ALLENTOWN - There were flashes of the explosive offense that has been among the area’s best in several categories throughout the season.

Northern Lehigh lit up the scoreboard with several big scoring plays in Friday’s 28-7 win over Salisbury.

While the Bulldogs still burned bright in their third-straight win, there were moments those flames were extinguished too soon.

“We have to be consistent. We had bursts tonight. The bursts of the big play, but just not consistent,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout. “Sometimes you just have to go back, and hopefully that motivates us a little bit to have a better week at practice and not take teams lightly. We were still able to put up some points. At the end of the game we gave up seven. But it’s just one of those things where we have a lot of things to clean up.”

After losing just two fumbles all season, the Bulldogs lost four on Friday, including one on their first possession of the game.

After getting a stop on fourth down on Salisbury’s (2-7) first series, Northern Lehigh needed just one play from scrimmage to score a touchdown on its second drive.

Quarterback Dylan Smoyer hit Trevor Amorim for a 60-yard score and Brett Misera added the extra point to make it 7-0 with 4:12 left in the first quarter.

The Falcons moved into Bulldogs’ territory after a 37-tard run by Nicholas Beck on their next drive. But Northern Lehigh came up with a pick in the end zone to end the threat.

The Bulldogs marched 80 yards on their next drive, with Smoyer hitting Izziah Ramos for a 10-yard score and Misera adding the extra point to make it 14-0 with under a minute to play in the first quarter.

Smoyer finished with 209 yards passing and three scores.

A Salisbury fumble on the first play started Northern Lehigh’s third scoring drive, capped by a 6-yard touchdown run from Matt Frame to make it 21-0.

Nick Frame came up with an interception near the goal line the end the Falcons’ next drive, but fumbled during the return, handing the ball back to Salisbury.

The Falcons drove to the Bulldogs’ 29 but were stopped on fourth and 10.

Smoyer and Amorim struck for a 71-yard score on the first play of Northern Lehigh’s next possession and pushed the lead to 28-0 with 1:38 left before the break.

“I thought our kids were confident. We had one or two breaks. We had a missed coverage with drop that was huge at the end,” said Tout. “Other than that I thought our coverage was good. We were maybe a little slow on a couple things tonight. There was one formation where we expected a route and it seemed like we were just a split second away. And we knew all week. Our kids were taught, ‘You see this, drive down on it.’ And we were hoping to get a pick on one of those, and were just a bit slow. But our guys did a nice job playing in the secondary and breaking up passes.”

Amorim finished with six catches for 164 yards and two scores.

Beck engineered a scoring drive on Salisbury’s first possession of the second half, going in from seven yards out to make it 28-7.

The senior, listed at 5-8, 150 pounds on the roster, carried the ball 27 times for 229 yards. The Falcons finished with 324 yards of offense.

“That’s generous,” smiled Salisbury coach Andy Cerco of Beck. “But he’s a ball of muscle. He’s a tough kid. He’s a hard-nosed kid. And he’s a coachable kid, and he puts in the time. And it shows.”

Beck drove the Falcons to the Northern Lehigh 34 and 31 on the team’s other possessions, but both ended in failed fourth down attempts, one another nice pass deflection.

Northern Lehigh fumbled at the Salisbury 2 on its first drive of the second half, and also had a drive end after advancing to the Falcons’ 27 following a turnover.

UP NEXT

... The Bulldogs host Palmerton (8-1) next week. The Bombers’ haven’t lost since a Week 2 setback to Jim Thorpe, 17-14.

TURNOVERS

... Northern Lehigh entered the game second in the area in turnover margin at +9. Palmerton is first at +14.

OFFENSE

... Northern Lehigh, which averages an area-best 392.0 yards of offense per game, finished with 370.