Colonial notebook,

Northwestern Lehigh, Bollinger adapt to being the hunted in Colonial League

It was relatively quiet and low-key in the training room at Northwestern Lehigh High School on Wednesday night. Just a few football players were milling around, getting some treatment after another practice session.

It was the calm before the storm for Tigers quarterback Deven Bollinger.

The 6-foot-5, 209-pound Bollinger will be the center of attention Friday night when the 2019 high school football season begins with a muchanticipated showdown between Bollinger’s team and defending Colonial League champion Notre Dame.

The game will attract plenty of media attention and be played before what is expected to be an overflow crowd.

Northwestern is the favorite to win the league championship largely because of Bollinger, who is entering his fourth season as the starting quarterback. He has thrown for 5,155 yards and 62 touchdowns in his career and has run for a bunch more.

The expectations are high, but Bollinger seems unfazed by them.

“We just had our best practice,” he said. “We looked really good.”

Bollinger said the preseason-favorite label hasn’t gone to his head or any of his teammates’.

“It gives us more motivation, honestly,” he said. “We know we have the targets on our backs in every single game. We have to come out and play our best every game.

“We’re going to come into a lot of games as the favorite. People are going to want to beat us. We’re ready for that and we’re going to keep level-headed.

“The main thing is to keep coolheaded and not get too full of

ourselves. Our guys are pretty good with that.”

Northwestern coach Josh Snyder said while his squad is getting a lot of August attention, he feels it still has a lot to prove from last November.

“We weren’t particularly happy about how last season ended,” he said, referring to a 42-21 loss at Saucon Valley in the District 11 4A semifinals.

“The guys who are coming back know we didn’t play well. They’ve been waiting nine months to get back on the field and get back after it.”

Snyder refers to Friday’s contest as “a championship game.” Then again, he believes a championship is on the line every week.

“The Colonial League is tough and you pretty much have to run the table to win it,” he said. “If you don’t, you need help from somebody else and you don’t want to have to do that.”

Snyder and Notre Dame coach Phil Stambaugh are former teammates at Lehigh University and remain friends even in the heat of high school football.

They have mutual respect for one another’s ability.

For example, Snyder knows that even though Cole DeFranco has graduated after setting the District 11 passing record, Notre Dame will be formidable in the air. Snyder saw the film of Notre Dame’s scrimmage against Whitehall and was impressed with sophomore Collin Quintano, the Crusaders’ new quarterback.

“We saw 27 or 28 offensive plays and they only ran the ball four or five times,” Snyder said. “I know Phil, and they were trying to test their young quarterback and give him as much work as possible.

“We know they still have a good running game, but they wanted to get him ready and he looked good. He throws a nice ball and has poise. He went through his reads well. We’re going to have our hands full.”

Stambaugh knows his team is going against one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the area, and maybe the state, in Bollinger, who has committed to the University of Delaware, where he will redshirt in 2020.

“There’s not much we can do to rattle him,” Stambaugh said. “I know Josh will have a great game plan for him.

“He’s a great coach and I know the system he runs. We’re going to have to play well in situational football and get some stops.”

Stambaugh remembers last year’s game all too well, a 42-41 overtime loss in New Tripoli.

“We opened the door too many times for them and didn’t close it and a good team made us pay for that,” he said. “We have to be much better in the defensive interior and limit their big plays and have some of our own and protect the football.

“It’s going to be a dogfight.”

3 keys to victory

1. Notre Dame has plenty of offensive firepower ready to be unveiled for the first time. Still, Stambaugh said no one should expect the offense to score every time it has the ball as it did in some big games a year ago.

In addition, the Crusaders defense has to make several stops and get a few turnovers to keep Notre Dame in the game.

2. Northwestern’s defensive priority will be to shut down the Crusaders’ running game first and force Quintano into passing situations. Then the Tigers will try to put pressure on Quintano and hope the young player will make mistakes in his first varsity start.

3. While the focus will be on the quarterbacks, Nick Henry and Justin Rodda will play key roles for Northwestern and Christian Greggo and Andrew Darno will be pivotal for Notre Dame.

Two young players who could emerge as game-changers are Tigers sophomore Justin Holmes and Crusaders 10thgrader Derek Berlitz.