In all honesty, the Northwestern Tigers haven't really been tested on their way to a 4-0 start to the season. Their average margin of victory this season is 36 points, but the combined record of the four teams they've played is 1-15. By comparison, Saucon Valley, also 4-0, has beaten teams with a combined mark of 9-7 this season and have outscored them by a combined mark of 153-83. The Panthers have also invoked the mercy rule in two of their four wins this season.

Again, being completely honest, Northwestern has shown an offense that can be sloppy at times and that has squandered a good number of scoring opportunities, even though they were playing much weaker teams. Thanks to a dominating defense, the Tigers have been able to survive those missteps, but a stronger team like Saucon Valley won't give them any chances for redemption."We've worked hard to get our timing down and we've been coaching on perfection this week," said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. "You get some opportunities in every game and we have to take advantage of those opportunities. We've worked a lot on repetition in practice and have focused on doing things the right way because they won't give you any breaks."Saucon Valley is a young team and has caught some people by surprise in the early going. That element of surprise is now diminished, because everybody has come to know just how good they are and how well they're capable of playing. Meanwhile, Northwestern isn't surprising anybody. The Tigers were the pre-season favorites in the Colonial League and they've done everything they were expected to do and possibly, even more."They've got a good, young quarterback [Zach Thatcher] who plays with his legs and his arm, a running back [Evan Culver] who can be dangerous both on the ground and catching passes out of the backfield, a good, physical line and they're well coached," said Snyder of the Panthers. "Right now, they're playing good football and they're a very good team."Thatcher has rushed for 239 yards this season and has 11 touchdown passes and over 600 yards of passing to his credit. Culver leads the team in rushing, with just over nine yards per carry and over 600 yards of total offense to his credit.Northwestern's defense has been nothing short of awe-inspiring and have a group of guys who specialize in stopping the run. They've also got a secondary that has pulled in seven interceptions this season and provide quality pass coverage. On average, teams have been able to gain just 137 yards per game against the Tigers defense, which sets up an interesting battle in the trenches.The offensive and defensive lines of the Tigers were tested against a physical Wilson team and this week's test will be even bigger and will present different challenges."Wilson had very big linemen and they were a tough, physical team up front. Saucon Valley is big, but they're different from what we faced last week against Wilson," explained Snyder. "They give a lot of different looks and they don't look to double-team a lot, like Wilson did, and they use a tight end on every play and we didn't see that from Wilson, so we have to be prepared for that."Senior offensive and defensive lineman George Haddad believes that his team hasn't taken any team lightly and they won't allow themselves to take any of their upcoming opponents lightly."It's a huge game, but I think coach Kerschner said it best; every game is important now. If we want to win leagues, which was one of our goals, we have to win each and every game," noted Haddad. "Saucon Valley is the biggest game on our schedule, but that's what coach Snyder says every week. Every week is the biggest game on our schedule, so that's just what we're going to keep doing."