NEW TRIPOLI – Last night’s message from Northwestern Lehigh was to strike early and often and they did just that.
The Tigers’ Eli Zimmerman set the tone. He caught a line drive punt and took it 43 yards for a touchdown. Zimmerman had four touchdowns in the first half and led Northwestern Lehigh to a dominant win over Northern Lehigh in the annual “Mountain Road Rumble” Thursday night edition at Tiger Stadium.
“We came out and our players were really fired up for this game,” said Head Football Coach Josh Snyder. “Our guys live for Thursday nights, Friday nights and Saturdays. They don’t care when they play. They just want to play hard and for each other.”
Zimmerman scored three different ways in the first half, on a punt return (43 yards), a receiving touchdown (nine yards) and two rushing touchdowns (29 and 60 yards). Quarterback Shane Leh got into the action throwing three touchdown passes and rushing for one, all in the first half. The Tigers’ defense was just as dominant last night. They forced five turnovers, all of which led to Tiger touchdowns.
“Our execution in the first half was stellar,” said Eli Zimmerman, “I thought we excelled in all three phases the first half.”
In the third quarter, Northern Lehigh got on the scoreboard. Ayden Oswald hit Ryan Zambo on an 18-yard touchdown pass on fourth down.
Stars of the game
Northwestern Lehigh
Shane Leh
5 of 9 passing 87 yards and 3 touchdowns
One rushing touchdown
Eli Zimmerman
89 yards rushing and two touchdowns
one receiving touchdown
43 yard punt return for a touchdown
Defense forces five turnovers
– Brady Zimmerman interception
– Michael Lagowy interception
– Seth Kern interception
– Bryer Reichard fumble recovery
– Eli Zimmerman fumble recovery
Special Teams
– Eli Zimmerman 43 yard punt return
– Seth Kern 59 yard punt return
Looking ahead.
Northwestern Lehigh (2-0) travels to Bangor (0-2) next Thursday at 7 pm and Northern Lehigh (1-1) hits the road at Pen Argyl (0-1) at 1:30 pm Saturday.
Northwestern Lehigh 56, Northern Lehigh 7
| Thursday, August 29, 2024 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Northern Lehigh | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Northwestern Lehigh | 21 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 56 |
First quarter
NWL: Eli Zimmerman 41-yard punt return (Seth Kern kick) 9:25
NWL: Shane Leh 9-yard pass to Eli Zimmerman (Seth Kern kick) 5:17
NWL: Eli Zimmerman 29-yard run (Seth Kern kick) 2:23
Second quarter
NWL: Eli Zimmerman 60-yard run (Seth Kern kick) 11:48
NWL: Seth Kern 59-yard punt return (Seth Kern kick) 9:57
NWL: Shane Leh 7-yard run (Seth Kern kick) 7:50
NWL: Shane Leh 43-yard pass to Seth Kern (Seth Kern kick) 4:32
NWL: Shane Leh 30-yard pass to Seth Kern (Seth Kern kick) 0:00
Third quarter
NL: Ayden Oswald 18-yard pass to Ryan Zambo (Anthony Hanna kick) 3:03
