In recent trips to Bangor, the Northwestern football team has started games a bit slowly.

Making that trip on a Thursday this season, Tiger head coach Josh Snyder wanted to make sure his team got off to a quick start.

Northwestern did just that. Led by a stingy and tenacious defense, the Tigers rolled to a 55-7 win over the Slaters.

“Under my tenure we haven’t played real well up here,” said Snyder. “Last year they gave us more problems than we were hoping for. I just wanted us to get off the bus. We talked about that — play fast and have a great start.

“That’s exactly what happened. These guys played great on defense, gave us great field position. Our punt return team is pretty good with Eli [Zimmerman] back there. It sort of compounds things for the other team. It snowballed from there. I was happy with all three phases. The kids made plays.”

Bangor’s offense went three-and-out on six of its first seven possessions. It gained just one first down through the first 22 minutes.

“Our defense came out strong and got a three-and-out,” said Tiger linebacker Josh Wambold, who had his first career interception. “Our linebackers really flow to the ball. Defensive line has been making big plays. They make a lot of our tackles for us.

“Our defense is getting all these stops for our offense. It’s setting us up in good position, and that’s what we like.”

The Tiger defense, combined with Bangor’s effort to punt away from dangerous returner Zimmerman, put Northwestern (3-0) in good field position often, leading to quick scores.

The first Tiger TD took three plays to cover 42 yards as Zimmerman ran in from 10 yards out less than three minutes into the contest.

After getting the ball back on their 40-yard line, the Tigers needed six plays to cover the distance, with Mason Bollinger running in from a yard out with 6:09 left in the first quarter.

Northwestern’s offense was so efficient, it took three drives and nearly an entire quarter until it faced a third down, which led to its only punt of the game.

After a third Slater three-and-out in four possessions, Northwestern’s third scoring drive went just one play as quarterback Shane Leh took advantage of a poor Bangor punt that gave his team a short field. The junior ran 21 yards for the touchdown and a 21-0 lead.

Northwestern’s offense got a breather as the next two scores came from special teams and defense.

Zimmerman returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown for his third career punt return TD, tying his coach’s school record.

The senior running back/safety/returner is the quarterback of the Tiger defense, its feature back on offense, and its vocal leader everywhere, all the time. He comes off the field only for kick-off coverage while playing on every other unit.

“He just never gets tired,” said Snyder. “He plays three sports and his motor never stops. You’d have to drag him off the field to get him off. He plays with a ton of emotion. He’s just a special kid, a special athlete. He’s going to break a bunch of records. Tonight he broke my punt return record.”

“In the beginning of the season, they asked me if I wanted more breaks,” said Zimmerman. “I said no. I want to be out there with my teammates. It’s a brotherhood here at Northwestern. Just to be out there with my boys and contribute is big for me.”

With the offense and special teams both scoring, the Tiger defense got in on the fun when Bangor quarterback Jaxson Kreider fumbled in the end zone, and senior defensive end Bryer Reichard fell on the ball to give his team a 34-0 lead with 4:48 left in the first half.

It was the first TD in the career of the all-state lineman.

“Last year he had an interception and he got caught at the one,” said Snyder. “Last week he [recovered a fumble] where he got tackled. We give him a hard time about not being able to get into the end zone, so he was pretty pumped about scoring a touchdown.”

Northwestern put the game into the mercy rule when another poor Slater punt put the Tigers at the Bangor 25-yard line. Landen Matson took a handoff and went the distance on first down for a 41-0 lead with 2:50 left in the first half.

Over the first 24 minutes, Northwestern’s defense allowed just one Bangor (0-3) play to go for more than seven yards while making six tackles for loss and another nine tackles for two yards or less. The Tigers held the Slaters to 69 first-half yards, most of which came on two plays, a 28-yard run and another 12-yard gain that ended the first half.

Twelve different Tiger players ran the ball in the win, while five different players caught passes. Seven different players found the end zone. Matthew Rogers ran for 57 yards on 10 carries, all in the second half. Zimmerman had five carries for 56 yards.

Leh completed four of seven passes for 37 yards and ran for a score.

EYES ON

ORWIGSBURG

Northwestern will face it’s biggest test of the season this Friday night when it travels to 3-0 Blue Mountain for a battle of unbeatens.

The Eagles have beaten Schuylkill Haven (2-1), Southern Lehigh (2-1) and Jim Thorpe (1-2) over the first three weeks of the season.

“We’re excited to find out a little bit about ourselves,” said Snyder. “What are we going to find out? I don’t know. Hopefully that we’re tough as nails and we can make plays against a good football team.

“I think they’re very similar to us offensively and defensively. They run a lot of our sets, motions and schemes. Defense is similar too. They play an odd front defense. What stands out is they just fly around the field. They’re nice size kids. They’re ultra-aggressive. They want to come at you from a bunch of different angles. We’re used to practicing against ourselves, so we’re going to play our defense against ourselves this week and just rep, rep, rep and get prepared for a battle.”

After three mercy-rule wins against overmatched teams, the Tigers are eager to face a high-quality opponent.

“Blue Mountain is a great football team with a great coach,” said Zimmerman. “It’s going to be a championship atmosphere. Our guys are looking forward to it, looking for a challenge. This week we have to have a great week of preparation and watch our film and just be focused all week so we can get the job done on Friday.”

“Can’t wait for this week,” said Snyder. “It’s going to be focused. It’s going to be upbeat. It’s going to be high-tempo. We know the kind of quality football program they have up there. I’m certain that they want to get some revenge on us for last year. That was a heck of a game and it sort of catapulted our season.”

Last season Northwestern beat Blue Mountain 28-21 in the fourth week of the season to improve to 4-0.

Northwestern 55, Bangor 7

N’western 14 27 6 8 - 55

Bangor 0 0 0 7 - 7

Scoring Summary

NW - E. Zimmerman 10 run (kick failed)

NW - Bollinger 1 run (Bollinger run)

NW - Leh 21 run (Kern kick)

NW - E. Zimmerman 74 punt return (Kern kick)

NW - Reichard fumble recovery (kick failed)

NW - Matson 25 run (Kern kick)

NW - Wagstaff 5 run (pass failed)

B - Farensbach 16 pass from Kreider (Labar kick)

NW - Lakatosh 12 run (Gauweiler run)