In the midst of a 27-game winning streak that dates back to last year’s perfect season, Northwestern Lehigh has enjoyed its fair share of record-breaking performances and players.
Northwestern Lehigh senior wide receiver Mason Bollinger, who was already the holder of the school’s all-time receptions record, added to his historic resume for the Tigers as his 28-yard catch in the second quarter made him the program’s all-time leader in receiving yards with more than 1,600 yards for his career.
He tacked on an 11-yard touchdown reception in the final moments of the first half that No. 2 Northwestern Lehigh dominated on its way to a 42-0 victory over No. 7 Palmerton in Thursday night’s District 11 3A quarterfinal at Northwestern Lehigh High School.
“It was definitely tough to come out after that Southern Lehigh game because there’s a lot of emotions, obviously, winning the Colonial League, that rivalry, and then gear back up for districts,” Northwestern Lehigh coach Josh Snyder said. “There’s a lot more at stake now moving forward, but I thought our kids did what they needed to do. They had a good week of practice. I thought we executed pretty well on both sides of the ball.
“We got to work on a couple things and hopefully it’ll help us out down the road.”
The Tigers (11-0) advanced to the district semifinal with the win, setting up a rematch with No. 3 North Schuylkill (8-3), who was the only team to boast a halftime lead this season against coach Snyder’s squad.
“We’ve got to do a better job of corralling [Luke] Miller. In the first half, he kind of ran wild against us until we settled things down at halftime and took over from there,” Snyder said. “The stakes are extremely high right now. It’s win or go home, so we can’t take anything for granted. It’s really tough to beat a good team two times, but that’s what we’re asked to do here.
“We’re going to go to work in the film room, come up with a great gameplan on both sides of the ball and find a way to go 1-0 this week.”
Bollinger became the star of the night with his record-breaking reception, but that didn’t come until junior wide receiver Brady Zimmerman took control of the game with a pair of big plays that established Northwestern Lehigh’s control over the game.
Facing a 4th-and-5 from the Palmerton 20, Zimmerman motioned into the backfield and caught a toss to the left side before cutting upfield and racing into the end zone on the team’s opening drive.
“We knew we needed to get the first down and kudos to Mason Bollinger and Michael Lagowy out on the edge blocking,” Zimmerman said. “It created a hole, and I just found the seam.”
Two offensive plays later, Zimmerman struck again with an improvised route down the field to get open for senior quarterback Shane Leh. The signal-caller kept his eyes downfield and launched a deep ball moving to his left that hit Zimmerman in stride for a 59-yard touchdown to double the early lead.
“It was just a beautiful ball. I knew our receivers weren’t open, and I had to change direction,” Zimmerman said. “I saw an opening and then Shane just put the ball on me.”
That set the stage for Bollinger’s first reception of the game, which he made sure was all he’d need to rewrite the Northwestern Lehigh record books. On a swing screen to the left side, Bollinger surged past the initial press and made a man miss, cutting to the inside before finally getting brought down at the Palmerton 10-yard-line.
“Knowing that I was going to get the ball, I knew I had a lot of lead blockers out there that were going to do what they needed to do to let me get more yards, and that’s what they did,” Bollinger said. “It’s always nerve wracking when you know you’re getting the ball, especially on the screen, but you get the nerves past you … do a little juke move, stiff-arm, whatever you’ve got to do, as long as you get the ball moving for your team.”
Senior running back Braxton Lakatosh finished off the drive with a 10-yard rushing score before another special individual moment in the opening half.
Senior offensive lineman Braidon Berk, who Bollinger credited for paving the way for his big gain, checked into the game at running back after a Northwestern Lehigh timeout set up the unique formation.
“We had a play originally, that they were calling ‘herd,’ which is the play that I ran, and we went over to the sidelines to establish that to the whole team because we didn’t know which play we were going to run,” Berk said. “So, when I came out, I said I’ve got to get it done.
“We did practice it – it was pretty exciting knowing as a senior lineman I’m going to get to run the ball – and when it actually happened, it was very stressful at first,” Berk said. “It was all adrenaline, but when I got in, it all wore off and I was like, ‘Crap … I just got a touchdown.”
Bollinger’s late first half touchdown invoked the mercy rule at halftime with the Tigers leading 35-0, and Lakatosh added a 59-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to punctuate a decisive victory.
While it was clear that the team outcome was most important, Zimmerman and Snyder were both excited to highlight Bollinger’s monumental accomplishment that stole the show.
“Mason’s just so versatile. He can probably play four position, and he practices all four. He’s very smart and to be able to shift him around and utilize him where his strengths are … he’s been doing that for multiple years now,” Snyder said. “You don’t break career records on just one shot, and you know, he hasn’t just had one awesome season. He’s just been really solid every step of the way.
“I’m proud of what he’s been able to accomplish, and until someone knocks him off, he’s got the top spot for a while.”
“It’s just constant effort from him during practices, during games, just blocking his butt off for all our running backs and receivers,” Zimmerman said. “He’s just a really great team player and a big contributor for our team.”
Derek Bast is a freelance writer who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast. He can be reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.
NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH 42, PALMERTON 0
Palmerton: 0; 0; 0; 0 — 0
NW Lehigh: 21; 14; 7; 0 — 42
ORDER OF SCORING
First quarter
NW: Brady Zimmerman 20 run (Chase Sukanick kick); 5:30
NW: Zimmerman 59 pass from Shane Leh (Sukanick kick); 3:05
NW: Braxton Lakatosh 10 run (Sukanick kick); 0:37
Second quarter
NW: Braidon Berk 1 run (Sukanick kick); 2:16
NW: Mason Bollinger 11 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick); 0:21
Third quarter
NW: Lakatosh 59 run (Sukanick kick);
TEAM STATISTICS
P; NW
First downs; 7; 16
Rushes-yards; 33-50; 19-169
Passing yards; 75; 191
Comp-Att-INTs; 8-16-1; 12-16-1
Punts; 4-22.8; 0-0
Fumbles-lost; 2-0; 2-2
Penalties-yards; 2-10; 2-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: (P) TK Gursky 16-23; Michael Garey 9-11; Caleb Sagastume 1-8; Gaven Meixsell 1-6; Vincent Taglieri 1-4; TJ Weller 1-1; Cale Young 3-(-1); Zalik Steele 1-(-2); (NW) Braxton Lakatosh 4-89, TD; Chase Sukanick 4-28; Chase Kerschner 2-28; Brady Zimmerman 1-20, TD; Kendall Wikert 3-14; Shane Leh 2-10; Tripp Sell 1-7; Braidon Berk 1-1, TD; Trey Snyder 1-(-1).
Passing: (P) Gursky 7-14-0, 53 yards; Weller 1-2-1, 22 yards; (NW) Leh 11-14-0, 185 yards, 2 TDs; Snyder 1-2-1, 6 yards.
Receiving: (P) Meixsell 1-22; Ben Negley 2-18; Taglieri 3-14; Sagastume 1-12; Alex Keiper 1-9; (NW) Mason Bollinger 5-78, TD; Zimmerman 3-73, TD; Michael Lagowy 2-18; Shane Hulmes 1-16; Landon Gauweilger 1-6.
Palmerton interceptions: Connor Lawless.
Northwestern Lehigh interceptions: Luke Rennells.
https://www.mcall.com/2025/10/30/district-11-3a-football-northwestern-lehigh-blanks-palmerton/
