Northwestern couldn’t have asked for a better start to its season.

Following an emotional and touching tribute to Tucker Wessner, a member of the program who tragically lost his life in an accident earlier in the summer, the Tigers dominated on offense, defense and special teams to roll to a 47-0 victory Friday night over Wilson.

“To start the game, we had a little ceremony for our buddy Tucker, so it was a little emotional at the beginning,” said senior Eli Zimmerman, who scored three touchdowns in the contest.

“After that it was game time, and we had to come out hot because we have a big bull’s-eye on our back this year. With every team, we’re going to get their best shot. The guys bonded together this week, we played well and played for each other, and 47-0 — you can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Northwestern needed just six plays and 2:20 off the clock to open the game’s scoring. Zimmerman had a key 13-yard run during the drive and ended it with a 5-yard burst into the end zone.

After the defense registered a three-and-out, Zimmerman took the ensuing punt and raced down the sideline 50 yards for another score and a quick 14-0 lead.

“We set it up perfectly,” Zimmerman said. “We had a huge wall, a perfect call for that situation there. And again, the guys were blocking for me. I was untouched there and that was all on them. I just ran with the ball.”

The speedy senior wasn’t done reaching the end zone.

After he set up a 1-yard tally by Mason Bollinger with an 11-yard reception, Zimmerman escaped for an 80-yard burst that pushed the margin to 28-0 late in the opening period.

“That’s exactly what we’re hoping to get out of Eli,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “We saw that last year in glimpses when he got opportunities, and for him to have a full-time role on offense … the name of the game for us is to get him out in space and just let him do his thing.

“And in a couple instances, he had teammates that were really busting their butt and working hard downfield to get him extra yardage. We call them hustle plays. When you see teammates willing to go the extra mile, you’re going to do the same. Eli’s pretty elusive, but you’ve got guys around him that are creating seams and making those hustle plays.”

While the offense was doing its thing, the defense was matching their effort.

The Tigers allowed only 69 total yards of offense, including just 29 during the first half. Included among that were 12 plays that went for negative yardage.

“The d-line played out of their minds tonight, anchored by Bryer Reichard, Jackson Huber and Jared Meck,” said Zimmerman, who plays in the secondary on defense. “And the linebackers, they really stepped up tonight. It was great. Zero points on the scoreboard, you can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Northwestern put the game away in the second quarter with three more scores that assured the second half would open with the mercy rule in effect.

Two passes from quarterback Shane Leh to Bollinger, one for 19 yards and another for 17, set up Seth Kern’s 12-yard dash to the end zone. On their next possession, Bollinger caught a 31-yard strike from Leh before hauling in a 5-yard TD toss.

The Tigers’ last score came right before halftime. Braxton Lakatosh carried four straight times, including one for 29 yards, and the final one, a 10-yard scoring run.

“We just wanted to come out and stay on track, make plays, be disciplined, and execute in all three phases,” Snyder said. “We worked extremely hard this summer in camp putting our packages together. And then it’s really up to the kids to execute, and they were ready to execute early on and often. I thought we made plenty of plays tonight.

“In all three phases, we were pretty solid. And we were pretty excited about that.”

OFFENSIVE NUMBERS … Zimmerman carried just four times, but had 101 yards rushing. Bollinger caught five passes for 81 yards, while Leh completed seven of nine passes for 91 yards. The Tigers ended the contest with 333 yards of offense.