Sometimes, one just has to hand it to the other team. That’s what Northwestern had to do after losing 21-14 to rival Northern Lehigh in Bo and Brett’s Mountain Road Rumble last Friday.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they also had to hand over the accompanying trophy that goes to the winner of the rivalry game and has been in the Northwestern trophy case for three straight years.

“I can’t fault our effort at all,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “Our guys played hard. It’s tough for our seniors, because they really wanted to beat them in every year of their high school career, but Northern Lehigh just beat us tonight.

“We played well, but they were able to come up with some big plays and they won. I’m not disappointed at all in our team, but I feel bad for the seniors, because I know they really wanted this one.”

Northwestern came out fired up and after stopping a prolonged Northern Lehigh drive that ate up almost seven minutes, Northwestern went 81 yards on just five plays. The big play on the drive was a 60-yard run by Trevor Cunningham, who moved from his wide receiver spot into the Northwestern backfield for much of the game.

With the Tigers up 7-0, Northern Lehigh started its next drive on its own 35-yard line, but on the first play of the drive, Guedes was intercepted by Tyler Foster.

Northwestern went three-and-out, but the Bulldogs muffed the punt and Northwestern’s Caleb Clymer recovered the ball at the two-yard line. Cunningham ran it into the end zone on the next play, and in the span of one-minute, Northwestern went up by 14 points.

With just under two-minutes left in the half, quarterback Tekoah Guedes hit Hemingway with a 23-yard pass and Dan Belfonti added the extra point to make it a 14-7 game. The Bulldogs tied it with an 11-play, drive that ate up over five-minutes in the third quarter, when Cameron Kline pushed into the end zone from three yards out.

Northern Lehigh used another prolonged drive to take its first lead of the game with 3:33 left to play in the game. On a third-and-14, Northern Lehigh used a perfectly-disguised screen pass, with Guedes floating the ball through a couple of Northwestern defenders to Mason Seiler. The play gave Northern Lehigh a first down on the Northwestern 35-yard line to keep the drive alive. The Bulldogs finished the drive with Seiler running for a five-yard touchdown.

“We had a couple of plays that really hurt us and that was probably the biggest,” said Snyder. “We were looking at holding them, making them punt and getting the ball back in good shape, but when they pulled off that play to keep the drive going, that hurt.”

With injuries to Phillip Dangello and Caleb Clymer handcuffing the Tigers’ offense, Trevor Cunningham spent a chunk of the game lining up in the backfield rather than as a wide receiver. Cunningham had 103 yards rushing on 13 carries and pulled in the only pass completion of the night for a 14-yard gain. Dangello was on the sidelines and Clymer was limited to playing defensive for Northwestern. During the game, Foster went down with a dislocated shoulder for the Tigers.

The annual rivalry is named after former Northern Lehigh quarterback Bo Tkach and Northwestern running back Brett Snyder. Snyder, who holds many school records, suffers from ALS, and Tkach suffered from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder before taking his own life. The game benefits the Angel 34 Foundation.