If there were any concerns about undefeated Northwestern being overconfident Thursday in its District 11 3A quarterfinal game against Lehighton, a 22-0 lead after the first quarter dispelled that notion.

The top-seeded Tigers never looked back on their way to a 58-14 victory, ensuring a semifinal matchup at home against Notre Dame-Green Pond next week.

Lehighton nearly took an early lead on its first play from scrimmage when quarterback Brady O’Donnell threw a deep post pass that was dropped after a Tiger defender had tripped and fallen, preventing the Indians from putting a certain touchdown on the board.

Northwestern wasted no time in proving why it has been defeating its opponents by huge margins during the regular season. Following an 11-yard run by Dalton Clymer, quarterback Shane Leh and wide receiver Landen Matson hooked up on a 28-yard pass-and-run play. Three plays later, Clymer bolted off left tackle for a 7-yard TD and a 7-0 Tiger lead.

The Indians then drove from their own 27 to the Tiger 10-yard line with some big pass plays from O’Donnell to Blake Roberts. A missed field goal returned possession to the Tigers, and on a third-and-four from their own 41, Leh found a hole off left tackle and outran the pursuit for a 59-yard score.

Eli Zimmerman later fielded a Lehighton punt on his 30-yard line and raced down the sideline. With 1:57 left in the opening quarter, the Tigers’ lead was at 22-0.

“We wanted to come out strong, and I thought we did just that with a fast start,” said Northwestern coach Josh Snyder.

The Indians got on the board in the second quarter after recovering a fumble deep in Tiger territory. O’Donnell fired a slant pass to Roberts, who was brought down on the 4-yard line. After a Northwestern penalty, O’Donnell plunged in from the two and the deficit was at 15 points with just under nine minutes left in the half.

Northwestern’s Shane Hulmes picked off a pass and returned it to the Indians’ 22 - where Clymer scored five plays later from the one for a 29-7 halftime advantage.

“It’s been the story all year,” said Lehighton mentor Tom McCarroll. “We had plenty of opportunities, but we couldn’t cash them in. Turnovers stopped too many of our drives.”

Clymer virtually put the game out of reach in the Tigers’ first drive of the second half with a 39-yard TD run in which he broke up the middle and cut to the left on his way to paydirt.

The Tigers took a 43-7 lead on a 22-yard pass from Leh to Matson.

Lehighton continued to leave it all on the field despite the lopsided score. Joe Roth caught a 22-yard TD pass from O’Donnell late in the quarter, but the celebration on the visitor’s sideline was short-lived.

An onside kick attempt fell into the hands of Tiger linebacker Blaine Snyder, who had clear sailing to the goal line for a 45-yard TD.

Braxton Lakatosh put an exclamation mark on the game with his 29-yard fourth-quarter rushing touchdown

McCarroll gave credit to his eighth-seeded team for how they played against arguably the best in the area.

“We got great effort from everyone tonight, and I’m very proud for that,” he said. “This season certainly didn’t go the way we wanted, but our young players gained a lot of experience, so next year is looking very promising.”

Snyder was obviously happy with the margin of victory.

“We lacked a little intensity at times, but when you look up at the scoreboard, we have to be thrilled with the outcome,” he said. “We tried a few different things in our passing game to be more balanced so our opponent next week doesn’t stack the box against our run. Most importantly, everyone’s healthy as we move forward.”

Clymer added to his season and career statistics. He’s rushed for over 1,200 yards this season, and nearly 5,000 for his career. His three touchdowns in the game gave him 21 for the year, and 48 for his career.