High school football: Northwestern Lehigh makes enough plays to hold off Valley View

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BLAKELY — When it needed to the most, Northwestern Lehigh leaned on its championship pedigree.

The Tigers came up with key plays in the fourth quarter to turn back Valley View, 28-16, in a nonleague season opener Friday night at John Henzes Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Sophomore Trey Snyder, making his first start, completed 18 of 24 passes for 230 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Senior Brady Zimmerman had five catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a third score for Northwestern Lehigh, which has appeared in the last three PIAA Class 3A finals, winning the title in 2024.

“All their kids have played a lot of football. For our kids to hang in there against a group like that was impressive to me,” Valley View coach Scot Wasilchak said. “But they found a way to win. That’s why they’re in the state title (game) every year. That’s what we’re trying to get to. We’ll learn from this I hope.”

Valley View starting junior quarterback Caleb Brown was shaken up on the game’s second play. Sophomore Colin Dempsey came on and was 11-for-17 passing for 215 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Junior Cash Roe had six catches for 152 yards and one touchdown, while senior Ben Evans added four receptions for 63 yards and one score.

“It was tough. Caleb went down. He was supposed to lead the team. He was leading the team all summer and doing great,” Dempsey said. “It stinks to see him go down that fast.

“They put me in and I just tried to do my best, do what I could do. Our wide receivers did awesome, our offensive line did great, love those boys. They gave me enough time to do what I did.”

Wasilchak said the moment wasn’t too big for Dempsey. Northwestern Lehigh coach Josh Snyder had high praise, too.

“He was just slinging it around. He was pretty impressive,” coach Snyder said. “When we pressured him, the 50-50 balls were won by them for the most part. That kept the game interesting. That football team is going to win a lot of games up here.”

Northwestern Lehigh led after three quarters, 21-14, but Valley View faced fourth-and-goal inside the 1-yard line. Rhys Trotter and Luke Rennells combined to stop Brady Bachman and preserve the Tigers lead.

Two plays later, the Cougars’ Mason Mitchell tackled Chase Sukanick in the end zone for a safety that cut the deficit to 21-16.

However, on the first play following the ensuing free kick, Michael Lagowy intercepted a deep pass attempt by Dempsey at the Tigers 27. From there, Northwestern Lehigh embarked on a near seven-minute, 11-play drive. The Tigers converted third-and-6 at the 31 when senior tight end Harrison Wertman made a juggling, one-handed grab down the middle for 27 yards. Later, facing fourth-and-5 at the Valley View 27, Snyder connected with Zimmerman for 22 yards.

Two plays later, Zimmerman scored on a 6-yard run for the clinching touchdown with 2:22 remaining. Freshman Grayson Smith booted his fourth extra point.

“After you make three state championships, you’ve seen just about everything. There’s not situation you haven’t seen,” coach Snyder said. “You have some sort of level of confidence that you’re going to get the job done. We just speak positivity to the kids that we’re going to get this, we’re going to convert, we’re going to continue a drive and finish in the end zone. When it happens over and over again, the kids really believe in themselves and in the coaches that we’re going to put them in position to be successful. That level of expecting things to come to fruition is definitely an advantage to us.”

Missing field goals from 22 and 30 yards on its first two possessions, Northwestern Lehigh finally scored the third time it had the ball. Snyder hit Zimmerman with a 16-yard touchdown pass to cap a three-play, 38-yard drive with 1:18 left in the first quarter to make it 7-0.

But Valley View, which went three-and-out on its first three possessions, answered when Dempsey hit Roe on an 81-yard touchdown pass with 12.4 seconds left in the first. Braden Loff’s extra point tied it at 7.

Snyder found Zimmerman for a 43-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing seven-play, 68-yard possession to put the Tigers back in front, 14-7, with 8:22 left in the second quarter. Again, the Cougars responded with a 13-play, 73-yard drive that culminated in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Dempsey to Evans with 1:59 left before halftime. Loff’s kick tied it at 14.

To open the second half, Northwestern Lehigh went on an almost six-minute drive covering 80 yards in 12 plays. Snyder hit Lagowy with a 22-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 21-14 lead with 6:07 left in the third.

“That’s a tough team and we put up a battle against them,” Dempsey said. “Hopefully, we can carry this skill level that we played at into Crestwood (next week) and the following teams.”

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