The number of points Northwestern put up - and the speed as which it was accomplished - was dizzying.

Think video game on steroids.

The undefeated Tigers exploded for eight first-half touchdowns and rolled to a 56-14 mercy-rule victory over Pottsville on Friday night.

“We executed very well tonight,” said Northwestern coach Josh Snyder. “Offensively, defensively and on special teams ... we made plays in all three phases of the game.

“Our players had a great week of practice and our coaches did an excellent job of preparing them. What you saw tonight was the result of all the hard work that was put in during the week. It was a really nice performance by everyone in our program.”

Six different players scored for the Tigers as they came up with big plays in the running game, the passing game and on defense.

Included in the 56-point first-half explosion was an insane stretch of just over 14 minutes where Northwestern scored 49 points. The stretch featured three one-play scoring drives by the offense and a pick-six by the defense.

“We had a number of kids step up for us tonight,” said Snyder. “We really spread the wealth when it came to touchdowns and big plays.

“Dalton Clymer, Shane Leh, Mason Bollinger, Eli Zimmerman, Devon Hildebrand, Landen Matson. Shane Hulmes ... I could go on and on. It was a great team effort.”

It was quarterback Leh who produced the first three scores as he tossed touchdown passes of 5, 30 and 35 yards to make it 21-0 after one quarter.

“They were playing a lot of Cover 0 (man-to-man coverage on the receivers with no safety help over the top) early in the game,” said Snyder. “We wanted to take some shots when they were doing that and Shane (Leh) did a nice job of standing in and delivering some big passes against that look.”

Clymer and Bollinger added rushing scores in the opening minutes of the second quarter for a 35-0 lead with 9:50 left in the half

It was then Zimmerman’s turn as he raced 21 yards for one touchdown and less than a minute later picked off a Pottsville pass and ran it back 30 yards for another score.

Defensive lineman Bryer Reichard turned in the final big play of the half for the Tigers when he picked off a pass and rambled 33 yards before being brought down at the two-yard line. On the next play, Clymer ran it in for his second TD of the half.

Of the Tigers’ seven offensive touchdowns in the half, five of the scoring possessions began in Pottsville territory.

“If our offense is getting the ball in plus territory, we’re going to be pretty hard to stop,” said Snyder. “Our defense did a great job of causing turnovers and giving us great field position and our special teams came up with some big plays as well to give us short fields.”

The win improves the Tigers’ record to 7-0 on the season.

“This was a really nice win,” said Snyder. “We’re happy to be undefeated at this point in the season, but we have a lot of work left to do.

“We have some big games coming up so we have to keep improving.”

The Tigers’ starters only played the first half, but while they were in the game they held the Crimson Tide to just 48 yards of total offense on 29 plays from scrimmage. They also picked off four passes with Zimmerman, Reichard, Seth Kern and Hildebrand accounting for the thefts.

A total of six quarterbacks threw passes in the game - three for each team. Tiger QBs Leh, Bollinger and Brad Krimmel were extremely efficient, combining to go 11-for-14 for 160 yards and three touchdowns.

Northwestern had one stretch in the first half when it scored three TDs in 2:49, and had another stretch were it scored three touchdown in 3:59.

The win keeps the Tigers atop the District 11 Class 3A rankings, but they have a slim lead over unbeaten Palmerton. The two teams don’t meet in the regular season.

The Blue Bombers take on North Schuylkill this week. The Spartans are the third place team in the 3A rankings and could pull ahead of Palmerton with a win.

Northwestern travels to Bangor Friday night. The Slaters (4-2) are coming off a 49-20 win over Lehighton last Friday night.

Veteran coach Paul Reduzi’s squad is led by senior quarterback Greg Campbell, who has completed 48 of 92 passes for 798 yards and eight touchdowns this season. He’s also run the ball 96 times for 622 yards.

Senior running back Noah Hillis is the only other Slater with more than 12 carries this year. He’s gained 550 yards on 94 carries with 11 touchdowns.

In the passing game, Campbell spread the ball around as three receivers have 10 or more catches, led by senior MJ Siu with 16 receptions for 276 yards and two touchdowns.