Luke Miller ran for 205 yards in the first half Friday against Northwestern Lehigh.
The North Schuylkill running back’s first carry of the second half was a 2-yard loss, thanks to Tigers defensive lineman Ethan Steigerwalt meeting him in the backfield almost as soon as Miller got the ball.
Steigerwalt’s presence was one of several halftime changes made by Northwestern Lehigh head coach Josh Snyder, line coach Dave Kerschner and the rest of the staff.
It was the first time the Tigers trailed at halftime since the 2023 PIAA Class 3A final. That game, against Belle Vernon, was the last time Northwestern Lehigh lost.
The last time Snyder and his staff made as many halftime adjustments as they did Friday was the 2024 state final. That worked out well. Northwestern Lehigh beat Avonworth in overtime for its first PIAA championship.
Miller’s next carry a minute later Friday night went for 45 yards, but the senior managed only 22 yards the rest of the game. The Tigers rallied from an early 12-point deficit to score the game’s final 43 points in a 49-18 victory.
“We weren’t really taking care of our gaps,” Snyder said. “C gap is the quickest way to the end zone, and we were giving it up. We made some personnel changes. We got some bigger bodies up there. We looked at film at halftime, made some adjustments and executed.
“It came down to us getting maybe a little bit flustered, overexcited,” he said. “There were emotions with homecoming. We missed a bunch of tackles in that first half. You never really know how kids are going to respond. We have a lot of new starters. A lot of those are seniors but to see them be business like in the locker room was good.”
Northwestern Lehigh picked off three passes in the second half after putting North Schuylkill in second- and third-and-long situations. The Tigers also forced a punt and got another stop on downs.
Meanwhile, Northwestern Lehigh scored all six times it had the ball after the break. It had 15 first downs on 30 offensive plays before taking a knee to end the game. The Tigers totaled 553 yards on 55 plays, not including four kneel downs to end each half.
Northwestern Lehigh’s defense played a 40-man front for the first time since last year’s state final. That was a change from its normal 30-man alignment because it was facing a dominant running game with a huge offensive line.
“You can’t replicate the size that [North Schuylkill] has,” Snyder said. “Our scout team does an amazing job but that size, girth and movement. Your responsibilities are totally different, specifically our defensive ends.
“In the 30, they are heads up on the tackle,” he said. “In the 40, they are out a little bit wider. That was a learning experience. We were going to force them to bounce it or go B gap to B gap in the second half. We were able to do that. We knew that if we got enough body blows on Miller that it would work in our favor.”
There is no love lost between the two programs, which could against meet twice this year. They met twice last season, including the District 11 3A final.
Northwestern Lehigh showed a few new offensive wrinkles in addition to its defensive changes, but Snyder and his staff always have something fresh for big games.
For this Week 6 game, though, the Tigers proved to be the better team again. They have won the last six meetings in the series.
“We faced some adversity in the first half,” Brady Zimmerman said. “We took it on the chest. We just came ready to play in the second half. I love the blood bath games. I’d rather play this team 10 times than play [someone] and blow them out every time.”
2. District 11’s top two rushers go crazy again
There were several reasons why Northwestern Lehigh was trailing at halftime against North Schuylkill, but two words summed up the most obvious one:
“Luke Miller,” Zimmerman said. “Kudos to him. He’s a hell of a runner. We tried to keep him contained, but he broke free sometimes.”
North Schuylkill’s senior running back had 205 of his 269 yards and both touchdowns in the first half. Miller had TD runs of 63 and 30 yards to help the Spartans put the Tigers in an 18-6 hole early in the second quarter.
Miller, who ran for a school-record 361 yards in North Schuylkill’s Week 5 victory, now has 1,240 yards and 13 TDs this season.
“I compare him a little bit to Sean Steckert from Southern Lehigh,” Zimmerman said. “They are both really tough runners.”
Steckert also has had a heck of a two-week stretch. A week after running for 263 yards and four TDs in a victory over Pottsville, the senior racked up 320 yards and three scores in Friday’s 47-27 win over Jim Thorpe.
Steckert has 1,299 yards and 18 TDs through six games, both tops in District 11. He has 3,572 yards for his career to go with 63 TDs.
Southern Lehigh gets its chance against Northwestern Lehigh in Week 10, the final game of the regular season.
3. ‘Special’ Notre Dame-Green Pond team brewing
Notre Dame-GP improved to 6-0 with Friday night’s 40-21 win at Northern Lehigh. The offense did its thing, but that didn’t start with quarterback Matt Bodnar. It was the running of Faustie Capobianco, a senior who nearly didn’t play this year because of injuries in previous seasons, and came into the game with three career carries.
