The 2016 high school football season didn’t start off the way the Northern Lehigh had it drawn up.

Four turnovers helped Southern Lehigh grab a 42-6 opening night win over the Bulldogs.Northern Lehigh took a 6-0 lead when junior quarterback Tekoah Guedes hit Mason Seiler with a 54-yard pass and run on their third possession of the game. Guedes and Southern Lehigh quarterback Logan Edmond both had trouble getting started, misfiring on a number of passes, stopping drives for their respective teams.In the second quarter, the Spartans offense started to kick things into gear as their ground game started to chip away yardage. Edmond would notch a 1-yard touchdown run, followed by a 9-yard run from Zach Mohr to give Southern Lehigh its first lead of the season at 14-6.Before the second quarter would end, Edmond hit Logan Hantz with a 16-yard TD pass, making it a 21-6 game.A turning point came when Northern Lehigh worked the ball deep into Spartans territory late in the first quarter, but couldn’t push the ball in the end zone, instead turning it over on a fumble.“I thought that was a big point in the game,” said coach Joe Tout. “We get that touchdown there, it changes the complexion of the game at that point and we have some momentum. Plus, we’re getting the ball in the second half.”Northern Lehigh’s defense thought it had answered some questions and was shutting down the ground game. That’s when Southern Lehigh went to the air and Edmond threw two more touchdown passes in the third quarter, to give the Spartans a commanding 35-6 lead.“Their speed was giving us some problems,” said Tout. “I told our guys, especially on defense, that they had to step things up, because if we keep getting handled like that, we’re going to have a long season.”Northern Lehigh suffered a big loss when Seth Keiser went out with an apparent knee injury and was on crutches on the sidelines. Tout isn’t sure how severe the injury may be and preferred to wait until Keiser is examined to worry about how the injury might impact the team. The Bulldogs were already without running back Kellen Hendrix, who turned an ankle in practice this week and missed the game. Tout believes he could be back for next week.“You can’t make excuses, they did a nice job tonight and outplayed us,” said Tout. “The good news is that the things we did are fixable. The turnovers hurt and we have to do better there.”To add insult to injury, Southern Lehigh’s final touchdown came off of another turnover when Mike Sisselberger scooped up a fumble and ran 48 yards to give the Spartans the 42-6 advantage in the middle of the final quarter.SPARTAN WEAPONS... Tout believes one of the issues his team could face, especially against bigger schools is in the area of depth. “They have a lot more weapons to go to and we have a lot of guys who are limited in where they can really be effective. That’s what we’re going to face against some of these 5A schools,” said Tout.ROAD TEST AHEAD ... Next week, Northern Lehigh is again on the road, having to play at Catasauqua. The home opener is September 9 against Bangor.LATE CONTRIBUTION ... The Bulldogs’ Cameron Kline didn’t see much action until the fourth quarter, but he was able to get seven carries and finish as the team leader in rushing with 39 yards.