There were five things that the Northwestern Tigers wanted to have happen Friday night.

First, a win over Catasauqua. Check. The Tigers downed the Rough Riders 47-0.

They wanted an early lead so they could rest their regulars and get some time for lesser used seniors. Check. The mercy rule went into effect early in the third quarter.

They wanted Pottsville and Bethlehem Catholic to lose to keep them atop the District 11 Power Rankings in 4A. Check and check.

And, they wanted Salisbury to defeat Southern Lehigh so the Tigers didn’t have to share the Colonial League championship with the Spartans. Well, four out of five isn’t bad. Southern Lehigh and Northwestern finish the regular season tied for the Colonial League championship with identical 9-1 records even though the Tigers beat the Spartans three weeks ago.

“We’ll still claim bragging rights,” said coach Josh Snyder about having to share the league championship.

As Northwestern celebrated Senior Night at Tiger Stadium, it was senior Jayden Allen who had a big night, pulling in a 34-yard touchdown pass and rushing for three other touchdowns and a total of 77 yards on the ground on the night.

“They kind of put a lot of things in for the seniors this week to give us some extra opportunities,” said Allen about the night. “It was a great night and we can certainly celebrate; plus, we keep playing in bigger games.”

Northwestern turned the ball over on an interception on their first drive of the night, but came right back with a short field thanks to a seven-yard punt by Catasauqua that gave the Tigers the ball at the Roughs’ 22-yard line. Paul Huff, Nick Henry and Deven Bollinger each carried the ball once and got into the end zone for an early 7-0 lead. On their next possession they needed to go just 56 yards and used just four plays to set up a 26-yard TD run by Allen, making it 14-0 with 2:04 left in the first quarter.

Their next possession was also short and sweet, using just over one-minute to go 58 yards with Bollinger hitting Justin Holmes for the score. Andres Garrido’s third extra-point of the night made it 21-0.

“We were going against a team that’s struggling right now and we really wanted to get a lead and then get some other guys on the field and keep our starters healthy,” said Snyder. “It just so happened that the schedule had them as our last game and not to take anything away from them, but it worked out well for us.”

To start the second half, Snyder let his senior linemen get a bit of the spotlight. Derek Hebelka, Hale Trotter and Robbie Goldberg all got carries on the opening drive and picked up a total of 39 yards on seven carries. To get into the end zone, Bollinger hit Holmes, who used a nifty tap dance to stay in bounds just over the goal line. Garrido’s kick made it 40-0 to put the game into the mercy-rule.

After senior Ryan Masters recovered a Catty fumble, the Tigers turned to backup players the rest of the way. Sophomore Andrew Sabo took over at quarterback and junior Michael Rader took over carrying the ball. Sabo picked up his first varsity touchdown when he went in from three-yards out to cap the scoring with the Tigers up 47-0.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS

... The Tigers came into the night able to finish anywhere between first and third in the 4A rankings in District 11. With Pottsville and Bethlehem Catholic both losing, Northwestern maintains the number-one ranking in District 11 4A football, which would give them a home game against either Lehighton or Bangor next week. A win would give them a second home game in the semifinals.

CLOSING IN

... Northwestern could still have two rushers with 1,000-yard seasons. Nick Henry stands at 880 yards on the season and Bollinger is at 793. Bollinger has a shot at 2,000-yard passing season as well. He currently stands at 1,681, with 29 touchdown passes and five rushing touchdowns.