With starting running back Aaron Gordon out, Capobianco had six carries for 99 yards, including TD runs of 40 and 50 yards, to spark the Crusaders, who had only 550 rushing yards in their first five games. His second TD run was Notre Dame’s longest run from scrimmage this season.
The Crusaders also got a kick return for a touchdown and a punt return for a score to turn away the Bulldogs.
Jonathan Striba’s 82-yard kick return for a TD was reminiscent of Jalen Simpson’s 83-yard touchdown run nine years ago on the same field. Notre Dame-GP won that game 39-21 on its way to the District 11 Class 3A title.
That was the last time the Crusaders won a district championship.
4. Colonial vs Schuylkill
Week 6 saw the leagues split four head-to-head matchups with Lehighton and Northwestern Lehigh getting convincing wins for the Colonial League. Blue Mountain and Tamaqua did the same for the Schuylkill League.
The Colonial League owns a 9-8 advantage entering Week 7, when there are four more clashes: Northwestern Lehigh at Pottsville, Lehighton at Blue Mountain, Bangor at North Schuylkill, and Southern Lehigh at Tamaqua.
5. Winless no more
Mahanoy Area picked up its first win of the season 22-20 over Pine Grove by stopping a two-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter. Pine Grove, which won its first game of 2025 last week, scored twice in the final moments, the second after recovering an onside kick. The Golden Bears, whose previous four foes were unbeaten, had scored only 19 points in their first five games.
Mahanoy Area’s victory leaves Wilson, Bangor and Shenandoah Valley as the league’s only remaining winless teams.
Schuylkill Haven controlled the second half to knock off host and previously unbeaten Williams Valley in a battle of 5-0 teams ranked in the top three among the state’s Class 2A teams.
Minersville bounced back Saturday night from back-to-back losses to Haven and Williams Valley to knock Marian Catholic from the unbeaten ranks.
That leaves only Northwestern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh, Notre Dame-Green Pond and Schuylkill Haven as 6-0 teams in the 28-team league.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com.
Colonial-Schuylkill League football standings
Team (Overall record); Division record; Points for; Points against
Red Division
Southern Lehigh (6-0); 5-0; 200; 92
Northwestern Lehigh (6-0); 4-0; 285; 87
Blue Mountain (3-3); 2-2; 179; 117
Lehighton (3-3); 2-2; 154; 119
North Schuylkill (3-3); 2-2; 200; 145
Tamaqua (3-3); 2-2; 123; 124
Pottsville (2-4); 2-3; 110; 145
Jim Thorpe (2-4); 1-4; 111; 187
Bangor (0-6); 0-5; 55; 233
White Division
Notre Dame-GP (6-0); 4-0; 258; 57
Pen Argyl (5-1); 4-1; 153; 121
Palisades (4-2); 3-1; 150; 123
Northern Lehigh (3-3); 2-2; 168; 194
Palmerton (2-4); 2-2; 113; 133
Saucon Valley (3-3); 2-3; 148; 151
Catasauqua (3-3); 2-3; 135; 163
Salisbury (2-4); 1-3; 76; 172
Wilson (0-6); 0-5; 55; 200
Blue Division
Schuylkill Haven (6-0); 5-0; 302; 100
Marian Catholic (5-1); 4-1; 174; 107
Williams Valley (5-1); 4-1; 231; 90
Minersville (4-2); 3-2; 242; 123
Tri-Valley (4-2); 3-2; 179; 58
Panther Valley (2-4); 2-3; 80; 193
Nativity BVM (3-3); 2-3; 128; 115
Mahanoy Area (1-5); 1-4; 41; 236
Pine Grove (1-5); 1-4; 68; 134
Shenandoah Valley (0-6); 0-5; 67; 217
Week 7 schedule (at 7 p.m. unless noted)
FRIDAY
Bangor at North Schuylkill
Lehighton at Blue Mountain
Northwestern Lehigh at Pottsville
Pine Grove at Minersville
Jim Thorpe at Catasauqua
Panther Valley at Williams Valley
Shenandoah Valley at Tri-Valley
Marian Catholic at Schuylkill Haven
Nativity BVM at Mahanoy Area
Southern Lehigh at Tamaqua
Palmerton at Palisades
Salisbury at Saucon Valley
SATURDAY
Northern Lehigh at Wilson, noon
Notre Dame-GP at Pen Argyl, 2:30 p.m.
