Northwestern Lehigh High School senior wide receiver/linebacker Mason Bollinger’s older brother Deven was a record-setting quarterback for the Tigers before he graduated five years ago.
Now, the younger Bollinger is setting his own school records, not throwing the ball, but rather hauling in passes.
Bollinger is the program’s all-time leader with 109 catches and 1,674 receiving yards.
An impressive accomplishment for a player who started his varsity career as a quarterback.
“It’s very special,” the Northwestern senior said about being in the school’s record book. “I know my brother Deven Bollinger definitely had a lot of records himself. So, I kind of made myself a challenge to get one or two. That’s what I did. He’s very proud of me. He’s just a great role model who helped me through it.”
“He’s been a big influence,” Mason Bollinger added about his older brother Deven. “I remember growing up, he was just throwing the ball with me when we were both playing quarterback. We were always in the backyard, always throwing the ball to each other day and night until I caught the ball. He always pushed me to be my best self. He was just the best role model who I could look up to. He helped me a lot throughout my high school career.”
Mason Bollinger and the rest of the Tigers will play District 2 champion Scranton Prep in a PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Friday at Berwick High School.
Northwestern, the defending state champion, will take on Scranton Prep in the state quarterfinals for the third consecutive year. The Tigers rolled to a 34-0 victory over the Cavaliers last season and posted a 27-6 win in 2023.
“Good genes, obviously. We had Deven make a career out of what he did here. He has all the passing records here at Northwestern,” Tigers coach Josh Snyder said of Bollinger. “We definitely had an eyeball or two on Mason as a young buck coming up through with the crew of seniors who are currently here now. He had a pretty good career coming up through. He was always a playmaker at quarterback/receiver mixing in with Shane Leh. When he got to the high school level, we weren’t real talented at the skill positions. We were sort of a run-oriented team. That was with Cade Christopher, I think was a senior quarterback. Dalton Clymer was the running back. So, he’s been a four-year starter for us. He started at wide receiver as a freshman. Had a couple passes, had him in the mix and then just naturally progressed for us.”
“Making plays on both sides of the ball pretty regularly,” Snyder said. “Sophomore, played mainly offense and junior and senior year, he’s been making strides leaps and bounds in his physicality. We have him playing all over the place, really as a Swiss Army knife. He can play receiver, he can play tight end if we needed him to, he can play F-back, he can take snaps as quarterback. We sort of utilize him in multiple areas. He does a lot of things really well.”
Bollinger has caught 35 passes for 498 yards and six touchdowns this season. The senior also has 255 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 35 attempts.
He also has 41 total tackles from his linebacker spot this season with 20 of those being solo stops. Bollinger also has an interception for a touchdown, a fumble recovery and four tackles for loss in his senior year.
“The coaches and my teammates have made it easy for me to go from quarterback to receiver or even playing some wildcat back there,” Bollinger said. “I’m just doing what my team wants me to do. If switching to receiver, I’ll do it to just to help them out and give us the extra edge.”
Bollinger rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown in Northwestern’s 35-14 victory over Notre Dame on Friday night in the District 11 Class 3A championship game. The senior’s 19-yard run in the fourth quarter helped seal the Tigers’ fourth consecutive title. He also had five total tackles, three of them being solo stops, one tackle for loss and a fumble recovery in the district final.
“He had a heck of a game last Friday night against Notre Dame in the district championship,” Snyder said of Bollinger. “Particularly, in the direct snap game. He got us out of our own end. He had a touchdown of about 19 yards. He was carrying defenders. He’s had a knack over the years of playing his best games in the biggest games. You need guys to do that. We’ve been fortunate to have him on our side in the stretch run over the last couple years.”
The Tigers, who are looking to advance to their third straight state title game, are riding a 29-game winning streak.
Scranton Prep started this season 0-3 as senior quarterback Will McPartland was out with an injury.
The Cavaliers have won five of their last six games, including a 28-21 comeback victory over District 4 champion Mifflinburg in the first round of the state tournament. The Cavaliers held the District 4 champ to 25 yards after halftime. McPartland ran for 125 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.
In Scranton Prep’s District 2 3A championship victory over Berwick, McPartland rushed for 48 yards and four touchdowns. The senior also went 9-for-9 passing for 226 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over Berwick as the Cavaliers won their fifth consecutive district championship.
“Pretty similar to what they’ve been the last couple times we played them, for sure,” Snyder said about the Cavaliers. “They’re physical, they’re big, they’re athletic. They’re really stingy on defense. It’s going to be tough sledding to try to run the ball. We got to keep them off balance in the screen, play-action game. Take our shots when we can. Try to control the line of scrimmage and wear on them as the game goes on. But it’s not going to be easy.”
“On the offensive side, I’ve said this over the couple years, they actually do a lot of things that we do. They’re multiple, they shift, they motion,” the Northwestern coach continued about Scranton Prep. “The McPartland kid now at quarterback, he’s a heck of an athlete. He had an ACL and he’s back. He missed the first couple of games when they were struggling a little bit. They’re a totally different team now than what they were at the beginning of the season. The offense runs through him. He’s big and athletic. They don’t necessarily throw the ball down the field a lot. But they hit screens, short passes, play actions, a lot of give-and-go action in the backfield with the quarterback and multiple running backs and different weapons that they have back there.”
“They haven’t changed too much from what we saw,” Bollinger said of this year’s Cavaliers compared to the last two seasons. “We probably made enemies with them, beating them the last two years. So, they definitely want an edge on us, not losing three times in a row. We just got to push forward. Stop their run. Hopefully make them throw the ball a little more than they’re used to.”
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