A festive alma mater after the Panthers 28-14 victory over Northern Lehigh Friday
Most sports fans are familiar with the “Rocky” boxing movie series. In Rocky II the movie climaxes in the final round of the championship fight with Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed trading punches and pounding each other to exhaustion. Both fighters fall to the canvas and, of course, it is Rocky that dramatically staggers to his feet to claim the title from Creed.
Rocky II
In similar fashion the Panthers and Northern Lehigh Bulldogs would trade blows for the majority of last night’s game. In the end, the Panthers would prevail with a hard-fought 28-14 victory.
The first half highlights had the teams exchanging punches. Northern Lehigh running back CJ Young drew first blood and scored for the Bulldogs, and then Evan Culver took the plunge for the Panthers. In the waning minutes of the first half the Bulldogs did mount a drive into the Panther red-zone. On 3rd and 1 at the Panther 27-yard line, Saucon Valley’s Ryan Myers forced the Bulldog quarterback to pitch outside to running back CJ Young. Panther outside linebacker Nate Kehs and cornerback Evan Culver converged to smother Young for a two yard loss. On the next play it was 4th and 3 and the Bulldogs tried to pound the center of the Panther defense but Cody Zrinski and Christian Carvis were able to stuff the Bulldog offensive push. This allowed outside linebacker Mike Paolini to penetrate the backfield and make the tackle for a minimal gain. The Panthers took over on downs and the halftime score remained locked at 7-7.
The opening possession of the second half had the Panthers feeding the Bulldogs a steady diet of Culver and Thatcher running the ball and marching down the field. But it was a diving catch by Nathan Harka on 4th and 7 at the Bulldog 22-yard line for a first down that was the key play of the drive. Two plays later, Culver would score a 17-yard TD on a toss-sweep around the right end, making the score 14-7.
The Bulldogs counter-punched. Northern Lehigh’s shifty Seth Keiser returned the kickoff all the way to the Panther 45-yard line. Faced with a 4th and 1 from the Panther 36, Bulldog QB Chad Cederberg would break away from the Panther defense and run down to the 6-yard line. The very next play, Cederberg again called his own number for a 6-yard TD run off left tackle. The five-play drive tied the score at 14 with four minutes left in the third quarter.
Evan Culver flips the ball to the referee after 1 of his 3 TD runs
Saucon then shook off a punch. The Panthers fumbled the Bulldog kickoff away at their own 32-yard line. Northern Lehigh pushed to the 10 and chose to attempt a field goal on fourth down. But, the Bulldogs mishandled the snap, allowing the Panthers to reclaim the ball at their own 15-yard line. Four plays later on the final play of the third quarter, Evan Culver broke free off left tackle for an electric 64-yard touchdown run to take a 21-14 lead.
On their next possession, Northern Lehigh used only seven plays to drive to the Panther three-yard line. However, on the eighth play Saucon’s 6’3”, 250 lb. defensive tackle Trey Polak knifed through the Northern Lehigh offensive line and caused a fumble that was recovered by Mike Kane with eight minutes remaining in the game. Instead of the Bulldogs tying the score at 21, Saucon Valley’s Zach Thatcher hit the turbos four plays later and jetted down the home-field sideline for an 83-yard touchdown run with just over six minutes remaining in the game.
Any thoughts by the Bulldogs of staging a monumental comeback with about four minutes remaining collapsed with an Evan Culver interception at his own 32-yard line. The Panthers chewed the clock and with two more first downs time expired.
Evan Culver seals the Panther victory with a late-game interception
It was a great high school football game with two hard-nosed football teams battling to the end. Statistically, Evan Culver led all with 221 yards on 34 carries. Three of those carries were touchdown scores. Zach Thatcher flashed his feet, rushing for 184 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. Thatcher was also 7 of 12 for 77 yards passing. The Bulldogs amassed 222 rushing yards and 47 through the air. The strangest stat…zero punts. A true offensive shootout and classic heavyweight bout.
The Panthers are off to a great start. Next up, a backyard brawl at Southern Lehigh!
The Saucon Valley Jungle student section
