Palmerton, Northern Lehigh and Pleasant Valley all had the start of their football seasons delayed by either COVID-19 outbreaks or school board decisions and protocols caused by COVID-19.

Two weeks ago, Northwestern became the first team area team that had to deal with a COVID-19 caused disruption once its season had begun.

This week’s Overtime column will examine how the Tigers dealt with the virus-imposed time off.

*******

After a summer of maneuvering practices and adjusting the fall schedule, the Northwestern football team hoped it was done with the coronavirus and its effects on the fall season.

In the back of their minds, though, they knew the virus could always throw more obstacles into their season.

In Week 2 of the abbreviated football season, COVID-19 hit the Pen Argyl football team, and it had to pull out of its scheduled game against the Tigers just two days prior to the game. Northwestern athletic director Jason Zimmerman found the Berks Catholic Saints ready to step onto the schedule, and all seemed right.

In the days after that game, the Northwestern football program itself would be shut down by a case of COVID-19, leaving coach Josh Snyder stunned by the news. The head coach had stressed every protocol that medical and school officials had given him, and his players took them all very seriously. Even with all of those precautions - somehow and from somewhere - the virus crept into the program and forced the cancellation of the season’s first league game against Bangor.

“I think this shows that you can do these things right and still have issues,” said Snyder. “There’s nobody to blame, and our staff and players haven’t done any finger pointing and now that we’re back, it doesn’t mean we’re immune; we can’t let our guard down.”

When Snyder found out that the team had to take time off, he told his players just prior to the practice when they were starting to prepare for Bangor. Initially, the Slaters contest wasn’t the only one that was knocked from the schedule. Last week’s game against Wilson was also not going to be played on Friday, but would possibly be played a couple days after the originally scheduled date. Health officials worked with the school and the team and determined the Sunday before the game that the team was OK to restart in-person football work, and the game was back on the schedule.

“I texted the players late in the week and told them to stay ready because there was hope that we could get back to our routine,” said Snyder just after the team was told they could resume their season. “When I got the go-ahead on Sunday, I texted them again and told them we were back and would be back on the field for practice.

“Needless to say, the kids were really excited. That disappointment from us having to shut down was turned into a real sense of excitement, and the guys couldn’t wait to get back into their routine.”

Snyder is quick to point out that at any time, Northwestern, or one of its opponents, could have another interruption at some point this season. For now, the Tigers are taking it a day at a time and are acutely aware that things can change at a moment’s notice.

“We all handled that week off pretty well,” noted Snyder. “It was tough, but we were fortunate that it only cost us one game and we were able to get back on schedule and play Wilson and hopefully go ahead with the rest of our schedule. Obviously, we want the season to go on as it’s scheduled, but we also realize that things can change pretty quickly. I think we have a renewed feeling of gratitude with getting to play each week.”

While a week off ultimately wasn’t too bad and could have been worse had the team been shut down for a longer period of time, Snyder is hoping that it never happens again. The Northwestern coach, who played football at Northwestern and then at Lehigh University, found himself in a weird position during that week off and didn’t know what to do with it.

“I think this was the first fall weekend that I had nothing to do since the 80s,” said Snyder. “It was a weird feeling that I wasn’t used to and didn’t really like.”

**********

JT STREAK ENDS ... Jim Thorpe was blanked by North Schuylkill last Friday, losing to the Spartans by a 36-0 score.

That shutout ended a streak of 61 straight games in which the Olympians had scored. The last time JT had been blanked was Oct. 17, 2014, also against North Schuylkill.

It also ended Thorpe’s chance of reaching the area’s best mark (since 1978) of 68 - which the Olympians achieved from 2001 through 2007.

Currently, the area team with the longest stretch of games without being shut out is Northwestern. The Tigers have scored in 35 consecutive games. The last time NW failed to score was Sept. 8, 2017 against Palisades.

**********

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION ... Led by a school-record 398 passing yards by Richard Fronheiser, Lehighton finished with 605 yards of total offense in its 60-42 victory last Friday against Schuylkill Haven.

Since 1987, that is the third highest amount of yards in one game by an area team.

The 2017 Indians posted the most with 643 against Jim Thorpe on Oct. 27. The second highest total was 617 by Pleasant Valley on Sept. 30, 2016 against East Stroudsburg South.

The game also featured a combined 102 points. There have been only two other times (since 1978) that an area team was involved in a game where there were 100 points scored. On Oct. 7, 2011, Minersville and Jim Thorpe totaled 108 points in the Miners’ 66-42 win, while on Oct. 1, 2010 Lehighton and Pocono Mountain East put up 103 in the Cardinals’ 62-41 triumph.

**********

DOUBLE TROUBLE ... In that Lehighton game mentioned above, the Indians’ Zack Hunsicker and Hunter Crum both caught a pair of touchdown passes.

The last time the Tribe had two different players each catch two touchdowns in the same game was Oct. 29, 2010 - 105 games ago - when Jon Strauss and Matt Rebovich both hauled in a pair of scoring passes. Josh Agosto threw both TD tosses to Rebovich, while Agosto and Anthony Farole each hooked up with Strauss in a 36-19 win against East Stroudsburg North.

**********

PV’S BRIGHT SPOT ... Despite a loss to Minersville last Friday, Panther Valley received another solid outing from Louie Clouser.

The senior running back ran for 203 yards on just seven carries and also scored a pair of touchdowns.

The last time a PV player ran for over 200 yards in a game was Sept. 21, 2012 - 80 games ago - when Richie Smith had 218 against Jim Thorpe.

**********

WHO NEEDS TO SCORE FIRST? ... Wilson got the early jump on Northwestern last Friday, scoring the game’s first touchdown and taking a 7-0 lead. The Tigers, however, stormed back to gain a 42-16 win.

Since 2000, Northwestern has won 33 games when its opponent has scored first - the most of any Times News area team. The next best is Lehighton with 31. Over that time span, the Tigers have a winning percentage of .333 (33-66) when they don’t score first - also tops in the area. The nine TN teams are a combined 207-723 when opponents score first (since 2000), for a winning percentage of .223.