There was some concern that Trevor Cunningham, who Northwestern coach Josh Snyder calls “the best player in the Colonial League,” might not be able to play for the Tigers against Saucon Valley. Cunningham exited last week’s game at Pen Argyl early with concussion-like symptoms and had to undergo concussion protocol testing prior to being cleared to play this week.

Cunningham was deemed fit to play and proved it early, taking the opening kick-off back 96-yards and catapulting the Tigers to a 15-6 win over previously undefeated Saucon Valley.Cunningham charged down the right side of the rain-soaked field, broke several tackles and picked up some blocking along the way, to strike early for Northwestern and put them up 7-0 before Saucon Valley got to run a play.“We’ve preached to these guys about coming out on fire and taking it to teams, because we haven’t always done that,” said Snyder. “There’s no better way to do that than to do what Trevor did on that play, he just made a heck of a run and that was really big for us.”Cunningham would come up with two other big plays in the game when he picked off Saucon Valley’s Brandon Holub not once, but twice. The first came in the first quarter when Holub threw into the end zone, but Cunningham made a leaping grab and fell backward, holding on to the ball, and ending a scoring threat from the Panthers. Cunningham picked off Holub again in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-two play and gave Northwestern the ball at their own 40-yard line.“After last week, we really needed a big game to pick us up,” said Cunningham. “I wanted to do something to stop the drive [in the first quarter] and the ball was overthrown and I was able to go up and pull it down.”Saucon Valley seemed ready to fight when it bounced right back after Cunningham’s kick-off return to go 68 yards in just over two-minutes with Zach Petiet rushing 18 yards to cap the drive. Kicker Josh Snead missed the extra point, which Northwestern would look to seize upon a little later in the game.Halfway through the first quarter, a bad snap on a punt attempt by the Panthers gave Northwestern a first-and-goal at the Panthers’ 10-yard line. Phil Dangello carried the ball twice out of the wildcat formation, going two-yards on the second carry to put Northwestern up 13-6. That’s when Snyder decided to go for two and Deven Bollinger hit Dangello to convert the two-point play and the Tigers extended their lead to 15-6.The rest of the way, the two teams had their ups and downs, battling occasional light rain on a field that was already becoming swamp-like.HOW DID HE DO IT? ... Petiet was the only player who seemed able to battle the field conditions well as he rushed for 170 yards on 32 carries. The rest of the Saucon Valley team ran for minus-two yards on the night and Northwestern gained just 24 yards rushing on the night.WELCOME BACK TO THE JUNGLE... The last loss that Saucon Valley suffered in a regular season game came on Sept. 26, 2014. Coincidentally, that’s also the last time they played in The Jungle and they suffered a 39-14 loss. Between the two losses, the Panthers won 20 straight Colonial League games.