Garrett Smoyer and his teammates have a good feeling meeting top-seed Schuylkill Haven in the Class 2A championship tonight.

He was reassured with the third-seeded Bulldogs’ convincing 42-23 victory over Shenandoah Valley in the semifinals last week.

“I saw the game last week as a good test for us to go against a different kind of opponent in a Schuylkill League team,’” said Smoyer, who ran for 98 yards with a pair of scores.

“Playing a game against a Schuylkill League team is a big switch from what we are used to, and I think we adjusted well and played great against Shenandoah.

“That was a good game to test us for Schuylkill Haven. Shenandoah was definitely not a push-over team. They have a great team this year and we definitely respected them.”

Besides Smoyer, Chris Frame rambled for 200 yards with two touchdowns, as the Bulldogs (6-5) churned out 350 yards rushing and snapped a four-game losing streak.

Schuylkill Haven (7-4) is coming off a 42-14 rout of Catasauqua in its semifinal, and the Hurricanes have won five straight after an inconsistent start.

Last season, Schuylkill Haven dominated Northern Lehigh 60-7 on its way to the title game, and Northern Lehigh won a semifinal playoff game, 49-19, in 2020.

The Hurricanes are led by running back Colton Reber, who has rushed for 2,353 yards and 30 touchdowns. Reber ran for 252 yards and scored three times against Catasauqua.

Smoyer, who has 594 yards rushing with 10 touchdowns and has thrown for 1,064 yards with 11 scores, believes his club has been battle-tested for the inevitable title matchup.

“I feel that we match up great against Haven,” stressed Smoyer. “We just need to do our jobs, do our assignments on defense, and fill the gaps so Haven does not run all over us. I feel like we have been well prepared for this game all year long playing against some great running teams in Northwestern, Lehighton and Jim Thorpe.

“Our strength in schedule is what we believe helps us every time we are in the postseason. As long as we play as a team and want it more, we should be just fine and match up perfectly against Haven.”

Bulldogs’ head coach Joe Tout knows there is a bigger picture with his opponent.

“Reber is a 2,000-yard rusher, and he makes their offense go,” said Tout. We need to limit his big plays. In their losses this year, teams were able to limit his explosive plays and forced them into passing due to long yardage.

“However, they are not a one-man show. (Logan) Goad is their best outside runner and compliments Reber. They will also use (Chase) Yoder on reverses and they look to (Nate) Runkle, and Yoder, and Reber in the passing game. Our focus is on getting first down stops and having them make a decision about passing or not.”

Defensively, the Bulldogs have been paced by Bill Slattery, who has amassed 101 tackles and 13 sacks, and Paul Porobenski, who has 84 stops and 10 sacks.

Like Smoyer, Slattery is confident his team is ready.

“I feel like our season so far has prepared us for Schuylkill Haven,” stated Slattery. “Most of our players are returning from last year, so I think we have grown and are ready.”

Schuylkill Haven head coach Mike Farr expects to see a mirror image of his team in several ways. He also realizes Smoyer’s potential.

“Northern Lehigh has great athletes, a strong physical offensive line, and they are very well coached,” offered Farr. “All their skill guys are seniors now and back from last year. So they have experience. They like to play physical, and we like to play physical. It should be a great matchup between two similar teams.

“Their quarterback is a dual threat so that keeps me up at night.”

​The Bulldogs will be looking for their sixth overall district title, and third under Tout, the last being in 2022.

​“One key will be limiting penalties, which were still an issue last week. We need to have consistent drives, and must be able to score when we are in the red zone. That was something we did well overall.

​“We feel like this is a relatively even matchup, and if we can contain Reber, we feel like we will win.”