So, maybe this practice thing is a little overrated.

At least that's a conclusion you might draw from Friday night's Saucon Valley-No. Lehigh game.That's because the Panthers' shockingly dominant 35-6 mercy-rule victory was something neither coach would have predicted."I was just hoping to not have the mercy rule put on us," said Saucon Valley coach Matt Evancho when asked if he saw his team's near-flawless performance coming. "We had a terrible week of practice. I actually kicked the team off the field (Thursday) night."On the other hand, Northern Lehigh coach Joe Tout said he felt good about his team's preparations."We had a really good week of practice," said Tout. "I thought we were ready to play."Tout said it wasn't until Friday's pre-game that he sensed a problem."There was no excitement in our kids," said Tout. "We seemed flat and that showed when the game started."I'm really surprised. I never expected that from this team and this group of kids."Northern Lehigh gained a first down on the game's third play that's only notable because by the time the Bulldogs got another first down, they were trailing 35-0.Saucon Valley flexed its muscles early by driving 87 yards in 14 plays to score on its first possession. A seven-yard pass from Zach Thatcher to Mike Kane produced the score.The Panthers would continue that momentum, scoring touchdowns on their first five possessions."We've been touting our offensive and defensive lines as our strength," said Tout. "Saucon Valley is much smaller than us and tonight they beat the crap out of us on the line of scrimmage. It was very disappointing."Saucon Valley piled up 125 yards on the ground in the opening half and finished with 162 rushing yards. But most of the damage the Panthers inflicted was generated by the right arm of quarterback Thatcher.Thatcher was nearly perfect, going 8-for-9 for 132 yards and four touchdowns. In addition to his pass to Kane, he tossed scoring strikes to Nate Harka, Evan Culver and freshman Alstan Wolfe. He compiled his impressive numbers thanks to pinpoint accuracy and some fantastic plays from his receivers. Culver took a screen pass and weaved between a half dozen Bulldog defenders for his 27-yard score. Wolfe had the highlight film play of the game, going high above a Bulldog defensive back for a circus catch in the end zone."We caught lightning in a bottle tonight," said Evancho. "Northern Lehigh has a quality program and they are going to win a lot of games. Tonight was just one of those nights for us."While Saucon Valley's 39 points in the opening week of the season suggested that it could be an offensive power, the 36 points it allowed in the opener hinted that defense could be a problem.That certainly wasn't the case Friday night as the Panthers limited Northern Lehigh to just seven yards of offense and forced two turnovers in the opening half."We expected the defense to be our strength and it didn't live up to that in our opening game," said Evancho. "We challenged our kids and they responded."For the Bulldogs, who drop to 1-1 on the season, it's their turn to respond to a challenge."We said during the week that we wanted to see how our kids handled a little prosperity after winning our opener like we did," said Tout. "Now our challenge is to see how we deal with adversity."I'm expecting a very good response to that challenge."