With Lehigh grads Phil Stambaugh and Josh Snyder as coaches on opposite sidelines, opening night of the high school football season was made even more special when Notre Dame and Northwestern Lehigh met at Tiger Stadium.

For the Tigers, no matter what the outcome of the game, they were looking to make a statement that their team could run the ball, thanks in no small part to a bigger, stronger, more experienced offensive line. Not only did they make a statement about the ground game, but they made a statement that overall, the Tigers are simply a pretty good football team. Northwestern toughed out a 42-41 overtime win in the season opener against the Crusaders.

The ground game was the story of the night for Northwestern as they rushed for 312 yards, with both Devon Bollinger (149 yards) and Nick Henry (114 yards) rushing for over 100 yards. Snyder wasn’t even sure when the last time was that the Tigers had two guys over the 100-yard mark. Both Snyder and Bollinger credited a revamped offensive line for their success.

“We challenged these guys because we’re known for our ground game and we haven’t shown that the past couple of years,” said Snyder. “We stressed in camp that we were going to run the ball and they had to be strong and they had to open holes for our backs and they did that tonight. I’m very proud of them.”

Instead of Bollinger picking up needed yardage because he was under too much pressure like in previous seasons, his runs in the opener were designed and worked well. An offseason regimen that helped to increase his quickness and speed make the lanky Bollinger a strong part of the ground game. Late in the game, the Tigers simply rode Bollinger’s legs including on an 80-yard drive when he ran for 55 of the 80 yards.

“We wanted to come out and show that we can run the ball,” said senior lineman Hayden Bobbyn. “We’ve been challenged to get our team back to being a running team that controls the ball and we did that tonight and it was against a really good team.”

With Northwestern leading 35-28 with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame was putting together a good drive when quarterback Cole DeFranco hit Isaiah DeJesus on a 16-yard connection down the left side of the field.

The ball was jarred loose after the catch and Justin Rodda alertly jumped on the ball to stop the drive and give the Tigers possession at their own 30-yard line with 1:58 to play.

On the third play from scrimmage, a snap from center sailed over Bollinger’s head and was recovered by DeJesus at the Northwestern 20-yard line. Two plays later, DeFranco hit Daniel Sanders on a 10-yard strike to tie the game. Northwestern couldn’t mount a drive in the remaining time and the game went to overtime.

On their first possession, the Crusaders hurt themselves with a penalty and two incomplete passes. Northwestern was then flagged on a controversial interference call in the end zone to give DeFranco another shot and he again connected with Sanders for the tandem’s fourth touchdown of the night. On the extra point, the snap was bobbled and the Crusaders couldn’t get a kick off leaving them up 41-35.

Northwestern got its chance and Bollinger scampered nine yards to the one-yard line. On the next play, another bad snap had to be covered up, leaving the Tigers with third down at the two. Bollinger dashed right into the heart of the line and came out the other side and in the end zone to tie the game. Connor de Wit kicked the extra point to give Northwestern the win and start the celebration.

“Coach Snyder told us this was the biggest game we would play and we came out and played that way,” said Bobbyn. “This is the biggest win since we beat Saucon Valley in districts and this makes other teams look at us and say ‘they’re one of the teams that’s going to be tough.’”