Blue Mountain falls to NW Lehigh in showdown
Blue Mountain quarterback Brady Strause threw for four touchdowns in a Week 5 win over Palisades. Photo by Brook Koch-Guers
ORWIGSBURG — Northwestern Lehigh is as good as advertised.
Relentless in their approach, the Tigers showed why they’re the top-ranked Class 3A team in Pennsylvania, rolling past Blue Mountain 30-8 on Friday night in a Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division game at the Eagles’ Nest.
NW Lehigh (4-0, 3-0 Red) scored the first 30 points until Blue Mountain (3-1, 2-1) broke up the shutout in the fourth quarter.
“They have a lot of guys who can do a lot of things,’’ Blue Mountain coach Tom Gallagher said. “They’re well-coached, and they have a good culture.
“They’re able to execute, and they take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.’’
Northwestern’s Mason Bollinger capitalized on the first opening of the game, taking a direct snap and racing around left end for a 47-yard touchdown with 9:34 left in the first quarter. Just like that, the Tigers had the lead and control of the game.
The Tigers, though, aren’t perfect.
On their next possession, a bad snap on a punt caused a 20-yard loss and gave Blue Mountain the ball at the Northwestern 19-yard line. Tyler Stahley rushed twice for five yards, and after a false start penalty, the Eagles threw two incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs.
“We did not capitalize on opportunities when they were there,’’ Gallagher said. “Coming into this week, we said that we had to capitalize when those kinds of things presented themselves.’’
The difference is that when the Tigers made a mistake, they strung together several positive plays to make up for it and regain the momentum.
After Blue Mountain’s missed chance, Bollinger — wide open on a post pattern — hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Shane Leh to double the lead to 14-0.
Seth Kern booted a 24-yard field goal, and Michael Lagowy grabbed a 15-yard TD pass from Leh to make it 23-0 at halftime.
In the opening 24 minutes, Blue Mountain managed three first downs and rushed 11 times for 10 yards.
“Our defense gets a lot of credit,’’ Northwestern Lehigh coach Josh Snyder said. “(Blue Mountain) couldn’t get their wheels going. Our defense did a nice job. … We wanted to play from the lead, and that’s what happened.’’
In between Leh’s touchdown passes, the Tigers got balance from Eli Zimmerman and Bollinger in the run game. Zimmerman, often gaining the corner or slicing the Eagles up the middle, finished with 148 yards rushing on 23 carries. As a change of pace, Bollinger added 73 yards rushing on nine attempts.
With 9:20 left in the game, Blue Mountain got on the board when Brady Strause connected with Cole Swick for a 47-yard touchdown pass. Gaige Guers ran for the two-point conversion, but Blue Mountain still trailed 30-8.
The Eagles stay at home next Friday when they host Bangor on Blue Mountain Hall of Fame night.
“I want everyone to understand: This isn’t going to define our season,’’ Gallagher said. “We had a bad game, and that happens. Our job now as a team and as coaches is to find a way to regroup and move forward.’’
