EASTON — The Northern Lehigh football team can finally breathe a sigh of relief after Saturday’s 2018 opener at Wilson.

After an 0-10 season last year, the Bulldogs relied on the running game to power past the Warriors 34-18 for their first victory in over a year.

“We said let’s win so we don’t have to hear that anymore,” Bulldog head coach Joe Tout said. “We had a lot of kids back from last year’s team, and it’s what we thought it was going to be: hard-fought. The biggest thing I thought for our kids was we had the turnovers.

“We were sloppy with our play, but I don’t think we were able to let them run with the momentum afterward.”

Northern Lehigh fumbled the ball six times in Tout’s changing offense, going to a more spread-style for the season. Quarterback Gage Hunsicker carried the ball 14 times for 90 yards, but wasn’t able to get into the end zone on his own.

However, he threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Damion Rodriguez in the second quarter when the Bulldogs took a 14-12 lead before halftime.

“We’re doing some different things than what we did traditionally,” Tout said. “What ended up happening was I thought we went a little more spread. We’re planning on throwing a little bit more, but the run was there. I thought a lot of the quarterback run game was there and then it was the old stuff.”

Justin Paul led Northern Lehigh with three rushing touchdowns in the second half of the contest. Paul shared carries with Hunsicker and Mike Repsher on the afternoon, combining for a team-total 237 rushing yards.

“Double tight [end] was working and Justin Paul was out last week, so he was hungry,” Tout added. “Feed him. If he’s going to run like that, keep feeding him.”

Most of the day’s passing game came from Wilson quarterback Ben Hindmarch.

Hindmarch drove the Warriors down the field on a 62-yard opening drive, firing a 42-yard bullet to Alec Snyder for the first score.

Wilson led the entire first quarter before Northern Lehigh tied the Warriors with a Mike Repsher 5-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Quinton Mack’s extra point was good to grab the early lead.

The Warriors fired right back with another Hindmarch pass to Snyder for 38 yards and another score. Wilson coach Chris Labatch saw his squad only lead one more time in the game as Hindmarch found Quadir Collier in the end zone with a 28-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.

Northern Lehigh’s running game took over, and even with the six fumbles on the day, it was enough to pull away from the Warriors behind good defensive stops by the secondary.

Bulldogs tailback Justin Paul iced the game with three rushing touchdowns and two interceptions by the Northern Lehigh defense, capping off several Wilson turnovers and running the clock out as much as possible.

NEXT UP ... The Bulldogs travel to Catasauqua for a Thursday night Colonial League game.

INTERCEPTIONS ... Hindmarch got picked off twice, with interceptions going to Northern Lehigh’s Zack Moyer and Cameron Kline.

A FUMBLING AFFAIR ... The game featured a total of seven fumbles between both teams. The Bulldogs accounted for six, while Wilson only fumbled once, which they lost.