Anyone who has watched high school football scores roll in the first couple weeks of the season knows just how potent the Palisades offense has been. The Pirates put up 49 points against Palmerton and then 61 against Wilson. It’s easy to say that the Northwestern defense is going to be the toughest Palisades has faced so far, which is where the challenge lies for the Tigers.

The good news is that defenses don’t have to worry much about a passing game when it comes to Palisades. They’ve attempted just 11 passes in two games this season and only three of those passes have been caught, one of which was by the Palmerton defense. Their two completions have gone for a total of 28 yards.

These Pirates attack by land, not air. They’ve amassed over 1,000 yards rushing as a team with Trey Gretzinger averaging 206 yards per game and Ethan Brader at 175 yards per game. Gretzinger already has eight touchdowns on the season.

“This is going to be a test to see just where our defense is at stopping the run,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “Our defensive line is playing really well, so we’re challenging them to step up this week and at least slow these guys down a little. You can’t plan on stopping them but you can hope to kind of keep them in check.”

By comparison, the Tigers running game has been much-improved this season, but has averaged just 284 yards per game on the ground. Nick Henry has been the big news this season with 287 yards rushing in the first two games. With a rebuilt offensive line that both Henry and quarterback Deven Bollinger are crediting with much of the team’s offensive success this season, there is a challenge there too, as the Tigers look to get back to the Northwestern tradition of running the ball first and foremost.

Where it will get interesting is to see how much Snyder goes to the air in an attempt to open things up for the ground game. Bollinger has become a double-threat with his arm and legs and the Tigers may look to mix-and-match running the ball and passing it, hoping for results like they saw in the opener against Notre Dame (Green Pond). In that game, Bollinger threw for 109 yards and rushed for 139.

“I’m confident in our guys to run the ball and that’s what we’re trying to establish,” said Sndyer. “Nick [Henry] has been solid in the first couple of weeks and Deven [Bollinger] is going to be a threat. Plus, we have some other guys to pick up some carries along the way. The bottom line though is that Deven isn’t just a one-dimensional guy. He can put the ball up and hurt a team that way, so we’ll just play to our strengths.”

Northwestern comes into the game relatively healthy with no considerable injuries. Tyler Slifer was banged up in game one but was back on the field last week and Anthony Colucci returned to the field after missing over a full season with hamstring issues.

Palisades and Northwestern are two of the four undefeated teams in the Colonial League. Both Northern Lehigh and Saucon Valley are also off to 2-0 starts.

“We know how good this Palisades team can be,” said Snyder. “They’ve shown how tough they are in the first two weeks and we knew even right when the schedule came out that this would be one of the tougher games. We just have to go out and play our game and be physical against them.”