For years, Northern Lehigh’s go-to weapon on the offensive side of the ball was the run game. The Bulldogs put together some of the most historic seasons in the Times News area by grinding and pounding the opposition with a consistent onslaught of smashmouth football.

The ‘Dawgs (2-0, 2-0 CL) proved on a special Thursday night edition of Colonial League football against Catasauqua that they can once again depend on the run game to deploy a successful offensive assault. But they also proved against the Roughies that they have many more weapons in their arsenal.

The Bulldogs spread the ball around offensively in the run game and mixed in some explosive plays in the passing game, accumulating over 400 yards of total offense en route to a 51-20 victory over the Rough Riders (0-2, 0-2 CL).

Early on however, Northern Lehigh faced some adversity - its only adversity of the night - after starting its opening drive at its own 44, the Bulldogs quickly took the ball inside the Catty red zone. But a miscue on a quick slant resulted in an interception at the seven, giving Catasauqua some early momentum.

The Roughies momentum would not last long though, with the ‘Dawgs defense forcing a quick three and out and then on the Catty punt attempt an errant snap sailed through the back of the end zone, giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.

Northern Lehigh would then take advantage of the good field position after the safety. Once again the Bulldogs were able to drive inside the Catty 10-yard line and this time they depended on the big boys up front to get the job done as running back Joe Abidelli capped off the drive with a six-yard plunge to give them a 9-0 lead.

“Credit to them for the early interception, their kid made a good play, the pre-snap read indicated their guy was walking up to blitz and he bailed and made the play, not much Moyer could do there,” said Bulldogs head coach Joe Tout. “Right after that though our kids really clicked. Offensively, I’m really happy with what we were able to do running and throwing the football. There’s a lot of positive to take away from tonight.”

Northern Lehigh’s 9-0 lead quickly turned into a 22-0 lead with 4:23 remaining in the first half. A 31-yard run by Trevor Amorim and then a 13-yard hookup between quarterback Zach Moyer and tight end Tyler Long gave the Bulldogs the commanding lead.

Catty would answer to make things interesting for a moment on its ensuing possession, taking the Bulldogs kickoff 77 yards to the house to close within two touchdowns. The Roughies Riley Reinhard saw an opening on the left side and was gone.

“Special teams, that’s certainly something we’re going to have to clean up,” added Tout. “They got a few big plays there tonight, but we’ll break it down and work and clean that up.”

Once again Catty’s momentum was short-lived. Northern Lehigh quickly put distance between itself and the Roughies again with another short-yardage rushing score from Abidelli and a beautiful 32-yard pitch and catch between Moyer and Mike Repsher along the left sideline for six. Repsher made a great catch high-pointing the ball and then whipped around to his right diving over the pylon.

That score came with just 30 seconds left to go in the half, giving Northern Lehigh a 38-6 advantage, putting the game away for the Bulldogs.

“We have all the confidence in the world in Zach Moyer. He’s a tough kid, who can run and throw. He had some great throws tonight and as you saw tonight we’re not afraid to throw it,” said Tout. “You can see our kids are having fun in the passing game and they worked hard at it in the offseason, it’s fun to watch.”

SPREAD IT AROUND ... The Bulldogs offense features a lot of weapons. Six players had over 20 yards rushing and four different players scored rushing touchdowns.

OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY ... The Bulldogs offense didn’t punt once on the night and collected 20 first downs.