Shane Hulmes’ contributions before last year’s PIAA Class 3A championship run was the occasional pass reception and making as many tackles as possible.
Northwestern Lehigh coach Josh Snyder then devised a way to get Hulmes the ball a little more by adding a short-yardage package that included the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder.
Hulmes delivered. Of his first nine career carries, five resulted in touchdowns.
Now a senior, Hulmes continues to lead the Tigers in tackles. He catches the occasional pass, too. And, he runs the ball once in a while.
Entering last Friday’s showdown with Southern Lehigh, Hulmes had 10 catches in each of the last three years, with 11 of the 30 going for touchdowns. He also had 12 career carries, including three this year, with eight going for scores.
That’s 42 touches, 19 touchdowns.
Snyder knew it was time to unleash Hulmes more against the unbeaten Spartans. Hulmes delivered with 95 rushing yards on five carries, including a 64-yard dash for a touchdown, and two catches for 29 yards. He also finished with 11 tackles to give him 100 for the season.
Hulmes has 384 career tackles, six behind Reid Schellhamer (2000-03) for the program record. He already is the school’s career leader in forced fumbles (9) and tackles for loss (30). His 15.5 sacks trail only Connor Snyder (16.5 from 2016-19) and Bryer Reichard (17 from 2022-24).
“Shane Hulmes probably had the best game of his career all around,” Snyder said, “running it, catching it and playing a whale of a game on defense.”
Northwestern Lehigh needed its leaders to have a monster game. That’s what Hulmes and others did. His touchdown run gave the Tigers a two-score lead.
“A lot of people say they’re surprised when they see me get in the open field,” Hulmes said. “That was one of the first times I got to run in the open field. Last year, I had a few big holes and scored a couple touchdowns.
“Tonight, it was just the offensive line blocking out of their minds. I was gassed after that [64-yard TD run] a little bit.”
His 9-yard catch and 19-yard run on fourth down were part of the Tigers’ third touchdown drive. His 20-yard reception was instrumental in Northwestern Lehigh responding to Southern Lehigh’s first score. He then had runs of five and six yards for a first down to run out the clock in a 36-28 victory.
Hulmes was one of five Tigers to score touchdowns. Chase Sukanick, Brady Zimmerman, Shane Leh and Michael Lagowy also scored. Mason Bollinger added a 31-yard reception on third down on Northwestern Lehigh’s first drive. Leh scored from 12 yards out on the next play.
Leh completed only two of his first five passes, but both came in third-and-long situations on the Tigers’ opening drive. The 33- and 31-yarders went to Lagowy and Bollinger, respectively. He completed 11 of his final 13 passes and finished with 226 passing yards.
“Shane Leh was like he has been all season,” Snyder said. “He was very poised, put the ball on the money.
“And, that’s been us this year. It’s very well spread across the board. I think that makes us dangerous. [Opponents] have to cover 53 1/3 yards from side to side and vertical as well. We have more than capable guys. We have guys who are playmakers. As we saw tonight, we’ll always be a run-first team but we can definitely throw it around if we need to.”
Colonial-Schuylkill League Week 10 stat heroes
(listed in alphabetical order)
Matt Bodnar, Notre Dame-GP: Completed 13 of 17 passes for 311 yards and five touchdowns in a win over Wilson.
Brody Breiner, Panther Valley: Rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns and made seven tackles against Minersville.
Lincoln Cook, Palisades: Caught seven passes for 152 yards and intercepted two passes, returning one for a touchdown, in a win over Salisbury.
Lucas Croizier, Lehighton: Ran for 209 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Jim Thorpe.
Rory Dixon, Marian Catholic: Rushed for 218 yards and a touchdown in a victory over Nativity BVM.
Cadeo Estronza, Catasauqua: Ran for 146 yards and four touchdowns and threw a two-point pass in a victory over Palmerton.
Caiden Faust, Pen Argyl: Ran for 73 yards and a touchdown, caught seven passes for 75 yards and a score, made a team-high 11 tackles and forced a fumble in a win over Bangor.
Ashton Fitzgerald, Palisades: Rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns against Salisbury.
Hunter Hopstetter, Bangor: Registered a game-high 16 tackles against Pen Argyl.
Shane Hulmes, Northwestern Lehigh: Ran for 95 yards and a touchdown, caught two passes, made 11 tackles and intercepted a pass in a win over Southern Lehigh.
Jacoby Jacobs, Southern Lehigh: Register 14 tackles and recovered an onside kick against Northwestern Lehigh.
J’son Johnson, Wilson: Rushed for 42 yards and made a team-high nine tackles against Notre Dame-GP.
Mason Konze, Palmerton: Made a team-high eight tackles, one for loss, against Catasauqua.
Chase Kratochvil, Catasauqua: Registered a team-high 10 tackles, two for loss including a sack, against Palmerton.
Michael Lagowy, Northwestern Lehigh: Caught six passes for 130 yards and a touchdowns and made 11 tackles against Southern Lehigh.
Cole Lazorick, Jim Thorpe: Threw for 250 yards and three touchdowns against Lehighton.
Iovani Lopez-Rodriguez, Salisbury: The freshman completed six of nine passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns against Palisades.
Terrell McDowell, Tamaqua: Rushed for 113 yards and threw a 34-yard touchdown pass against Blue Mountain.
Tyler Price, Marian Catholic: Ran for 44 yards and a touchdown, caught three passes for 77 yards and a score and made a team-high 14 tackles vs. Nativity BVM.
Taylor Rohn, Saucon Valley: Made a game-high 16 tackles against Northern Lehigh.
Bill Slattery, Northern Lehigh: Made a team-high 10 tackles, including three sacks, and recovered a fumble in a victory over Saucon Valley.
Garrett Smoyer, Northern Lehigh: Threw for 162 yards and a touchdown and ran for 47 yards and a score against Saucon Valley.
Jack Trickel, Palisades: Threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a score against Salisbury.
Brady Zimmerman, Northwestern Lehigh: Had a 3-yard touchdown run, caught four passes and made 11 tackles, three for loss, against Southern Lehigh.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
