The football season may be over for all nine Times News teams, but that doesn't mean the sport isn't being played in the area.

Last weekend, Northern Lehigh hosted a PIAA Class A quarterfinal game on Friday night and a Class AA contest Saturday afternoon.This Saturday, Bulldog Stadium will again be in use as it will be the site for one of the Class AA semifinals."It's exciting to host these games," said Northern Lehigh Athletic Director Bryan Geist, whose school welcomed Pius X and South Williamsport in one game and Dunmore and Neumann-Goretti in the other. "You see teams you normally don't see, and it's a great atmosphere."None of these games in Slatington would have been possible without the turf field that was installed three years ago.That, and a few other reasons, are why Geist's school has attracted postseason events."The PIAA asks each district for quality sites within their district," Geist said. "District 11 has a list of their best sites, and I know they rate us pretty high. They feel Northern Lehigh is a great place to have an event because of the way we handle things here. We strive to be the best facility around. We try to do our best with everything and we're always looking for ways to improve."No offense to J. Birney Crum (in Allentown), because it's a great stadium, but for A and AA games it looks like no one is there. District 11 and the PIAA both want to have a great atmosphere at these games. When you go (to J. Birney Crum) it just swallows up the crowd. Here the fans are closer to the field and the stands are filled. The feeling is like being in a smaller gym for a big basketball game. They like having the smaller teams playing at a smaller field."Geist also mentioned other factors like location, its locker room facilities and its scoreboard as reasons Northern Lehigh is an attractive site."We don't get too many league events because we're not really centrally located in the Colonial League, but once we get out of leagues we're a great place," Geist said. "Palisades and Salisbury also have turf fields, but Salisbury doesn't have bleachers on one side and Palisades is so far removed from out-of-area teams. We have pretty easy routes to get to our place, we have enough parking, and our updated scoreboard is also a nice feature. There are a number of four-lane highways nearby for teams to travel on to get here. I know Dunmore was ecstatic about mostly being on four-lane highways getting here."I know the Dunmore staff loved the locker room facilities, as did the officials. I even got emails from a number of the officials complimenting us. One said the place was 'top-notch' and another said we had a 'great staff here, they did a great job, and it was a great experience.' Still another said he was going to tell fellow officials how well they were treated here and how good the facilities were here."While Northern Lehigh has done its best to bring these marquee games to its place, the biggest factor to host a state playoff contest is out of its reach.Across the commonwealth, the No. 1 consideration remains the two teams that are playing.Geist said if the two teams in a playoff game have districts that are noncontiguous (not neighboring) the PIAA will look for a site somewhere central to both schools (which was the case with Dunmore and Neumann-Goretti). If the two teams are in contiguous districts (which was the case with Pius X and South Williamsport), the PIAA usually puts the game somewhere in the district of the team on top of the state bracket. This Saturday, Dunmore returns to Slatington and will face Wyomissing for a chance to reach the Class AA title game.Schools interested in hosting state events have to apply before the season by submitting a request for proposal. While football is the primary sport, schools also include on the form other sports they feel they could entertain. This fall, Northern Lehigh also held two PIAA soccer playoff games at its facility."When the turf was put in, we were hoping that area businesses and the community could also benefit," Geist said. "Our philosophy is to get people into the area so they can spend money in the community to help the area businesses. People will buy gas here, eat at local restaurants. ... The school does get a rental fee and its workers get paid, but they don't get rich doing it."Speaking of workers, Geist has to put together a staff of 17 to host the football games. He also needs a trainer, doctor, site manager and ambulance crew for the event to take place.Despite the daunting task of compiling that many people, especially last week during Thanksgiving weekend, Geist says it's not that difficult."The people who work for me are great," he said. "It takes a total effort from everyone. It's generally not a problem finding people to work the game. They enjoy it and they get some extra cash to make it worth their while."