Death by 1,000 cuts. Northwestern has numerous Swiss Army knife type athletes it can deploy against its opponents.

The Tigers’ host of playmakers once again was the difference on Thursday night in their playoff matchup against Palmerton.

Northwestern had four different players account for touchdowns in the first half as it jumped out to a 35-0 lead at the intermission and an eventual 42-0 win over the Bombers in the District 11 3A quarterfinals.

“What’s so cool about this team is that we don’t need to force feed anybody. Whoever’s night it is, that’s whose night it is,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder. “All of our guys are unselfish. And that’s special when you have a group of guys that want to see each other succeed, and they’re happy for each other’s success. It definitely makes it a lot easier and a lot more fun to coach.”

The Northwestern offense didn’t waste much time, getting right to work in the first quarter. After Palmerton was able to pick up a first down on its opening possession of the game on a nice TJ Gursky to Caleb Sagastume 12-yard connection, the Tiger defense was eventually able to force a turnover on downs.

Northwestern took over at the Palmerton 44 at the 7:44 mark, and five plays later Brady Zimmerman scored from 20 yards out to give the host team a 7-0 lead. Zimmerman made his presence felt again on the Tigers’ second possession when senior signal caller Shane Leh whipped a nice ball on the run to the junior who got behind the Bombers’ secondary for 59 yards to make it a 14-0.

The Tigers got their third score of the first off a 10-yard Braxton Lakatosh burst after a 28-yard hookup from Leh to Mason Bollinger helped set up that scoring opportunity.

Northwestern’s defense was also dominant in the first quarter, forcing the initial turnover on downs, and then back-to-back three-and-outs.

Palmerton put together its best drive against the Tigers’ first team defense in the second quarter. After a Northwestern fumble was recovered by Michael Garey at the Palmerton 49, the Bombers put together a 12-play drive that took their offense down to the Northwestern 23. But a low snap on a fourth-and-seven resulted in another turnover on downs with 5:20 remaining in the first half.

Northwestern answered by going on its longest drive of the game — an 11-play, 73-yard drive — that ended up with offensive lineman Braidon Berk punching it in from one yard away to up the Tigers lead to 28. Leh and the passing game were sharp on the drive, as he went 4-for-6 for 42 yards.

Northwestern got the ball back quickly after forcing another Palmerton three-and-out and with Michael Lagowy getting a piece of the punt to set the Tigers up with good field position at the Bombers 34 with around one minute to go.

Leh found Shane Hulmes for a 16-yard chunk play, then connected with Bollinger on a 7-yard quick hit, and then a play later a 12-yard strike over the middle for six to put the game into the mercy rule at the half.

Leh finished the first half with 177 yards passing and two touchdowns. Bollinger had a nice first half, with five catches for 69 yards and a score. Zimmerman also put together an impressive half with 84 total yards and two touchdowns.

“In many of our games we can throw it a lot more than we do, but we just don’t need to. We’re always prepared to take what the defense gives us,” said Snyder. “We really wanted to get two scores there before the half. So, we went to the air a little bit, and we practice the two-minute drill a lot, and it also helps when you have a quarterback like Shane who is so poised back there, and a bunch of playmakers like we do for him to throw it to.

“After tonight, I think Shane has 20 touchdowns and just two interceptions. That’s not easy to do no matter what the circumstances, or who your opponents are. He’s having a special year.”

Northwestern tacked on one more score in the third quarter on a Braxton Lakatosh 59-yard dash to make it 42-0. Lakatosh finished the night with 89 yards on just four carries, and is just two yards away from eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark.

The Bombers finish up the season with a 3-8 record, and have had a tough road of late routinely practicing with just 22-25 players over the past few weeks due to multiple players and starters going down with injuries. Still, Palmerton fought hard in this one.

“I thought our kids fought hard and played with dignity and respect, and they battled tonight. That’s a very good football team. Credit to them. They have so many weapons, and they’re physical and tough up front,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “We couldn’t get anything going on the ground, but we did a few nice things in the passing game moving the sticks at times.

“And this was a much better effort than last week. The effort we played with tonight is what this program is about. Again, that’s a great team, but I thought our guys played hard for four quarters.”

UP FRONT … Northwestern was tough up front all night long. The Tigers held the Bombers to just six yards rushing on 19 carries in the first half, while they averaged almost eight yards per carry on the offensive side of the ball.

ANOTHER RECORD … Bollinger came into the game 22 yards shy of the career receiving yardage mark. The senior surpassed that milestone in the first half. He also holds NW’s career receptions record, which he eclipsed earlier this season.

MOVING ON … Northwestern won its 27th straight game with its win over the Bombers, as it stays on track toward vying for its fourth straight district title. The No. 2 seed Tigers will now take on No. 3 seed North Schuylkill next Friday at 7 p.m. in New Tripoli.

N’western 42, Palmerton 0

Northwestern 21 14 7 0 - 42

Palmerton 0 0 0 0 - 0

NW - Zimmerman 20 run (Sukanick kick)

NW - Zimmerman 59 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)

NW - Lakatosh 9 run (Sukanick kick)

NW - Berk 1 run (Sukanick kick)

NW - Bollinger 12 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)

NW - Lakatosh 59 run (Sukanick kick)