CENTER VALLEY — Wally Hall was as honest as he could be.

The longtime North Schuylkill football coach put it very simply after his team suffered a 36-14 defeat to Southern Lehigh on Friday night in a Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division matchup.

“We didn’t show up,” Hall said. “Can’t be one week to the next. What it comes down to is that you gotta show up to play, and I’m beginning to question the toughness of some of our guys.”

Hall’s words were spot on.

North Schuylkill came out flat and did not execute as it had in previous weeks, and Southern Lehigh made them pay.

Southern Lehigh scored on its first four possessions of the game and built a 29-0 halftime lead.

Much of Southern Lehigh’s success came from junior running back Sean Steckert, who finished with 117 yards on 20 carries, and scored twice on 1-yard runs.

Not to be outdone was Steckert’s teammate and quarterback, sophomore Colton Sams, who tossed touchdown passes of 63 yards to Luke Kawczenski and a 16-yarder to Darius Roman.

Sams completed 11-of-18 passes for 257 yards.

“We just can’t continue to get beat on vertical routes over and over,” Hall said, referring to several pass plays Southern Lehigh had success with.

“One way or another, we got to learn how to defend that.”

North Schuylkill was unsuccessful on its first offensive series and was forced to punt as senior Gavin Mentzer planted a beauty of kick which was downed by North Schuylkill’s special teams players at the Southern Lehigh 13.

It took Southern Lehigh less than three minutes to get on the scoreboard as Sams hit Kawczenski on the team’s sixth offensive play. The 5-foot-11 junior went untouched on the 63-yard reception as Southern Lehigh took a 7-0 lead with 6:35 remaining in the first quarter.

North Schuylkill went three and out on its next offensive series and Southern Lehigh used a methodical run-and-pass series to move the ball downfield.

Sams connected with Roman on a 28-yard reception and Andrew Olesh caught a 12-yard pass as Southern just found a way to exploit the North Schuylkill defense.

It also didn’t help matters as North Schuylkill was twice flagged for pass interference on the 11-play drive that was capped by Steckert’s first 1-yard TD run with 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter and a 14-0 lead.

When it looked like North Schuylkill was going to get a drive going, it just didn’t seem to work out.

Faced with a 14-0 deficit and fourth-and-1 at their own 35, Hall and his staff decided to go for the first down with 8:20 left in the second quarter.

The gamble failed as Southern Lehigh stuffed quarterback Caden Mengel and Southern Lehigh had excellent field position.

Five plays later, Sams connected with Roman in the right corner of the end zone on a 16-yard strike and Southern Lehigh built a 20-0 lead with 6:32 left in the half.

The very next possession was a tough one for North Schuylkill.

Mengel hit an open Luke Miller on a 42-yard strike, but somehow Southern Lehigh’s Danny Reagan was able to strip Miller of the ball at the Southern 27. Though Miller appeared to be down by contact, the officials ruled it a fumble.

Southern Lehigh used just three plays to get into the end zone as Steckert ripped off a 70-yard run to the North Schuylkill 3, then followed it up with his second 1-yard score with 4:39 to play in the half and a 26-0 Southern Lehigh lead.

Just before the half, Southern benefitted from a fumble caused when linebacker Jacoby Jacobs hit Mengel from his blind side and Dylan Gretz picked up the pigskin and returned it to the North Schuylkill 40.

Southern Lehigh drove to the 3 where the North Schuylkill defense got a stellar effort. However, kicker Noah Tapler drilled a 20-yard field goal with 11 seconds left as Southern Lehigh led 29-0 at the half.

Southern Lehigh upped its lead to 36-0 late in the third quarter as Sams found Roman wide open on a hitch-and-go pattern, but North Schuylkill continued to battle.

Mengel found Miller open on a 43-yard touchdown pass with 10:51 to play in the fourth quarter to make it 36-6.

Four minutes later, the same North Schuylkill duo hooked up again, but this time on a 48-yard strike. Mengel’s two-point conversion run made it 36-14 with 6:26 to play in the game.

Mengel finished the night by completing 12-of-20 passes for 244 yards, and Miller caught eight passes for 170 yards.

A frustrated Hall was to the point when he analyzed his team’s overall performance.

“Every loss is tough and our schedule doesn’t get any easier,” Hall said. “It’s a tough loss, but we definitely got to look at what we’re doing as coaches. That’s what I’m going to tell my staff. What we’re doing and how we’re preparing.”

Game Summary

Southern Lehigh 36, North Schuylkill 14

North Schuylkill (2-2, 1-2) 0  0  0   14  — 14

Southern Lehigh (3-1, 2-1) 14  15  7   0  — 36

SL — Kawczenski 63 pass from Sams (Tapler kick)

SL — Steckert 1 run (Tapler kick)

SL — Roman 16 pass from Sams (run failed)

SL — Steckert 1 run (run failed)

SL — FG Tapler 20

SL — Roman 36 pass from Sams (Tapler kick)

NS — Miller 43 pass from Mengel (no attempt)

NS — Miller 48 pass from Mengel (Mengel run)

Team Statistics

NS-SL

First downs —- 11 …….. 18

Rushes-Yards —- 20-32…… 36-159

Passing —– 12-20-0…….. 11-18-0

Passing Yards —- 244 …….. 257

Total Yards —- 276 ……. 416

Fumbles-Lost —- 2-2…..0-0

Penalties —- 7-72……. 5-50

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: North Schuylkill — Miller 5-11, S. Wall 1-9, Joyce 2-5, Mengel 8-2, Ortiz 1-10, Smith 1-1, Mogish 1-(-1), Carr 1-(-5). Southern Lehigh — Steckert 20-117, Olesh 3-26, Reagan 3-10, Roman 1-7, Jacobs 1-1, Adasavage 5-0, Young 1-2, Stock 2-(-4).

PASSING: North Schuylkill — Mengel 12-20-0, 244. Southern Lehigh — Sams 11-18-0, 257.

RECEIVING: North Schuylkill — Miller 8-170, Smith 1-50, Meyer 1-15, Mogish 1-5, Nelson 1-4. Southern Lehigh — Kawczenski 3-106, Roman 4-90, Olesh 3-48, Steckert 1-13.

INTERCEPTIONS: None.