Northwestern Lehigh coach Josh Snyder came from a football family, following older brother Brett in his high school career. Coach Snyder is thankful that other families in the district have produced multiple quality football players that he now gets to rely on.

A case in point is this year’s Tiger varsity team.

Exit Frank Dangello, enter Phil Dangello. You lose Joe Colucci, you turn to Anthony Colucci. Dylan Lobach graduated, so you turn to another younger brother in Tyler Lobach, and so on up and down the roster. Some of the younger brothers have even switched to their older brother’s uniform numbers just to make the transition as smooth as possible.

“We go over rosters now and you get these same names up and down the list,” said Snyder. “That’s what’s nice about Northwestern, it’s a good community and people like to stay here and raise their families here, so the good athletes just keep coming.”

Frank Dangello set a number of school records as the Tigers quarterback and younger brother Phil Dangello was in the mix to win the starting job this season. But the younger Dangello will spend most of his time looking to intercept passes in the team’s secondary, and will spend time catching passes from freshman quarterback Deven Bollinger. Phil Dangello will see some time under center as Snyder looks to make the most of the junior.

“We’ll use Phil in certain situations, with certain sets, because he’s able to give us something a little bit different at that spot [quarterback], and it will help us to take advantage of some things,” said Snyder. “Phil’s got a lot of talent and I think overall, he can help us more in other spots.”

Another familiar name will be in the Northwestern secondary. Tyler Lobach, whose brother Dylan Lobach graduated in June, will play as a defensive back for the Tigers.

“Tyler is only a sophomore, but he’s a tough kid and has worked hard, just like his brother did when he was here,” said Snyder. “There’s always growing pains with young kids who have to step in to fill holes, but we’re fortunate because we’ve got a lot of guys who at least got some time on the field and they have the experience to draw from.”

As for Colucci, Snyder was impressed with his older brother and can envision the younger Colucci making a name for himself at Northwestern.

“Joe didn’t always get as much press as guys like Harry [Hall] and Frankie [Dangello], but he always went out and did his job and was comfortable with just helping the team win,” said Snyder. “Anthony has the same approach, he just loves to be on the field, he loves to play football and he works hard, so he’s going to help us a lot.”

Snyder followed in the footsteps of older brother Brett Snyder at Northwestern and knows that there can be some challenges, but always loved the fact that he and his brother had that shared experience of having played at Northwestern.

“We would spend a lot of time talking about games and practices and of course, we always supported each other and cheered each other on,” Snyder said. “I think it’s a lot like that with these kids. There may be some sibling rivalry and a desire to make a name for yourself, but there’s always that support system, that guy to go to and the experience to draw from.

“Now, coaching these kids, it’s a lot of fun and I think it makes us stronger to have these families be here year after year. I hope they keep coming.”