BERWICK — Making an explosive statement early.

It’s something that Northwestern has been known to do many times during its historic 29-game winning streak. The Tigers, playing at the famed Crispin Field in Berwick on Friday night in the PIAA 3A state quarterfinals against Scranton Prep, didn’t just explode early, they went nuclear.

Braxton Lakatosh intercepted a Prep screen pass on the Cavaliers opening possession of the game, taking it 34 yards to the house, which helped Northwestern set the tone for a 28-7 halftime lead and an eventual 42-14 victory over the Cavaliers.

“If we win the toss, we will typically defer. It’s always a lot of pressure for a team to have to try and score on that opening possession. And we’re always trying to get a score right before the half and then we want to get another one coming out of the half. So, that’s what we were able to do. And a bonus was we were able to get points on the defensive end at the start,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder.

“To come up with the interception was big and then to take it in for the touchdown was huge. It was a great play by Braxton Lakatosh there, and it set the tone early for sure.”

The Cavaliers didn’t generate much offense on the night, but they did a good job of answering the opening Northwestern haymaker. Prep went to its standout quarterback Will McPartland to even up the game at 7-7.

With the Cavaliers driving at the Tigers 36, McPartland broke off a shifty 33-yard run and then one play later he would cash in on a short run with a little over six minutes to play in the first.

Northwestern, which is known for its punishing rushing attack, knew coming in that Prep was going to stack the box with eight and nine players, so it went to the pass game early on its first offensive possession.

That certainly wasn’t an issue for veteran Tigers signal caller Shane Leh, who went 5-for-5 for 63 yards on that first drive and finished it off with an 11-yard toss to Brady Zimmerman to quickly put Northwestern back up a score, 14-7.

After forcing a Prep punt, the Tigers put together one of their more methodical drives of the night with a good mix of both the pass and the run, marching 62 yards in nine plays. A pass interference call was a key play on the drive, putting the ball just inside the 20.

A few plays later, Leh found Shane Hulmes in the end zone for an 11-yard connection to make it 21-7 with 8:10 left to play in the half. Hulmes made a great catch on the play, taking a shot, but held on for the six.

The Tigers’ defense stood strong yet again forcing another punt and a turnover on downs the rest of the way in the second. One of Northwestern’s best defensive plays of the game came on a fourth and two for Prep at the Tigers 47. McPartland tried to reverse field on his rush attempt but several black helmets met him before the line to gain giving Northwestern the ball back with 1:26 remaining.

The Tigers’ defense kept the dangerous McPartland in check throughout the contest, holding him to just over four yards per carry.

“I was really impressed with how our defense was able to bear down tonight,” said Snyder. “We were able to keep them in front of us and we were able to keep them one dimensional throughout the game. And we’re a little undersized to begin with up front and we went even smaller tonight with a speed package and it was just constant relentless effort from our guys.

“Keeping them in front, chasing them down, getting after them and then we had good coverage on the back end as well.”

Leh and the offense then broke out their hard hats and went to work.

Two scrambles from Leh put the Tigers at the Prep 32, and a good pickup from Chase Sukanick and a quick out to Michael Lagowy advanced the ball to the 19. Leh then made one of his most precise throws of the season, putting the ball right on the hands of a well-covered Lagowy over the middle in the end zone for the 19-yard score and a three-TD advantage at the half.

“They were playing a little bit of a zone in the middle, but I saw Lagowy on the outside had his man one-on-one. And in that situation you have to take Lagowy in that one-on-one. He’s a 50-50 demon. I took a shot there and he came down with it. That’s what Lagowy does,” said Leh.

“I really want to give a shout out to the offensive line tonight. I had all the time in the world on a lot of our big plays. They’ve been really blocking their tails off and deserve a lot of the credit for our success tonight.”

The Tigers were able to accomplish their goal of scoring twice in the middle of the game going 60 yards in eight plays to make it a 35-7 contest at the 7:45 mark of the third. Two big connections — an 18-yard hookup from Leh to Mason Bollinger and a 32-yard fade ball to Lagowy — set up a 6-yard pop pass to Zimmerman for the score.

“We were firing on all cylinders tonight,” said Zimmerman. “We have a bunch of weapons out there on offense and it’s kind of hard for an opposing defense to game plan for that. We always have a ton of guys out there making plays for us and Shane does such a great job of spreading the ball around.”

Leh and Zimmerman capped the night off with 4:37 left with a nifty pitch and catch for the Tigers final score of the night. On a fourth-and-seven from the Prep 40, Leh lofted a pass to a wide open Zimmerman after some misdirection fooled the Cavaliers’ defense to put 42 points up on the board.

“We’re just extremely focused and driven as we always are, but it’s even more heightened this time of year. You put everything you have in trying to win one game. You’re not looking forward because nothing is guaranteed at this point in the season,” said Snyder. “I’m just super proud of our kids for really buying into that mentality and working hard to just go 1-0 every week. We’re going to get back to work this week and try and win one more and keep it going.”

THE GOLDEN ARM … Leh plays for the black and gold and his arm was certainly golden in this one. Leh finished the night 17-of-19 for 222 yards and five passing touchdowns.

STAT LINE … Lagowy had a big night making big plays, hauling in five catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. Zimmerman continued his tremendous offensive season with seven catches for 96 yards and three receiving scores.

THE SEMIS … With the win, the Tigers have now won 30 games in a row and have advanced to the 3A state semis for the third consecutive season. Northwestern will take on District 3 champion Trinity on Friday night at a location to be determined.

Northwestern 42, Scranton Prep 14

Northwestern 14 14 7 7 - 42

Scranton Prep 7 0 0 7 - 14

NW - Lakatosh 34 interception return (Sukanick kick)

SP - W. McPartland 2 run (Bianchi kick)

NW - Zimmerman 11 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)

NW - Hulmes 11 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)

NW - Lagowy 19 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)

NW - Zimmerman 6 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)

NW - McCormack 4 pass from W. McPartland (Bianchi kick)

NW - Zimmerman 40 pass from Leh (Sukanick kick)