Football teams that rely mostly on their running game have had a tough time this season against Northwestern.

The Tigers’ defense just doesn’t give up much on the ground and for the second week in a row an opponent found out that ground-and-pound doesn’t work against the Northwestern defense.

Saucon Valley (5-3) threw just seven passes all night, with the first two being picked off by Northwestern defenders. In the end, Northwestern walked off with a 36-0 win to move to 7-1 on the season.

Saucon Valley quarterback Dante Mahaffey went to the air on the third play of the game and found only Deven Bollinger there to pull in the pass and take it back the other way for Northwestern.

The Tigers were unable to make the Panthers pay for the turnover and the two teams battled up and down the field for the rest of the first quarter without anybody being able to find the end zone.

With the Panthers ground game going nowhere, Mahaffey again tried to go to the air, but the ball was tipped by a Saucon Valley receiver and wound up in the hands of Taylor Wikert, who returned the ball 23 yards to the Saucon Valley 20.

This time Northwestern took advantage of the short field and on a third-and-seven, Bollinger threw to the left side where he found Jayden Allen, who bounced off of a defender at the one and landed in the end zone.

The Tigers went to the Philly Special for the conversion and Nick Henry hit Bollinger to go up 15-0 with 1:07 left in the first half.

Northwestern got the ball to start the second half and quickly marched down the field. Bollinger hit Dom Harding to finish the drive and stretch the Tigers lead to 22-0.

On the next Saucon Valley drive, the defense turned in another big performance. After Saucon Valley converted on a fourth-and-one, the Panthers went to the option play and senior Robbie Goldberg forced a fumble and fell on the ball at the Northwestern 19-yard line.

“We put a lot on Robbie this week and moved him to defensive end to get some bigger bodies on the field,” said Tigers defensive coordinator Greg Mitchell. “We told him he had the quarterback on the option and he tackled the fullback, the quarterback and took the ball away from them. That was impressive.”

Goldberg has been one of the faces in the crowd of senior players who have all come up big for the Northwestern defense this season. Like many of his teammates, he’s able to be moved into different schemes and handle any of the responsibilities he’s given.

“Defense has been really fun this season, especially with all of the seniors that we have out there,” said Goldberg. “On that option play, I just saw both the running back and the quarterback right there and got both of them and when I saw the ball pop out, I just fell on it.”

Northwestern tacked on a 29-yard run up the middle by Henry for a touchdown. Henry, a senior, finished with 92 yards rushing and 91 yards receiving on the night.

Lineman Connor Snyder moved to the backfield for the third straight week and got five carries on one drive for Northwestern, pushing the ball over from one-yard out on a third-and-goal.

In addition to the big night for Henry, Bollinger finished with 215 yards passing and another 43 yards rushing as part of the Tigers 370 yards of total offense.

The shutout was the first for Northwestern’s defense this season and the first for first-year defensive coordinator Greg Mitchell, who was awarded the game ball by the team.

“I couldn’t ask for a better effort from those guys in everything that they do in the weight room and out here,” said Mitchell of his defensive players. “Being my first year, it’s nice to have a bunch of seniors who play their butts off.”

The last time Northwestern’s defense pitched a shutout was late last September when the Tigers traveled to Palmerton and beat the Blue Bombers 49-0.

Their last home shutout was on October 6, 2017 when they beat Bangor 14-0.