A lot of teams take special teams for granted.

Northwestern Lehigh is not one of those teams.

The Tigers came through with two punt return touchdowns in the first quarter that helped them jump out to a lead and an eventual 56-7 win over Bangor.

“I’m a firm believer, and I learned this going back from the coaches that I played for, that special teams is a third of the game. A lot of teams take special teams for granted, but I think even more than offense or defense, it’s a way to flip momentum in a game,” said Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder.

“We take it serious, and our players take it serious. Most of our starters, we tend to put on special teams because we believe a lot in it and we believe it’s a way to generate momentum.”

The Tigers put together a lot of momentum-swinging plays in the first quarter, dominating the field position game.

The Northwestern offense got off to a good start, marching 57 yards on just three plays to quickly go up 7-0. A 30‑yard burst from Chase Sukanick, followed by a 20‑yard connection from Trey Snyder to Michael Lagowy put the Tigers on the Bangor 7-yard line, where Sukanick finished the job one play later.

After a tough rushing week in the opener when the Tigers had to grind out every yard against a physical Valley View front, Sukanick once again looked explosive, strong and patient in the run game, gaining 93 yards and two TDs on just seven carries.

“In Week 1, Valley View was really tough up front. We started a sophomore at right tackle, a first-year starter at tight end and a first-year starter as a senior at left guard and it takes some time to gel. I believe Sukanick had 20 carries for 80-some yards in that game and that’s a workman-type effort against a team of that caliber,” said Snyder.

“But I’ve been really proud of Sukanick. He’s doing a good job of sticking to the hole, and not trying to score a touchdown every time he touches the ball. We talk all the time about how there are a lot of good two- and three-yard gains that later in the game will turn into 40- and 50-yard gains for him. And the line is getting better every week, so we’ve been opening up the playbook up more and more.”

Also, enter Lagowy and the Tigers’ punt return unit.

After forcing Bangor to punt from deep in its own territory on back‑to‑back possessions, Lagowy made the Slaters pay.

He took the first punt 32 yards down the left sideline for a TD, then followed it up with another return down the same sideline — this time from 35 yards out — to push the lead to 21–0 with 7:45 remaining in the first quarter.

QB Snyder continued his efficient start to the season by getting involved in the action for the Tigers fourth score of the first quarter when he found a streaking Lucian Sterling for a 35-yard pitch and catch to up the lead to 28-0.

Then it was the defense’s turn to join the party.

A Bangor pass was intercepted by Kendall Wikert, who took it to the house to make it 35-0.

The Tiger defense was flying around and making plays, while putting constant pressure on the Slaters’ quarterback.

“Yeah, our edge guys in Nick Whitney and Fritz Scheirer did a good job of getting pressure tonight,” added Coach Snyder. “They’re kind of mirror images of each other. They’re both long and lanky and they have speed. And what’s great about those guys is that they have relentless motors.”

Another Sukanick TD, along with scores from Landon Gauweiler made it a 56-0 advantage for the Tigers at the intermission.

With the mercy rule in effect in the second half, it didn’t take long for the game to wrap up.

MR. EFFICIENT ... Trey Snyder was once again effective at QB. The sophomore went 7-for-7 for 178 yards and a touchdown.

PRESSURE ... Whitney generated a ton of pressure, collecting two sacks.

UP FRONT ... Northwestern ran for 203 yards at over eight yards per carry, and surrendered just 28 yards at a 1.4 average.

N’western 56, Bangor 7

N’western 42 14 0 0 - 56

Bangor 0 0 7 0 - 7

NW - Sukanick 7 run (Smith kick)

NW - Lagowy 32 punt return (Smith kick)

NW - Lagowy 35 punt return (Smith kick)

NW - Sterling 35 pass from Snyder (Smith kick)

NW - Wikert 25 interception return (Smith kick)

NW - Sukanick 2 run (Smith kick)

NW - Gauweiler 10 run (Smith kick)

NW - Gauweiler 40 run (Smith kick)

B - Kruger 21 pass from Rehrig (Bright kick)