Palisades’ coaching staff was prepared to deliver a halftime message Friday night about the Pirates’ needing to adjust their effort and focus after battling Northern Lehigh to a 14-all tie.
They were beat to the punch.
Palisades’ leaders got the message through before the coaches walked into the home locker room. It was a welcome sight for head coach Bobby Smith.
“We didn’t have a great first half,” Smith said. “But [Lincoln] Cook’s kick return to start the second half set the tone. It fired up our defense. The kids just really bought in. We had a lot of mistakes in the first half. I don’t know what was going on. But after the kickoff return, the kids talk about bringing the juice. They brought the juice.
“We have a great group of leaders on this team,” he said.
Cook’s 97-yard kickoff return gave the Pirates the lead for good on its way to a 28-14 victory, their fourth in a row to start the season.
But it was their commitment to one another and ownership of their mistakes that made the difference Friday night and in the first month of the season.
“That’s our biggest improvement,” senior quarterback Jack Trickel said. “We have a lot of leadership in the program. We were not happy going in at halftime tied. We were angry. We have a lot of heart. A lot of [the adjustments] were just about playing together and communication. We were a little ‘me, me, me’ in the first half, but we brought it together in the second half.”
Palisades takes its unbeaten record on the road Saturday to 3-1 Pen Argyl, knowing it will need more of what it displayed in the second half against Northern Lehigh.
2. Addressing needs at Northern Lehigh: The Bulldogs rushed for 94 and two touchdowns on their two scoring drives early in Friday night’s game at Palisades. They managed 108 the rest of the game.
The Pirates adjusted by bringing their safeties closer to the line of scrimmage for run support, but they mostly adjusted their attitude and intensity.
The Bulldogs did not adjust or respond. That did not sit well with coach Joe Tout.
“Our offensive line played soft,” he said. “They got eaten up inside. We were OK, then [the Pirates] had a gut check. We then took the easy way up front and missed blocks. We got a little bit tired and got a little bit lazy.
“We have to tighten things up,” he said. “We had one good day of practice, one bad day and one where the guys weren’t focused. I don’t know if we took this team lightly. I didn’t take this team lightly. I think a couple guys did.”
Northern Lehigh also had a breakdown on its kick coverage team to start the second half, for which Tout took responsibility.
The Bulldogs then allowed the Pirates to get behind the secondary on third-and-17 for a 54-yard, back-breaking touchdown pass midway through the third quarter.
“How we let a guy get behind us is beyond me,” Tout said.
Northern Lehigh had another chance to get back into the game when it had a first-and-goal from the Palisades 7-yard line early in the fourth quarter.
But a botched first-down play was followed by two plays netting minus-1 yard and an illegal substitution penalty.
“We’re still yelling stuff in formation-wise,” Tout added, “and we have too many guys choosing not to hear what they should be hearing to come out of the game. That was a costly one.”
Palisades took over after a Northern Lehigh incompletion on fourth down.
Northern Lehigh will look to rectify tactical mistakes as well as the nonfootball shortcomings ahead of Friday night’s home game against neighborhood rival Palmerton. The Bulldogs (2-2) are fourth in the District 11 Class 2A playoff rankings behind unbeatens Palisades, Williams Valley and Schuylkill Haven. Top eight make the postseason.
3. Lehighton getting defensive: The Indians have a balanced offense with Jayse Lawrence’s passing ability, a bevy of receivers and Lucas Croizier’s running skills.
They also got defensive Friday against Palmerton, allowing only 55 rushing yards and intercepting four passes in a 35-0 victory. It was Lehighton’s first shutout since Week 4 of the 2023 season.
Coach Tom McCarroll talked in the preseason about the potential of having a solid defensive unit. It has slowly come to fruition in the first month of the schedule.
That group will be tested in Friday’s home date with unbeaten Northwestern Lehigh, which has averaged 42.4 points per game since the start of 2023. The Tigers are 35-1 in that stretch, losing only in the 2024 PIAA Class 3A final.
