Colton Sams jogged back to the Southern Lehigh offensive huddle early in the third quarter and communicated a running play that had him handing the ball off to Jacoby Jacobs.
Standout tailback Sean Steckert was getting a rare play off after his 33-yard run three plays earlier had the Spartans in the red zone
Jacobs, known for his defensive intensity and performance, had only one thought in those few seconds before Southern Lehigh ran the play from the Blue Mountain 11-yard line.
“I’m scoring,” the senior said. “I’m going to do whatever I have to do to score.”
Jacobs, thanks in part of Southern Lehigh’s offensive line, made good on that thought by scoring his first rushing touchdown on the first carry of his life.
It was a memorable part of the the Spartans’ 28-0 victory to improve to 2-0.
It was another significant step in Jacobs’ return to the active roster after missing all but three-plus games last season because of a Lisfranc tear in his foot that required two surgeries and eight months of recovery.
“I was a little slow at first,” Jacobs said of preseason practice. “But after the first week, it was amazing. I felt great. Friday night lights, there’s nothing else you want to do than this. It was just about being able to trust myself, knowing I was OK and knowing everyone could rely on me.”
Jacobs was solid in his more familiar position last Friday. The linebacker made four tackles, including a sack, and intercepted a pass that set up Southern Lehigh’s first touchdown.
He made a team-high 114 tackles as a sophomore while at Notre Dame-Green Pond. He was tops last season at Southern Lehigh before suffering the season-ending injury when two North Schuylkill players came down on his foot.
“I’m happy he’s back and healthy,” senior teammate Carter Giberson said. “He loves to fly around on the field. He’s a great tackler, a big asset for us. He’s a funny guy. We love him. We’ve gotten to be really close since he came back to Southern Lehigh. He’s a great dude, humble.”
Jacobs has played other positions on offense. He was an H-back last season and is lining up in 2025 at tight end.
The 6-foot, 170-pounder will play anywhere he’s needed on either side of the ball because he only wants the Spartans to be successful. His team-first attitude is another contagious quality.
“He’s probably one of the nicest kids you’ll ever meet off the field,” Spartans coach Phil Sams said. “When 7 o’clock hits, he’s a different kid for the next 2 ½ hours. When we made that huge run last year, that had to be hard for him to not be a part of it. But he was a part of it, helping us get off to that good start. He’s a really [good] football player. He’s just got it.”
(The rest of) Colonial-Schuylkill League’s five things we learned in Week 2
2. Northwestern Lehigh’s ‘special’ teams: Mason Bollinger and the rest of the Tigers’ secondary were told during a timeout before the final play of the first half last Thursday against Northern Lehigh to knock down any Bulldogs pass that came their way.
Bollinger, however, could not fight off the temptation.
“All I saw was the ball coming to me,” the senior said. “I was told to deflect it down, but I saw a lot of space in front of me. I saw my boys get in front of me.”
The rest was history. Bollinger and his convoy raced 100 yards down the visiting sideline for a touchdown that put an exclamation point on a 49-point first half en route to a 56-13 victory.
Earlier in the first half, Brady Zimmerman used a similar escort service to take a kickoff back 90 yards for his first career return touchdown that erased a brief, one-point deficit. He was quick after the game to text his brother, Eli, a 2025 graduate who set several school records including single-season and career punt returns for TDs.
Those special plays have become commonplace in recent years for Northwestern.
The Tigers have won 55 of their last 60 games, a ridiculously good 92% success rate. Coach Josh Snyder’s club has done so thanks to doing a number of things well. It helps that Northwestern had Cade Christopher and Eli Zimmerman on its side, but it is much more than that.
Special teams and transition situations are two areas where the Tigers have been better than everyone else since the start of 2021. They have scored 21 combined touchdowns via fumble return, interception return, kick return and punt return.
Northwestern got its first two of 2025 last Thursday.
“We have a lot of heart and hustle on the field,” Bollinger said.
Snyder and his staff haven’t broken the mold on any special way to coach up special teams. They just commit to those areas during every practice.
The players’ dedication to those situations is obvious, too.
“We definitely put emphasis on special teams,” Snyder said. “It’s a third of the game. I think our special teams coaches take that as a badge of honor. We tell our guys that it’s not a play off, it’s an opportunity for us to change momentum in a game. Our guys over the years have bought into that philosophy and the schemes our guys come up with work.
“There’s no secret sauce there,” he said. “We just believe our schemes and our kids believe in the coaches’ schemes and they execute. We chunk off a third of our practice for special teams. It shows in the box scores. It shows in field position. It shows in how hard our kids play on special teams.”
