Bulldogs have far too much for GAR

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Northern Lehigh players got a pleasant surprise Friday night when coach Joe Tout told his troops that they had Monday during the day to go hunting.

Lifting and film work will follow after dark.

But perhaps the biggest shocker came two hours before Tout's announcement when the Bulldogs surprised even themselves by dominating the game of speed that was the PIAA Class 2A first-round playoff contest at J. Birney Crum Stadium.


Northern Lehigh made all the big plays and made fast work of District 2 champion GAR, putting together four scoring drives that totaled 10 plays and pulling away for a 50-14 win.

Northern Lehigh (13-0) plays District 12 champion West Catholic (9-2) in next weekend's PIAA quarterfinals, likely back at J. Birney Crum at a day and time to be announced. GAR's season ends at 11-2.

The Bulldogs needed only 3 minutes, 56 seconds to score on four consecutive first-half possessions to blow open the game.

Cody Remaley rushed for 258 yards and four touchdowns and Jake Kern added 152 yards and a score as Northern Lehigh racked up 461 yards rushing on just 33 carries.

"They whipped us," GAR coach Paul Wiedlich said. "The game came down to five or six big plays. They had five or six big plays."

Kern's 56-yard touchdown run out of the 'Bulldog' formation started the onslaught at the 6:26 mark of the first quarter.

Three offensive plays later, Remaley scored from 12 yards out after his 61-yard run put Northern Lehigh in position.

The Bulldogs got a 38-yard TD pass from Dylan Hofmann to Matt Gill and a 19-yard Remaley run to build a 29-0 second-quarter lead.

"We throw that pass once in a while," said Gill, who scored Northern Lehigh's last TD on an 8-yard run. "A lot of teams don't cover the flat on the short side of the field. I was wide open."

As gaudy as the Bulldogs' offensive stats were, it was their defense that was applauded the most by their coach.

"I was surprised that we handled their speed," Tout said. "We thought our guys would have some trouble. Our offense was sloppy tonight. Our defense was outstanding."

In addition to the usuals (Gill, Kirk Bender) wreaking havoc defensively, Kyle Greenawald, Kyle Schomp and Caleb Johnson were among others made their share of big plays to keep GAR under wraps for most of the game.

Down 8-0, GAR was driving before Hofmann recovered a fumble at the Northern Lehigh 25.

The Bulldogs' interior defense then stuffed the Grenadiers on fourth-and-1 on the next defensive series.

Both big plays were followed by quick-strike TDs by the Northern Lehigh offense.

Northern Lehigh's first offensive series ended with a punt after three fumbles and three plays for negative yardage.

"Yeah, that was pretty ugly," Gill admitted.

But Tout turned to Kern in the 'Bulldog' formation for the next series and the rest is history.

"[Hofmann] was having issues with the ball [slipping out of his hands] in practice," Tout said. "We went to something safe. I thought that was key."

GAR got within 29-7 at the half on the first of two Darrell Crawford touchdown passes.

But the second half brought no relief for GAR's defense, which was short two starters because of disciplinary reasons.

Remaley scored on runs of 86 and 41 yards in the third quarter to push the game into a mercy-rule situation.

"That first series was ugly, but there probably were some jitters," Remaley said. "That was probably our worst series of the year. But we turned it around. The offensive line did a great job. I just had to make the right cuts or outrun somebody."

Remaley broke his own year-old school record for rushing yards in a season. His 258 Friday night give him 2,251 for the season. He also has 91 career touchdowns.

"It's great, all those individual achievements," Remaley said. "But all I'm worried about is the team goals."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-piaa2aplayoffs-football-1126-20101126,0,1204808.story