Northwestern Lehigh runs a counter trap play a lot. Opponents know it’s coming, so head coach Josh Snyder had to devise ways with formations and other things to disguise it.
The Tigers ran the same counter trap on consecutive offensive plays in a couple games early this season with the same result: touchdown.
Southern Lehigh has one running back and a handful of plays to get the ball in that running back’s hands, so head coach Phil Sams had to devise similar ways to disguise what the Spartans were going to do.
Running back Sean Steckert broke virtually every school rushing record in 2025, so the results were impressive.
There were many other ways this year in which Snyder and Sams had to guide their respective teams and pitfalls they had to avoid in order for the two programs to have record-setting seasons.
For everything they did and all the teams accomplished, Snyder and Sams are The Morning Call All-Area Colonial-Schuylkill League co-coaches of the year.
Snyder guided Northwestern Lehigh to heights never seen by a District 11 school in the PIAA football playoff era. The Tigers won 31 consecutive games, captured a fourth consecutive district title in a sixth district final in a row and reached the state championship for the third year in a row.
“For me as a former player and coach,” Snyder said, “it’s easy to overlook somebody and get caught. Sometimes, the lesser team wins. To go 31 straight and never slip up once is pretty impressive. A lot of players and leaders with the streak and having the bullseye, they turned it around and made it a mission to be their best, their sharpest and not lose a game they shouldn’t.
“I knew the streak would end, but it came in a game that was meaningful against an opponent that was worthy. [Avonworth] outplayed us, not because we were not playing our best.”
Avonworth, the District 7 champion Northwestern Lehigh beat in overtime in the 2024 state final, won this year’s matchup 31-7.
The Tigers won 31 games in a row and 57 out of 62 in the seniors’ careers because of team chemistry and solid leadership.
“That’s one of those things you’ve got to have,” Snyder added about the program’s leaders. “When you build a program, these guys didn’t come up leading on their own. They were watching, waiting, learning from the last group and then putting their twist on it.”
Southern Lehigh head coach Phil Sams is The Morning Call All-Area Colonial-Schuylkill League co-coach of the year after leading the Spartans to a PIAA Class 4A title. (Jane Therese/Special to The Morning Call)
Southern Lehigh returned many key pieces from its run to the 2024 PIAA Class 4A semifinals, but there was an expectation to do more. Players spoke openly in the preseason and throughout the regular season that a state title was the only goal, and that the program had grown to have such lofty ones.
The Spartans lived up to their expectations, winning a second consecutive district championship before knocking off Shamokin, Cardinal O’Hara and Twin Valley for their first state gold medal.
It was not a smooth ride for Sams to get to this point after serving as an assistant at Southern Lehigh and Saucon Valley and a head coaching stint with the neighboring Panthers.
“A lot of adversity and a lot of failure,” he said. “You go through a lot. Some coaches are fortunate to get head coaching jobs early because they are ready for it and deserve it. For me, being an assistant coach for a lot of years and knowing the game and how it’s changed over the past 26 years I’ve been coaching, it’s kind of nice to see how it’s evolved
“Every year, I feet I get better as a coach because I put more time into it and you see things you maybe didn’t see last year or get help from a coach or two who gives you ideas. Experience is a big help.”
The Spartans were 4-7 in 2021, which started with six consecutive losses. But winning four in a row after the terrible start was followed by a 9-3 season in 2022 that triggered a 46-9 record in this year’s senior group’s four-year tenure.
They were 1-1 last season after a lackluster, uninspired loss at Blue Mountain, but responded with 26 victories in a 29-game stretch. The three losses: two to Northwestern Lehigh and one to eventual 4A state champion Bonner Prendergast.
Southern Lehigh had several comeback wins in 2025, including in the final minute of consecutive state playoffs against Shamokin and Cardinal O’Hara.
The Spartans also trailed early in the state final against Twin Valley before rallying.
“There were some good things we did at Saucon,” Sams added, “and nine years later I think I’ve become a better coach because of the players. You need players, and I’ve always had some good players wherever I’ve coached as an assistant or head coach.
“This year a lot of those kids were in pivotal roles last year as juniors and sophomores. Being down to Pottsville and Lehighton [in this year’s regular season], then again to Shamokin and Cardinal O’Hara, we’ve overcome a lot. It’s not like the first time we’ve done it.”
Players such as senior standouts Sean Steckert, Carter Giberson and Dariuz Lightner were instrumental in the calmness the Spartans felt in pressure situations. But there were underclassmen who came through in pivotal moments, too, including Dylan Gretz, Colton Sams, Adam Fritts and Otto Young.
The cupboard isn’t bare for Northwestern Lehigh and Southern Lehigh. The programs’ recent success should provide the future leaders with a road map to continuing their winning ways.
But as Snyder, Sams and many of their brethren know, winning is not easy.
The Tigers and Spartans, however, seemed to make winning look easy in 2025.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
