Northwestern Lehigh's Mason Bollinger, Shane Hulmes, coach Josh Snyder and Shane Leh pose during Colonial League Media Day at Pen Argyl HS (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

NEW TRIPOLI — Northwestern Lehigh showed no signs of slowing down.

Northwestern, a powerful 9-0 program with explosive talent, depth, and multiple weapons, overpowered Tamaqua 56-16 in a Schuylkill-Colonial Red Division game Friday night, pulling away with big plays on both sides of the ball.

The Tigers wasted no time showing their explosiveness. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Mason Bollinger hit tight end Shane Hulmes for a 60-yard touchdown, giving Northwestern a 7-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game.

Tamaqua answered immediately with grit. The Blue Raiders marched 48 yards in six plays, finishing with a dazzling 24-yard touchdown run by sophomore Terrence McDowell, whose cutback and balance drew a roar from the visiting sideline. A two-point conversion gave Tamaqua an 8-7 lead just over three minutes into the game.

But from there, Northwestern took over — scoring five unanswered touchdowns before halftime to lead 36-8 at the break.

“They played hard, Tamaqua, as they usually do,” Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder said. “But we settled down and took care of business.”

One of the game’s turning points came on Tamaqua’s second drive. Trailing 15-8, the Raiders advanced to the Northwestern 33. But on fourth-and-12, quarterback Chase Serfass was hit and stripped, and senior offensive lineman Michael Boring — all 5-foot-10, 210 pounds of him — scooped the ball and rumbled 55 yards untouched for a defensive touchdown.

Northwestern’s speed and opportunistic defense never let Tamaqua regain momentum. In the third quarter, back-to-back penalties pushed the Raiders from the Tigers’ 47 all the way to their own 20 — then a fumble forced them into an impossible fourth-and-51.

The Tigers capitalized again. A short punt was returned to the 2-yard line, and senior lineman Ethan Steigerwalt muscled into the end zone “Refrigerator Perry style” to punctuate the drive and the route.

Bollinger and quarterback Shane Leh led a surgical passing attack in the first half, combining to complete 6-of-7 passes for 114 yards. Tamaqua, meanwhile, went 4-for-7 passing for just 41 yards.

“Offensively, Shane did a good job distributing the football,” Snyder said. “He made some good scrambling plays. And I thought Mason Bollinger had some nice plays.”

Northwestern (10-0) now turns its attention to a massive showdown next week against undefeated Southern Lehigh. The Tigers have won the past three meetings between the two powerhouse programs.

TWO-MINUTE MASTERCLASS … Northwestern ran a perfect two-minute drill before halftime, starting at midfield with 45 seconds left. Leh completed back-to-back passes to Bollinger to reach the 1-yard line, and Bollinger finished the drive with a touchdown with 22 seconds remaining. Snyder said they had only started practicing the drill on Wednesday.

TOP PERFORMERS … McDowell led Tamaqua with 71 rushing yards, 47 of them on his first-quarter touchdown. For Northwestern, big plays limited volume, but both Braxton Lakatosh and Chase Sukanick finished with 33 yards apiece.

Game Summary

NW Lehigh 56, Tamaqua 16

Tam (3-6, 2-5)         8          0          0          8  —    16

NWL (9-0, 7-0)      22        14        14          6  —    56

NW — Hulmes 60 pass from Bollinger (Sukanick kick)

T — McDowell 47 run (McCabe pass from Serfass)

NW — Lakatosh 13 run (Zimmerman pass from Bollinger)

NW — Boring 55 fumble recovery (Sukanick kick)

NW — Sukanick 26 run (Sukanick kick)

NW — Bollinger 1 run (Sukanick kick)

NW — Steigerwalt 2 run (Sukanick kick)

NW — Sukanick 22 run (Sukanick kick)

T — McDowell 2 run (Schickram, pass from Serfass)

NW — Wilert 23 run (run failed)