3. Adjusting on the fly: As Pen Argyl left the home locker room to head back into Alumni Stadium for the second half against Palmerton, head coach Brady Mutton learned from the trainer that starting left tackle Alex Harper suffered an injury late in the second quarter that left him unavailable for the rest of the game.
Mutton shuffled Jakob Pietraskiewicz over from right tackle and plugged in sophomore Jacob Thomas at right tackle.
The Green Knights scored 21 second-half points to recover from a first-half deficit and claim a 27-21 victory.
“We moved over Jakob, a four-year starter, to the injured spot because we figured he could switch sides and be all right and Jacob Thomas stepped up. That was awesome. It definitely took a couple plays to get going, but [Thomas] knows what he’s doing. It’s nice to have that depth of seven or eight guys that could go in up front.”
Pietraskiewicz, Thomas and fellow offensive linemen Nathan Thomas, Xavier Ragusa and Lautaro Guajardo allowed Pen Argyl to convert its first four third downs and all three fourth downs in the second half when the offense scored on all three possessions.
“I’m a psycho,” Mutton added. “If it’s third or fourth down, we’re going for it unless we’re in a really bad spot. Kids embrace it because they know it is a big opportunity. They don’t know what down it is most of the time. I say that in a positive way. They know the situation. Most times, they don’t care what down it is.”
4. Making a point: Defending District 11 Class 2A champion Williams Valley is the only league team to not allow a point in the first two games, outscoring foes 96-0. Mahanoy Area, hit hard by graduation, is the only team to not score a point. … North Schuylkill has scored the most points (112). Defending PIAA Class 3A champion Northwestern Lehigh is next with 98. Those two teams meet Sept. 26 in New Tripoli.
5. Fast start: Palisades is 2-0 for the first time since 2018 after shutting out host Saucon Valley. The Pirates, one of 12 league teams to win their first two games this season, are doing it with a tough, gritty defense. Coach Bobby Smith’s team has allowed only 356 total yards in eight quarters. Max Woerner rushed for two touchdowns and had a team-high 14 tackles against the Panthers. Jack Trickel and Mason Schultz had interceptions to stop Saucon Valley drives.
Colonial-Schuylkill League football standings
Team (Overall record); Division record; Points for; Points against
Red Division
North Schuylkill (2-0); 1-0; 112; 27
Southern Lehigh (2-0); 1-0; 63; 14
Lehighton (1-1); 1-0; 64; 48
Pottsville (1-1); 1-0; 30; 41
Northwestern Lehigh (2-0); 0-0; 98; 27
Jim Thorpe (1-1); 0-1; 35; 30
Bangor (0-2); 0-1; 28; 80
Blue Mountain (0-2); 0-1; 27; 62
Tamaqua (0-2); 0-1; 13; 64
White Division
Catasauqua (2-0); 1-0; 62; 7
Notre Dame-GP (2-0); 1-0; 84; 3
Palisades (2-0); 1-0; 38; 15
Pen Argyl (2-0); 1-0; 41; 26
Northern Lehigh (1-1); 0-0; 54; 82
Salisbury (1-1); 0-1; 28; 69
Saucon Valley (1-1); 0-1; 42; 38
Palmerton (0-2); 0-1; 34; 55
Wilson (0-2); 0-1; 21; 76
Blue Division
Marian Catholic (2-0); 1-0; 59; 38
Minersville (2-0); 1-0; 84; 19
Nativity BVM (2-0); 1-0; 48; 6
Schuylkill Haven (2-0); 1-0; 88; 27
Williams Valley (2-0); 1-0; 96; 0
Tri-Valley (1-1); 0-1; 64; 31
Mahanoy Area (0-2); 0-1; 0; 70
Panther Valley (0-2); 0-1; 6; 82
Pine Grove (0-2); 0-1; 14; 41
Shenandoah Valley (0-2); 0-1; 23; 87
Week 3 schedule (at 7 p.m. unless noted)
THURSDAY
Bangor at Northwestern Lehigh
FRIDAY
North Schuylkill at Notre Dame-GP
Marian Catholic at Panther Valley
Southern Lehigh at Lehighton
Jim Thorpe at Blue Mountain
Pottsville at Tamaqua
Saucon Valley at Palmerton
Palisades at Catasauqua
Pen Argyl at Northern Lehigh
Pine Grove at Tri-Valley
Schuylkill Haven at Shenandoah Valley
Nativity BVM at Williams Valley
Mahanoy Area at Minersville
SATURDAY
Salisbury at Wilson, noon
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
