Lehighton and Northwestern have taken different paths, but they both find themselves in the District 11 playoffs.

Northwestern has rattled off nine straight wins after an opening night loss to Notre Dame-Green Pond, while Lehighton hit a tough part of its schedule and lost its last five games, finishing the regular season at 3-7. The Indians needed a loss by Bangor on the final weekend of the regular season to reach districts.

The two teams meet in the opening round of districts Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Tiger Stadium in New Tripoli.

Though Lehighton’s record could be skewed somewhat by the tough Schuylkill League Division 1 schedule that it plays having faced teams with a combined record of 37-13 over those five final weeks.

“You can’t take this team lightly, that’s for sure,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “They faced some good teams and played them tough, so we told the kids to just forget about their record because they’ve been tested.”

Snyder’s team had its own stretch of tough games coming down the stretch, but were able to rest some starters last week when they faced Catasauqua (0-10) and came away with a 47-0 win. The breather not only served to keep players healthy, it also gave them just a little time away from the grind before things got more intense starting this week.

“It’s good when you can get some guys a rest and have that week where you can do some different things like we did against Catty. We let our linemen get some carries to get that out of their system and had a good celebration after the game, but it’s definitely right back to work this week,” said Snyder.

One flaw that Northwestern can look to exploit is that Lehighton sometimes turns the ball over and hurts itself primarily with fumbles.

The Tigers have done well with forcing fumbles this season, having knocked the ball free nine times, with four of those becoming turnovers. Meanwhile, Northwestern has fumbled the ball just four times this season.

“We need to minimize our mistakes and try to sustain some drives,” said Lehighton coach Tom McCarroll. “We’ve learned that when we play with heart and emotion, we can be very competitive.”

The Indians defense can be torched at times, which Tamaqua was able to take advantage of several weeks ago when they put up 529 yards of offense in a 54-6 win. Over the course of the season, opponents have averaged just under 35 points per game and just over 325 yards of total offense against the Tribe.

Both teams have senior quarterbacks who also lead their team in rushing yards. Northwestern is led by Deven Bollinger (853 yards rushing, 6 TDs, 1,677 yards passing, 29 TDs), while Lehighton relies on Lucas Sangiuliano (430 yards rushing, 7 TDs; 827 yards passing, 7 TDs).

Northwestern has depth in the ground game with Nick Henry, who has rushed for 843 yards this season.

The winner advances to the district semifinals next week against either Saucon Valley or Allentown Central Catholic. Both teams would like another crack at Saucon Valley to pursue a bit of revenge. The Panthers eliminated both teams from districts last season, beating Lehighton in the quarterfinals and then taking out the Tigers in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Central Catholic was knocked out of districts by Northwestern in last year’s quarterfinals.

It’s worth noting that the two teams will be seeing a lot more of each other down the road with the Schuylkill League and Colonial League joining forces for a new football alignment starting next season. The Tigers and Indians will both be in the same division in the new setup and will play each other every season.

The Indians will visit Tiger Stadium again next season in Week 4. For now, both coaches are focused only on Saturday night’s contest in the opening round of districts.

“That’s next year, and both teams will potentially look very different,” said McCarroll. “This game doesn’t have much of a bearing on the changes that go into effect next year.”