SALISBURY TOWNSHIP — Northern Lehigh has its first three-game win streak of the season.

The Bulldogs took an early lead Friday and then leaned on their defense to beat Salisbury 27-7.

“I was happy with the way we came out tonight,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Joe Tout. “We really got off to a good start. I thought defensively we played lights out.”

Tout’s team scored on its first three possessions of the game.

The Bulldogs Keith Lectora took a handoff on the second play of the game and broke free up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown run.

Garrett Smoyer hit Colin Karetsky with a 5-yard touchdown pass to cap a 9-play, 62-yard drive and give Northern Lehigh a 13-0 lead.

Smoyer threw for another score on his team’s third possession, which finished a 10-play drive. Smoyer found Ryan Zambo with an 8-yard touchdown pass to take a 20-0 lead with 10:38 remaining in the first half.

Salisbury didn’t record a first down until its third possession of the game.

After going three-and-out on their first two possessions, the Falcons mounted long drives on each of their remaining possessions. Only one resulted in points.

“They weren’t getting the big plays,” said Tout. “They have the clock, but you need the points, too.”

The Falcons lost their starting quarterback to injury last week and were mostly running a wildcat-type offense. They also like to get chunk yardage on reverse-passes by wide receiver Jamanni Cruz. Each time they tried, the Northern Lehigh defense had it covered.

“I give (defensive coordinator) Dylan Hofmann a lot of credit,” said Tout. “He had our guys prepared. They love that reverse pass. We saw them hit that multiple games (on film). Our kids called it out every time they did it.

“We didn’t want to give them momentum with that play.”

The Falcons got some yards and ate up a lot of the game clock, but the Bulldogs denied them momentum the entire night.

Salisbury had the ball for over eight minutes in the second quarter, but it only got to the Bulldog 40-yard line before punting.

Salisbury opened the second half with a long drive that ended with a turnover on downs at the Northern Lehigh 25.

The Falcons (2-7) forced a Bulldog punt for the first time in the game before mounting their only scoring drive.

Salisbury used 11 plays to go 57 yards, with Jordan Tocci-Wachter scoring from 9-yard out to cut his team’s margin to 20-7 with 11:05 left in the game.

The Falcons forced another punt, but a Karetsky interception ended their next possession.

Northern Lehigh (6-3) took over with 5:04 left on the clock and finished the scoring on a 1-yard Garrett Smoyer touchdown with 8 seconds left on the game clock.

“It was a positive step forward tonight,” said Tout. “We’re at six wins. We talk about wanting to play meaningful games. Now next week becomes a big game and we find out who it is after next week.”

Northern Lehigh ran for 228 yards on 33 carries in the game.

Lectora led the Bulldogs with 88 yards on four carries, with most of it coming on the touchdown run. Smoyer ran the ball 11 times for 73 yards while completing four of 12 passes for 50 yards. Grady Newhard added 44 yards on 12 carries.

Salisbury’s Jacob Watson, who took snaps in their wildcat look, piled up 80 yards on 12 totes. The Falcons ran for 125 yards on 44 carries. They threw just three passes and completed only one for 19 yards.

ONE MORE GAME … Northern Lehigh heads to Saucon Valley (5-4) next week to finish the regular season. Salisbury visits Palisades.

PLAYOFF PICTURE … The Bulldogs will be rooting for Salisbury next Friday night. They have qualified for a Class 2A playoff spot and are close behind Palisades for fourth place in the district rankings. The Falcons have not clinched their spot, but in a Class 3A field that has nine teams for eight playoff spots, they are in position to take the eighth and final spot. It would likely earn them a first-round game against Notre Dame (Green Pond) or Northwestern.

No. Lehigh 27, Salisbury 7

No. Lehigh 13 7 0 7 27

Salisbury 0 0 0 7 - 7

N - Lectora 65 run (kick failed)

N - Karetsky 5 pass from Smoyer (Hanna kick)

N - Zambo 8 pass from Smoyer (Hanna kick)

S - Tocci-Wachter 9 run (Fitzgerald kick)

N - Smoyer 1 run (Hanna kick)