Shane Hulmes’ role has change and expanded in his four years at Northwestern Lehigh.
From big-play tight end to leading tackler, short-yardage specialist and now, apparently, sprinter.
“I told [Hulmes] after the game that that might have been my favorite Northwestern run play in a big game,” head coach Josh Snyer said. “That stiff arm, I can’t wait to watch that on film.
“That put us up early. That was an early statement to how we were going to play in the football game tonight.”
Hulmes stiff-armed a Southern Lehigh defender at the point of attack on third down and 2 from the Northwestern Lehigh 36, then used a burst of speed to outrace any other would-be tacklers for a touchdown.
The Tigers built a 22-point lead and held off the Spartans late for a 36-28 victory Friday night in a battle of Colonial-Schuylkill League unbeatens and two of the state’s best teams in their respective classifications.
“I was a little disappointed in the fact that our intensity dropped when they went up two touchdowns,” Southern Lehigh coach Phil Sams said. “That’s a heckuva football team over there. They are probably going to go pretty far again. I don’t think we matched their physicality and intensity.”
Northwestern Lehigh led 36-14 on Chase Sukanick’s 3-yard touchdown run with 5:51 left, but Southern Lehigh never quit.
Colton Sams hit Darius Roman with a 6-yard touchdown pass, then Jacoby Jacobs recovered the ensuing kickoff. Sams then connected with Jack Fistner with a 22-yard TD pass with 1:18 left.
But Brady Zimmerman recovered the next onside kick for Northwestern Lehigh, which then picked up a first down to run out the clock.
“To be honest, I don’t remember how bad it is to lose,” Snyder said after the Tigers won their 26th game in a row and sixth consecutive contest against the Spartans. “The last two losses were end-of-the-season losses to Belle Vernon and Neumann-Goretti. The last regular-season loss was to Bangor.
“This streak will eventually end, but we said that it’s not going to be tonight.”
Northwestern Lehigh scored on three of its first four possessions to take a 22-0 lead.
The Tigers converted a pair of third-and-longs with completions of 33 and 31 yards before Shane Leh scored on a 12-yard touchdown run around left end less than two minutes into the game.
The Spartans picked up two first downs on their first series before stalling out, but then got a Jack Pavis interception at the Tigers’ 37-yard line.
But Northwestern Lehigh’s defense stopped Southern Lehigh’s Sean Steckert on third- and fourth-and-short, then needed only three plays to score again on a Hulmes 64-yard touchdown sprint on third-and-2 with 3:06 left in the first quarter.
“That’s one of the first times I really got to run in the open field like that,” Hulmes said. “I just was really hoping I didn’t get caught from behind. I barely got touched getting to the line of scrimmage. That’s all a credit to the line.”
A Spartans three-and-out was followed by an eight-play, 74-yard drive capped by Lehi’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Michael Lagowy. A two-point pass from Mason Bollinger to Mason Wertman pushed the cushion to 22-0.
But Southern Lehigh eventually responded with a 26-yard TD pass from Colton Sams to Otto Young with 2:35 left in the first half.
The Spartans defense forced consecutive punts to the end half.
The Tigers generated five negative plays in the first two quarters: three tackles for loss by Zimmerman and sacks by Braxton Lakatosh and Ethan Steigerwalt.
Colton Popp had a tackle for loss in the second half and M.J. Boring had a sack for Northwestern Lehigh.
Jacobs had Southern Lehigh’s only tackle for loss.
Southern Lehigh’s first drive of the second half ended with a Hulmes interception on a pass that was deflected at the line of scrimmage.
Northwestern Lehigh’s first series ended when Carter Giberson blocked a field goal.
The Tigers forced a punt before drive 63 yards in five plays capped by Zimmerman’s 3-yard TD run for a 29-7 lead.
The Spartans answered with a 16-yard TD pass from Sams to Roman late in the third quarter but the Tigers then drove 67 yards in 12 plays to restore their three-score cushion on Lakatosh’s TD run with 5:51 left.
Southern Lehigh, the state’s top-ranked 4A team entering this weekend, then made it interesting.
“We were 8-2 at this point last year,” Sams said. “We played more physical in this game last year against these guys. But the good thing is we have a lot more football in us.”
Up next
Southern Lehigh (9-1) is the top seed in the District 11 Class 4A playoffs. It hosts the No. 8 seed Bangor (0-10) at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Northwestern Lehigh (10-0) is the No. 2 seed in the 3A tournament. It hosts No. 7 Panther Valley (4-6), also Thursday at 7.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH 36, SOUTHERN LEHIGH 28
Southern Lehigh; 0; 7; 7; 7 — 28
Northwestern Lehigh; 14; 8; 7; 7 — 36
ORDER OF SCORING
First quarter
NWL: Shane Leh 12 run (Chase Sukanick kick), 10:13
NWL: Shane Hulmes 64 run (Sukanick kick), 3:06
Second quarter
NWL: Leh 27 pass to Michael Lagowy (Mason Bollinger pass to Harrison Wertman), 9:51
SL: Colton Sams 26 pass to Otto Young (Declan Walsh), 2:35
Third quarter
NWL: Brady Zimmerman 3 run (Sukanick kick), 4:36
SL: Sams 16 pass to Darius Roman (Walsh kick), 1:39
Fourth quarter
NWL: Sukanick 3 run (Sukanick kick), 5:51
SL: Sams 6 pass to Roman (Walsh kick), 3:07
TEAM STATISTICSSL; NWLFirst downs; 16; 17Rushes-yards; 25-63; 37-185Passing yards; 217; 226Comp-Att-INTs; 22-32-1; 13-18-1Punts-avg.; 3-32.0; 2-31.0Fumbles-lost; 2-0; 1-1Penalties-yards; 4-25; 8-75
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushing: (Southern Lehigh) Sean Steckert 20-81; Colton Sams 4-(-11); team 1-(-7); (Northwestern Lehigh) Chase Sukanick 7-30, TD; Braxton Lakatosh 9-13; Shane Leh 4-22, TD; Shane Hulmes 5-95, TD; Mason Bollinger 2-6; Brady Zimmerman 7-28, TD; team 3-(-9).
Passing: (Southern Lehigh) Sams 22-32-1, 217 yards, 3 TDs; (Northwestern Lehigh) Leh 13-18-1, 226 yards, TD.
Receiving: (Southern Lehigh) Luke Kawczenski 4-29; Darius Roman 8-80, 2 TDs; Steckert 4-20; Jacobs 2-3; Jack Fistner 3-42, TD; Otto Young 1-26, TD; (Northwestern Lehigh) Bollinger 1-31; Hulmes 2-29; Zimmerman 4-35; Michael Lagowy 6-131, TD.
