Pennsylvania Offseason Outlook: Northwestern Lehigh Tigers
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2022 Recap It was a great 2022-23 season for the Northwestern Lehigh Tigers under the direction of head coach Josh Snyder. Snyder has been the leader of the program since taking over in 2012-13 from Bob Mitchell and has taken…
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Continue Reading2022 Recap
It was a great 2022-23 season for the Northwestern Lehigh Tigers under the direction of head coach Josh Snyder. Snyder has been the leader of the program since taking over in 2012-13 from Bob Mitchell and has taken the Tigers program to great heights. After going 5-5 and 3-7 in his first two seasons, the Tigers have won nine or more games seven times and have always found themselves near the top of the then-Colonial and now Colonial-Schuylkill Conference.
This past season was no different.
The Tigers were 11-3 overall including 8-2 in conference play, led by an offense that averaged 35.1 points a contest and a very good defense that surrendered just 17.3 points a game.
The Tigers got their season off strong with five wins in their first six games including winning four-straight over Blue Mountain-Pen Argyl, Lehighton, and Saucon Valley by a combined score of 133-17. They would pick up a close win over Pottsville one week after a shutout win over Saucon Valley to move to 6-1 on the season. Bangor would deliver them their second loss in mid-October 27-21 but they would rebound nicely, winning their last two regular season matchups before defeating Jim Thorpe, Notre Dame-Green Pond, and North Schuylkill in the first three rounds of the playoffs. Their season, however, would come to an end when the highly talented Neumann-Goretti defeated Northern Lehigh 38-6. A loss that no one should be hanging their heads about, Neumann-Goretti would go onto beat Wyomissing 20-17 in the state semi-finals before losing to Belle Vernon 9-8 in the state championship game.
Key Losses:
QB Cade Christopher Cade Christopher 5'11" | 170 lbs | ATH Northwestern Lehigh | 2023 State PA | 5-foot-11, 170-pounds (East Stroudsburg signee)
OT Josiah Gornicz | 6-foot-1, 235-pounds (Grove City signee)
DT Rian Golas Rian Golas 6'0" | 215 lbs | DL Northwestern Lehigh | 2023 PA | 6-foot-0, 225-pounds (unsigned)
OG Cameron Shields Cameron Shields 5'11" | 240 lbs | OL Northwestern Lehigh | 2023 PA | 6-foot-0, 235-pounds
Key Returnees:
2024 RB Dalton Clymer Dalton Clymer 6'0" | 190 lbs | ATH Northwestern Lehigh | 2024 State PA | 6-foot-0, 180-pounds
2026 QB Mason Bollinger Mason Bollinger 6'2" | 170 lbs | ATH Northwestern Lehigh | 2026 State PA | 6-foot-2, 174-pounds
2026 LB Shane Hulmes Shane Hulmes 5'11" | 195 lbs | ATH Northwestern | 2026 State PA | 5-foot-10, 195-pounds
2023 Outlook
As mentioned above, the Tigers are often among the best teams in the Colonial-Schuylkill Conference and that shouldn’t be any different next fall. Replacing quarterback Cade Christopher Cade Christopher 5'11" | 170 lbs | ATH Northwestern Lehigh | 2023 State PA will be extremely tough, he had 800 passing yards and nearly 1,900 rushing yards as well.
That being said, their next six all-purpose yards leaders are all set to return this upcoming fall which should pay huge dividends for the Tigers. They also return two of their top tacklers from last year Blaine Snyder Blaine Snyder QB Northwestern Lehigh | 2024 State PA and Dalton Clymer Dalton Clymer 6'0" | 190 lbs | ATH Northwestern Lehigh | 2024 State PA . They do lose a large chunk of their production however defensively which will be tough to replace, names like Austin Sosnovik, Lucas Miller, Sam Mauro, and Evan Anderson Evan Anderson ATH PA . If they can replace that production at a solid level, they’ll be able to have quality success on defense once again next year as well.
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