It’s no secret that Northwestern Lehigh has had some extremely explosive offenses during head coach Josh Snyder’s tenure.

While the Tigers’ offense has been putting up some big numbers, it’s been their defense that arguably has been even more dominant this season.

The Northwestern defense will need to continue to be stingy and stubborn in Week 3, as it takes on an unbeaten Blue Mountain squad in the Times News Game of the Week.

Six points – that’s all that the Tigers’ defense has surrendered this season. But that’s still not the Northwestern defense’s most impressive stat, because it hasn’t been easy to move the ball in general against the Northwestern “D,” which is giving up just 32.5 total yards per game.

“I want to give our defensive coaches a lot of credit, I think our schemes have been good and our game-planning has been really good. I really like our size that we have this year, especially in our three-front in our 30 defense. That size up front has sucked up double teams, and has let our talented linebacker group go out there and play free and they have been able to make some plays,” said Snyder. “It’s really just a lot of guys buying into what we want to do defensively and each guy doing their job or their assignment. It has been a total team effort, and we obviously have been able to have some success.”

Blue Mountain is coming off a big win over North Schuylkill last week, and much like Northwestern, features a dynamic offense that can both run the ball in between the tackles, but also has a host of players who can make plays in space.

Payton Fasnacht leads the Eagles in rushing with 170 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for 73 yards and two rushing scores against the Spartans last week. Senior quarterback Tyler Miller has also been solid this season, throwing for just over 150 yards per game with two scores and no interceptions. Miller has also rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns.

The Eagles also sport a speedy duo in their passing game in wide receivers Gage Guers (119 yards) and Will Jacobson (98 yards).

“Dynamic offensive team with nice size kids. Honestly, very similar to us. The quarterback is a good athlete who can do a lot, so we’re going to need to make sure we contain him. So far this season, we’ve played teams that like to run the ball and control the clock and just grind out yards. It’s going to be a different animal this week,” said Snyder. “They like to run it, but I think they’re going to focus on getting their kids out in space. So, we’re going to have play in space a lot more and go out there and make some plays. We’re excited for a good opponent in what is an early big division game.”

As noted, the Northwestern offense has been putting up big numbers this season. The Tigers are averaging 48.5 points per game and 308.5 yards per game. Dalton Clymer has been the go-to running back in Northwestern’s rushing attack, leading the team with 177 yards and five touchdowns. The Tigers’ two-quarterback system has looked good with Shane Leh (122 yards) and Mason Bollinger (75 yards), as the two have combined for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Northwestern also isn’t short on pass catchers either, as seven Tigers have already caught a pass through the first two weeks.

“Again, they are very similar to us on the defensive end as well. They play a 30-defense, and they like to fly around and create turnovers. They had some big turnovers last week against North Schuylkill that helped them win that game,” said Snyder. “They’re also a very aggressive defense, so we’re going to need to take some shots and roll the dice at times when we feel like we have something. We also definitely need to limit turnovers and finish off drives.”