Coming into Friday night, there were a lot of predictions about the District 11 Class 4A semifinal playoff game between Northwestern and Wilson.

The Tigers won the first meeting between the two teams in a 36-point mercy-rule blowout. But the prevailing thought was that this time the game would be closer.

Technically, it was closer.

But not by much.

Northwestern took charge early and rolled to another mercy-rule victory, 50-15.

Northwestern scored seven touchdowns with five different players - including left guard Ben Dunstan - scoring at least once. Receiver Taylor Wikert caught two TD passes from Justin Holmes, who threw three on the night. Cade Christopher returned an interception 65 yards for one touchdown and then caught a 30-yard TD pass on the first play of the next series for the Tigers.

“Our line was blocking really well and Justin was able to find the receivers, that’s why we were able to be successful on some passes,” said Christopher. “Everyone got a piece in this game. It was just a very good game.”

Another compliment for the offensive line came from Dunstan, who lined up in the backfield on the first drive of the third quarter and finished with six carries, covering 38 yards. On a third-and-two from the three, Dunstan got the two yards and on the next play, covered up the final yard going right at the Warriors’ defense.

“I’ve got to thank my linemen for getting it for me, it was great,” said Dunstan of the opportunity. “The line was putting the work in ... and I was able to just go through the middle for the touchdown.”

Having a lineman get a few carries has been a tradition at Northwestern, but Dunstan had more success than most of the honorees. His debut in the backfield was supposed to come last week, but because of the torrential rain, it was pushed back a week and he hit the ground running in the postseason instead of the season finale against Catasauqua. The experiment resulted in the 6-1, 186-pounder picking up three first downs and bulling over defenders for gains of 15 and 12 yards.

“It’s kind of a tradition that we give one of our senior linemen a chance to get a couple of carries at the end of the year if we can,” said coach Josh Snyder. “At halftime tonight we said we would do it for a couple of plays, but he was going so well, we stuck with it and figured why not let him get the score.”

Much like in the first meeting between the two teams, Northwestern used the play of their offensive line to run the ball rather than go through the air. Holmes threw just nine times, but ran the ball for a team-high 104 yards on 10 carries.

As the Tigers looked to be patient and put together drives, Wilson seemed to prefer going for quick strikes early in the game with quarterback Cayden Stem consistently looking for open receivers well down the field. Many of the passes were off the mark and either sailed high or wound up short, which is how Christopher got his interception.

“Our defensive line didn’t give him much time to look for open guys,” said Snyder. “Our secondary played well too, and didn’t give the receivers a lot of open space and that made it more difficult for them to throw the ball.”

GRUDGE MATCH … The Tiger victory sets up a championship game meeting with Allentown Central Catholic, a 35-21 winner over Pottsville last night. The Vikings beat Northwestern, 35-6, in last year’s District 11 championship game. This will be Central Catholic’s third straight appearance in the district championship game. Before that streak started, Northwestern eliminated Central 50-13 in the opening round of districts in 2018.

LOCATION SET ... The championship game will be played Friday at 7 p.m. at Northern Lehigh High School.

HANGING ‘EM UP … Northwestern Lehigh called a timeout prior to running a fourth-and-two play on their final drive of the game. It wasn’t to set a play, but to allow for referee Fran Felchock, who is retiring after the football postseason, to be recognized for his years as a high school referee. The Tigers greeted Felchock at midfield while fans gave Felchock an ovation.

BIG SCARE … At one point in the game, Holmes delivered a pass to Cade Christopher and then took a big hit in the backfield. The catch was made, but Holmes remained on the turf and eventually exited the game as Christopher took over at quarterback. The Tigers scored two plays later, and Holmes returned to quarterback the Tigers on the next drive.