One mark of a great team is the ability to win games when not playing its best.

Northwestern overcame a slow start on offense and some mistakes in all three phases, but still walked away with a 35-6 win over Bangor on the Slaters’ homecoming night.

“It was just one of those nights,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “We were due for one. We’ve been playing spectacular in all three phases.

“There were mistakes all over the field, offensively, defensively and special teams. The first kick return backed us up into a hole. A lot of penalties. Defense let up a couple big plays there, uncharacteristically.”

Northwestern’s defense, despite letting up a few big pass plays, stuffed Bangor’s running game, allowing just 61 yards on 30 carries. The Slaters’ inability to run led to big plays on both sides of the ball as they hit on a few big pass plays, but also turned the ball over and took some sacks.

“Our defense, they’re tough,” said Snyder. “They’re stingy. They don’t give up many yards to the rush. That led them to have to throw the ball and led to a couple interceptions.”

The Tigers’ mistakes started from the opening kickoff, when a fumble led to their first drive starting at their own 3-yard line.

They scored on their second possession when Shane Leh connected with Dalton Clymer on a screen pass for a 33-yard touchdown and an 8-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Northwestern’s next two drives ended in an interception and a punt. But the Tiger defense made sure the Slaters couldn’t take advantage.

Bangor hit on four big plays, with 127 of its 159 passing yards and 220 total yards coming on four pass for more than yards each. But none of them turned into points.

When the Slaters (5-3) made their biggest play of the game, a 48-yard reception by Max Sui that put them six yards from the end zone, the Tigers’ forced a fumble on the next play that was recovered by Ben Walters.

“Our defense has created turnovers,” said Snyder. “It’s something we practice, something we harp on. It’s something we try to win and do a good job of. We expect that now. We’re expecting each week our defense is going to create turnovers and give our offensive good field position. They did that again tonight.”

Northwestern (8-0) allowed just 16 rushing yards on Bangor’s first four possessions, allowing the Tiger defense to play aggressively.

“We love stopping the run,” said Northwestern defensive lineman Bryer Reichard, who had a pair of sacks in the game. “Making teams pass is the best part. Rushing the passer is the fun part of the game.”

The Tigers went ahead 15-0 on a late second-quarter drive that saw Leh complete all three of his passes to three different receivers, with Devon Hildebrand hauling in a 13-yard touchdown reception.

Northwestern wasn’t able to ride workhorse back Dalton Clymer on several drives because their seven penalties often forced passing situations. But midway through the third quarter they put together two drives in which they pounded the ball. One ended in a score, the other in a turnover.

Clymer got the ball three times on a five-play drive that ended with his two-yard touchdown run for a 22-0 lead with 5:19 left in the third quarter.

Bangor answered when Siu caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Gregory Campbell to make it 22-6.

The Tigers went right back to the run, with Mason Bollinger and Clymer splitting carries on a six-play drive that ended with an interception after a penalty put them behind them chains.

Northwestern’s defense got tougher after giving up the score. The Slaters’ final four drives resulted in four punts and one turnover. They had just six first downs in the game.

The Tigers extended their lead when Seth Kern returned a punt 32 yards for a touchdown with 10:10 left in the game. They capped the scoring on a 13-yard touchdown reception from Devon Hildebrand, who caught seven passes for 94 yards and a pair of scores in the game.

Clymer ran for 111 yards on 22 carries.

“A win is a win,” said Clymer. “It wasn’t pretty. I don’t love how we won, but a win is a win. Lot of mistakes. I don’t know how many penalties we had that backed us up all night.

“Our defense performed tonight the way we needed to to get the win and that feels good.”

Eli Zimmerman and Daniel Jenkins had interceptions in the game. The Tigers’ turnover ratio didn’t change as they also gave the ball away three times in the win.

The Tigers take on a woeful Wilson team next week. Then they close the season against unbeaten Southern Lehigh.

“Obviously, Wilson is struggling,” said Snyder. “But our kids are going to get the same message from us coaches and that’s ‘take every week as an opportunity to get better regardless of an opponent.’ We want to play our best at the end of the season and the only way to do that is to get better every day at practice to complete that mission at the end of the season. We’re looking forward to getting better each week and going over to Wilson on Saturday and playing another football game.

“It’s another opportunity for our kids to play. You never want to overlook an opportunity just to get to the next game. We feel fortunate to be playing Saturday, and we’re going to do everything in our power this week to get a little bit better.”

After the Saturday matinee, the Tigers will have a short week to get ready for Southern Lehigh, one of three unbeaten teams left in the Colonial League along with Northwestern and Palmerton. Snyder knows his players are already thinking about the showdown in the season finale.

“It would be a little silly if I wouldn’t say the goal is to get to Week 10 and be 9-0, and hopefully Southern (Lehigh) is,” Snyder said. “There’s only once in a long time that you get a special matchup to where you get a couple of undefeated teams in a season to meet up in Week 10 for the whole shebang sort of speak. Obviously, you need to take care of business this week. But we’re looking forward to that showdown in Week 10. We probably start getting prepared for that football game a little bit this week along with Wilson. It’s a Saturday game so we have an extra day to prepare. We’ll talk about that one next week. But, looking forward to it.”