Last football season ended for Northwestern Lehigh with a tough 21-14 loss to Allentown Central Catholic in the Class 4A District championship game.

It came down to a last gasp play with a pass thrown to the front corner of the end zone by a quarterback with a broken thumb that resulted in an incomplete pass and a rude ending to a historic season that saw the Tigers put together their first 10-0 regular season in the school’s history.

While there are still bitter memories of that loss, the Tigers have put that it behind them. They came into last season with the team’s top wide receiver converting to quarterback and they are running the same script again this season. Just as Justin Holmes took over at quarterback in 2021, Cade Christopher is being handed the keys to the Tigers offense for 2022.

It may take one of the top receivers off the depth chart, but it gives head coach Josh Snyder a multidimensional quarterback who can pick up yards through the air and on the ground and potentially lineup in other spots at times to make big plays.

“It definitely helps me to become a better leader,” said Christopher. “It’s been a little challenging to switch but I can get through it. I just have to keep working and the guys up front will block for me.”

The move presents those guys up front with an interesting challenge this season when it comes to the ground game. Northwestern has always been a team that loves to run the ball and gut out yardage on the ground and that will be the case this season.

Even as a receiver last season, Christopher ran for 528 yards while Dalton Clymer rushed for just over 600 yards. The challenge for the two and for the offensive line is whether they can have two 1,000-yard rushers this season.

“We play for them,” said Josiah Gornicz, a senior offensive tackle. “Everything we do, we do so they can get in the end zone and get us points. We don’t try to take the spotlight, that’s all for them and we just help them do what they do.”

In his first season at the quarterback position, Christopher is going to have a young crop of receivers to throw to, which will further emphasize the need to be able to run the ball for Northwestern Lehigh.

“Our passing game is typically played off of how well we can run it with our play actions and our screen game,” Snyder said. “I feel comfortable with where we are at right now in terms of running the football and our play action. It’s just going to take time for those kids on the outside to develop and give us some consistency.”

Another thing that Northwestern Lehigh is well known for is its defensive stinginess. Coming into the season, most of the question marks about the team are on the defensive side of the ball.

“I think the first thing that’s up in the air is that we lost two really good bookend defensive ends (Ben Dunstan and Andrew Sabo) and I’m not sure we have found the formula yet in who can replace them, and we might have a combination of different kids stepping in there,” said coach Josh Snyder.

Northwestern surrendered just two passing touchdowns during the regular season in 2021 and free safety Taylor Wikert was a key reason for the shutdown defense, but he was lost to graduation. As with the defensive end positions, where there are also holes to fill, Snyder was glad that he has some depth to give him options.

“We have a complex defensive secondary with our different coverages and the things that we like to do there,” said Snyder. “There’s a learning curve there as well and right now, we are still trying to find our identity. We like to move and blitz and be active defensively and be stingy against the run and we are working towards that goal.”

Between the line and the secondary, the linebacking corps is set and will be the highlight of the defensive unit.

“We have Blaine Snyder, Dalton Clymer, Luke Miller and Sam Mauro all coming back at our inside linebacker positions,” said Snyder. “We feel really good there and we have some guys who we can rotate into the outside linebacker spots.”

Overall, there is a lot of optimism surrounding the 2022 Tigers but there is also the realization that duplicating their undefeated regular season last year will not be an easy task.

One of the keys will be just how quickly the young players can mesh with the upperclassmen and pick up the system to keep Northwestern Lehigh in the driver’s seat throughout the year.

Another change this season is that Northwestern Lehigh is no longer in the 4A enrollment classification after being dropped to 3A where Notre Dame (Green Pond) will likely be their biggest competition for a district championship, along with North Schuylkill and Palmerton.