Northwestern had its biggest test of the season Friday night when it traveled to Palisades to take on the undefeated Pirates.

The Tigers once again struggled to find their footing and were run over by Palisades' powerful ground game in a 46-0 loss - the third straight to start the season for Northwestern.Palisades was able to run the ball almost at will throughout much of the game. Jared Colletti had the longest run of the night when he went over left tackle and down the sideline for 79 yards. The Pirates also had rushing touchdowns of 11 and 13 yards from quarterback Ethan Brader.Colletti, who scored the game's first TD on a six-yard run, added the 79-yard dash to put Palisades up 20-0 with 7:19 left in the second quarter. By the time his night was done, Colletti would amass 122 yards rushing on just six carries. Trey Gretzinger finished the night with 93 yards, including a 46-yard run that put the Pirates on the Northwestern three-yard line. On the next play, Gretzinger went up the middle, making it 34-0 and the romp was on."We had some missed tackles and some breakdowns, but they also have a couple of special runners," said Northwestern coach Josh Snyder. "I thought overall that we played pretty well, especially considering what a good team they are, but we definitely made some mistakes here and there that hurt us."Brader only went to the air five times in the game, with the only completion coming on a pass to Andrew Nickles, who broke a tackle and ran for a 56-yard touchdown reception.The inexperienced offensive line of Northwestern had a tough time opening holes for the ground game. Last week's leading rusher, Jayden Allen, was stopped almost cold on most of his attempts, but did break free for a 20-yard carry in the second half. Allen finished with 14 yards rushing. Caleb Clymer carried the ball four times for 12 yards, as Palisades was able to shut down the Tigers ground game throughout the night.The passing game didn't fare much better with Deven Bollinger going 4-for-11 in the air for just 51 yards."We knew we were going to have a tough time offensively, because their defense is so strong, and we're so young up front," said Snyder. "We had some good drives though and I thought that we had some momentum early, we just couldn't take advantage of some things."The loss dropped Northwestern to 0-3 on the season, while the Pirates improve to 3-0. Next week, Northwestern is on the road again when it plays Saturday afternoon at Wilson.REPORTING FOR DUTY... Dan Burke, Anthony Colucci, Phil Dangello and Jack Moloney, who have missed the past couple of games, will return to the lineup for Northwestern next week. The Tigers still have a number of injured players who will continue to miss time. Tyler Lobach wasn't available against Palisades because of a shoulder injury.MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH ... After seeing Hunter Miller hit on a 39-yard field goal last week against Salisbury, and seeing him hit from as far away as 50 yards in practice, Snyder sent his senior kicker out to try a 45-yard field goal with about two-minutes left in the game. The kick was down the middle, but came up a few feet short of the crossbar. Miller also handles the punting for Northwestern and averaged just over 39 yards per punt in the game, including a 50-yarder that nailed Palisades down on their own three-yard line.SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW ... A brief rainstorm hit right at the start of the game. It helped to cause a bad snap on a Palisades extra point attempt, but otherwise didn't disrupt much of the play.