Lehighton's Jayse Lawrence (Photo by Leroy Boyer)

LEHIGHTON — Taking advantage of the other team’s miscues is always key to coming away with a victory.

On Friday night, Northern Lehigh was able to do just that, converting a Lehighton turnover on special teams into six, creating a 14-point swing in the ballgame that helped the Bulldogs to come away with a 41-26 win over the Indians.

 “That swing was the difference in the game. Giving us that two-score advantage gave us that little bit of a comfort zone where we felt that we could stay on top,” Northern Lehigh coach Joe Tout said. “But give Lehighton credit. They never went away and we were never able to pull away.

“But that was definitely the difference. They made that mistake and we were able to capitalize and build ourselves a cushion.”

Both squads exchanged a few blows in the first half as they battled to a 14-13 score in favor of the Bulldogs at the intermission.

Chris Frame came up with two explosive plays for Northern Lehigh in the first half — a 15-yard scamper and a nifty 65-yard run where he spun through defenders and reversed course to go the distance — giving the Bulldogs momentum at the break.

After turning the ball over on downs on its first possession, Lehighton was then able to move the ball consistently in the first half. The Indians answered by scoring 13 points in the second quarter, grinding up yards in the run game.

Lucas Croizier’s 10-yard score tied the game at 7-7 and after Frame’s big play, the Tribe put together a nine-play, 80-yard drive capped off by a 41-yard hookup from Jayse Lawrence to Caden Meek. A missed extra point would serve as the one-point difference at the half.

Northern Lehigh made its move to start the third quarter. The Bulldogs marched 82 yards in eight plays to make it 20-13m once again fueled by a Frame extraordinary play. Frame took a screen pass from quarterback Garrett Smoyer and did the rest, going 43 yards for the score.

 The Indians then fumbled the ensuing kickoff. Three plays later Smoyer found Colin Karetsky for a 15-yard pitch and catch to give Northern Lehigh a 27-13 advantage with 5:40 remaining in the third.

“I thought we did some good things,” Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll said. “I thought we did a lot of what we wanted to offensively.

“The swing at the start of the second half put us in a bad spot and then you’re in a position where you’re chasing points. And we just couldn’t get off the field tonight. A lot of the time it was on third down, too. On first and second down, we would do a good job, but we just didn’t finish.

“Credit goes to them. That’s a good football team with really good athletes. We now just have to focus on bouncing back quickly, because we’re on a short week.”

Lehighton would continue to fight the rest of the way, getting back within a score at 27-20 after a 43-yard Croizier rush setup a 26-yard Lawrence rushing score before the end of the third.

The Bulldogs would again make it a two-score game early in the fourth, going to the ground-and-pound attack with running back Grady Newhard scoring on an 8-yard run.

Lehighton would answer yet again with a touchdown on their next drive. A 64-yard connection from Lawrence to Meek would setup a one-yard wildcat plunge from Blake Roberts to make it 34-26 with 6:39 to go.

The Tribe almost pulled off a surprise onside kick on the ensuing kickoff that saw the ball bounce off a Northern Lehigh player and squirt loose, but the Bulldogs were able to keep possession. The Bulldogs continued to grind the football after that moment and Smoyer would put the game away with a short 3-yard touchdown run with 1:23 left in the game.

“We have a really talented skill group and we have been getting a lot more of those type guys over the past few years. But the smash mouth football is still in our DNA,” Tout said. “We were able to go to that look and milk the clock, which was big. I’m just really proud of the guys. To be able to put 41 points up on opening night against a really good opponent. We’re really happy with that.”

FANTASTIC FRAME … Frame had a big night. He had 217 yards of total offense, three total touchdowns and an interception on the defensive end. Frame averaged over 13 yards per carry with 149 rushing yards.

LOCKED IN LUKE … Croizier ran tough for the Tribe all night long, finishing with 148 rushing yards on 21 carries with one rushing score.

MOVING THE STICKS … Northern Lehigh was able to come through with 19 first down in the game.

Scoring Summary

Lehighton 0 13 7 6 — 26

No. Lehigh 7 7 13 14 — 41

NL — Frame 15 run (Hanna kick)

Leh — Croizier 10 run (Ebbert kick)

NL — Frame 65 run (Hanna kick)

Leh — Meek 41 pass from Lawrence (kick failed)

NL — Frame 43 pass from Smoyer (run failed)

NL — Karetsko 15 pass from Smoyer (Hanna kick)

Leh — Lawrence 26 run (Ebbert kick)

NL — Newhard 8 run (Hanna kick)

Leh — Roberts 1 run (run failed)

NL — Smoyer 2 run (Hanna kick)