4. Northwestern Lehigh finds another way to win: The Tigers have won a lot of football games the last three years thanks to talent, dedication and stellar coaching.
They have been inspired by an electric, enthusiastic atmosphere at Tiger Stadium. That support and school spirit was rewarded recently with a $5,000 victory in T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights contest.
The contest was designed to recognize authentic energy. Each week, one high school in a community of 150,000 or fewer residents wins $5,000 by demonstrating school spirit through engaging Instagram and X posts.
“We are from a rural school district in northwestern Lehigh county,” athletic director Jason Zimmerman said. “We do not have a lot of commercial properties in our school district and rely primarily on our local taxpayers to fund our school. Alternate funding resources such as the support we have received from T-Mobile has allowed us to provide upgrades to our facilities for our student-athletes we may not have realized without T-Mobile’s generosity over the past two years.”
5. A dozen zeroes remain: Seven unbeatens and five winless teams remain after the first month of the regular season after Panther Valley knocked off Pine Grove 21-6 Saturday night to get its first win of the season and Williams Valley dealt Minersville its first loss in a 43-40 thriller Friday night. It was the first points the Vikings gave up this season
Pine Grove at Shenandoah Valley is the only Week 5 game involving two winless (or unbeaten) teams.
Minersville gets another shot at an unbeaten Friday night when it visits Schuylkill Haven. The Hurricanes are District 11’s highest-scoring team, with 211 points in four victories.
Colonial-Schuylkill League football standings
Team (Overall record); Division record; Points for; Points against
Red Division
Southern Lehigh (4-0); 3-0; 118; 48
Northwestern Lehigh (4-0); 2-0; 186; 69
Pottsville (2-2); 2-1; 93; 75
North Schuylkill (2-2); 1-1; 146; 82
Lehighton (2-2); 1-1; 119; 69
Jim Thorpe (2-2); 1-2; 70; 104
Blue Mountain (1-3); 1-2; 102; 96
Tamaqua (1-3); 1-2; 61; 118
Bangor (0-4); 0-3; 55; 178
White Division
Palisades (4-0); 3-0; 108; 43
Notre Dame-GP (4-0); 2-0; 160; 36
Catasauqua (3-1); 2-1; 109; 56
Pen Argyl (3-1); 2-1; 95; 81
Northern Lehigh (2-2); 1-1; 110; 129
Palmerton (1-3); 1-1; 53; 96
Salisbury (2-2); 1-2; 51; 110
Saucon Valley (1-3); 0-3; 61; 112
Wilson (0-4); 0-3; 42; 127
Blue Division
Marian Catholic (4-0); 3-0; 132; 56
Schuylkill Haven (4-0); 3-0; 211; 33
Williams Valley (4-0); 3-0; 188; 40
Minersville (3-1); 2-1; 166; 68
Tri-Valley (3-1); 2-1; 130; 44
Nativity BVM (2-2); 1-2; 90; 68
Panther Valley (1-3); 1-2; 39; 127
Mahanoy Area (0-4); 0-3; 6; 181
Pine Grove (0-4); 0-3; 20; 86
Shenandoah Valley (0-4); 0-3; 35; 175
Week 5 schedule (at 7 p.m. unless noted)
FRIDAY
Jim Thorpe at North Schuylkill
Notre Dame-GP at Catasauqua
Northwestern Lehigh at Lehighton
Palmerton at Northern Lehigh
Salisbury at Tamaqua
Pine Grove at Shenandoah Valley
Panther Valley at Nativity BVM
Williams Valley at Tri-Valley
Minersville at Schuylkill Haven
Marian Catholic at Mahanoy Area
Blue Mountain at Bangor
Pottsville at Southern Lehigh
SATURDAY
Saucon Valley at Wilson, noon
Palisades at Pen Argyl, 1:30 p.m.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com.
