Northern Lehigh players and coaches no longer have to wonder about if or when it will happen.

After enduring an 0-10 campaign in 2017, the Bulldogs broke through with a victory over Wilson last Saturday in the season-opener.

Now they’re ready to get the next one.

That opportunity will come Thursday at Catasauqua in the Times News Game of the Week, as Northern Lehigh seeks its first 2-0 start since 2012.

“It’s a momentum-builder,” Bulldogs’ head coach Joe Tout said of the 34-18 victory over the Warriors. “We kind of looked at it, and knowing what they lost offensively last year, production-wise, that we had an opportunity. It’s just something you can build off of; put everything from last year behind you, now move forward.”

Northern Lehigh was on the verge of breaking through more than once last season. Six times the Bulldogs were in a one possession game at halftime, and twice they trailed by two scores.

But the second half was the team’s Achilles’ heel. Northern Lehigh was outscored 170-38 in the final two quarters in 2017.

The Bulldogs flipped the script a week ago, outscoring the Warriors 20-6 after halftime.

Three second-half scores from Justin Paul helped Northern Lehigh pull away down the stretch. Paul (22-133), quarterback Gage Hunsicker (14-90) and Mike Repsher (9-49) combined for 272 yards on the ground.

The balanced effort wore Wilson down and put the Bulldogs in command.

“It was very big for us mentally,” said senior Caleb Wanamaker, a two-way starter who recorded a sack in the game. “We knew our conditioning and our experience had to kick in order for us to win the game.”

“Last year, we came out after halftime and we didn’t finish a lot of games,” added Paul. “And that was one of the things that we focused on this year, was coming out at halftime and finishing. It’s a good feeling knowing that you’re in better shape than a team is, or more conditioned.”

That attack could have an added dimension this week, with Cameron Kline poised to see some time on offense. Kline came up with one of Northern Lehigh’s two picks on Saturday, but didn’t see any time on offense after missing all of last season due to injury.

In addition to Kline, Zach Moyer also had a pick last week against Wilson.

Damion Rodriguez, who caught a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 14-12 lead before halftime, was also a huge part of the game with his blocking ability. Rodriguez also led the team in tackles.

Continuity on both sides of the ball – Northern Lehigh fumbled six times, losing four against Wilson – will be critical with a quick turnaround and facing a Catasauqua team that runs a unique style of offense.

“I’ll give our coaching staff and kids credit, though, they handled it well, because we’re going to see the Navy triple option this week,” said Tout. “We’ve done a period pretty much every practice in workouts since June.

“Had we lost (to Wilson) this weekend, you question were you not focused. But when you win it, now you come back and say, ‘Hey, remember guys, we’ve seen this; you’ve seen this for two months now.’ And especially knowing we’re losing a day, so we’ve prepped and prepped for it. We feel pretty good that our kids will know their assignments. But it’s hard to replicate.”

The Rough Riders struggled in their season opener, falling to Bangor 42-12 last Friday.

Andrew Martinez hit Wil-Quon Clemons for a 71-yard score to cut the Slaters lead to 21-6 in the first quarter. But Bangor ripped off 21 unanswered points before Riley Reinhart scored from 28 yards out in the fourth quarter to set the final tally.

“We’re gonna see, compared to last week, a lot more speed,” said Tout. “They’re quick. They caught Bangor … because they’ll run it, they’ll run it, they’ll run it, and they’ll get you locked in.

“Our defense against the run last week was phenomenal. I think we’ve gotten a lot better. The other side to it, though, is the passing. We got caught, and one was just a good call by Wilson, give them credit, they caught us. But then we let a guy get by us.”

The Bulldogs gave up scoring plays of 42, 38 and 28 yards against Wilson, something they will need to prevent tonight.

“Catty has some nice players and we respect them,” said Wanamaker. “We know that we have to take this week seriously in order to get the win.”