyder told us this was the biggest game we would play and we came out and played that way,” said Bobbyn. “This is the biggest win since we beat Saucon Valley in districts and this makes other teams look at us and say ‘they’re one of the teams that’s going to be tough.’”

GET A GRIP ... Derek Hebelka moved into center this season and he and Bollinger had trouble on some snaps but Snyder believes that’s not going to be an issue down the road. “They’re still learning each other and it’s a lot different for Derek at that spot. I’m not worried about it going forward, we’ll keep working and they’ll be better,” said Snyder.

SWIFT KICKS ... Nick Henry won the punter’s job but Devon Bollinger served as a pinch-punter and possibly as a decoy to a potential trick play early in the second quarter when he rocketed a 48-yard punt thanks to an extremely friendly bounce. de Wit won the place-kicking job and went four-for-four on extra points.