While Northwestern football head coach Josh Snyder is happy to play the district semifinals, he’s cautioning his team against overlooking the fact it has a surprise opponent in Wilson.

Wilson went into Pottsville with a 2-5 record and the seventh seed and came out with an 18-14 win over the second-seeded Crimson Tide, who finished the regular season 6-1. Northwestern beat Wilson 42-16 during the regular season.

“I think it’s human nature, especially for high school kids, to do that [look ahead] and think about playing for a district championship,.” said Snyder. “They have to remember though that this is our third straight district semifinal and we didn’t win either of the other two. And two years ago, we beat Saucon Valley during the regular season and then lost to them in the semifinals, so there’s history there that these guys need to remember.

“The worst thing that we can do is take this team for granted and look back at beating them earlier this season.”

While Friday will be the second meeting of the two teams, both teams are different from where they were when they met during the regular season. For Wilson, instead of being 1-1 and struggling to make a mark in the Colonial League, they’re coming off an impressive upset win.

What’s different about Northwestern since the two teams met? First of all, Justin Rodda is out with a clavicle injury and running back Nick Henry is questionable with a quad injury suffered last week against Lehighton. The good news is that if Henry can’t go or is limited in how much he can play, Dalton Clymer showed himself to be a capable alternative against the Indians when he was pressed into action when Henry limped off the field.

Another difference is that the Tigers switched some things around before facing Salisbury in mid-October. The defense saw a few new faces getting more playing time and offensively, they went with some different sets. Now, with the injuries, they’ve had to again make some changes and eliminate some of the new things they were doing. Of course, in true Snyder style, they’ve put in some things that highlight the abilities of players who are getting more time because of the injuries, putting them in a position to be successful.

“Clymer is a good example,” Snyder said. “He’s a kid who likes to stick his nose in there and he runs downhill when he has the ball. When we get into short yardage situations, he’s a guy we can rely on to get the yards we need because he’s tough-nosed.”

The injuries can be overcome against Wilson. Uncharacteristically, neither player was a major factor in the first meeting, with the two combining for 87 yards.

The Wilson offense has been inconsistent this season as has their defense. As was the case in the first game, the Tigers offense should be able to put up some points against the Warriors, who were outscored 215-144 during the regular season before edging Pottsville 18-14 last week in the quarterfinals.