{"id":40195,"date":"2025-11-21T01:08:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T01:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/40195\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T01:08:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T01:08:06","slug":"northwestern-football-bollinger-prepare-for-another-playoff-meeting-with-scranton-prep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/40195\/","title":{"rendered":"Northwestern football, Bollinger prepare for another playoff meeting with Scranton Prep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Northwestern Lehigh High School<\/a> senior wide receiver\/linebacker Mason Bollinger<\/a>\u2019s older brother Deven<\/a> was a record-setting quarterback for the Tigers before he graduated five years ago. <\/p>\n

Now, the younger Bollinger is setting his own school records, not throwing the ball, but rather hauling in passes. <\/p>\n

Bollinger is the program\u2019s all-time leader with 109 catches and 1,674 receiving yards. <\/p>\n

An impressive accomplishment for a player who started his varsity career as a quarterback. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very special,\u201d the Northwestern senior said about being in the school\u2019s record book. \u201cI 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\u2019s what I did. He\u2019s very proud of me. He\u2019s just a great role model who helped me through it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a big influence,\u201d Mason Bollinger added about his older brother Deven. \u201cI 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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<\/a> and posted a 27-6 win in 2023.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGood genes, obviously. We had Deven make a career out of what he did here. He has all the passing records here at Northwestern,\u201d Tigers coach Josh Snyder said of Bollinger. \u201cWe 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\u2019t 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking plays on both sides of the ball pretty regularly,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cSophomore, played mainly offense and junior and senior year, he\u2019s 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe coaches and my teammates have made it easy for me to go from quarterback to receiver or even playing some wildcat back there,\u201d Bollinger said. \u201cI\u2019m just doing what my team wants me to do. If switching to receiver, I\u2019ll do it to just to help them out and give us the extra edge.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bollinger rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown in Northwestern\u2019s 35-14 victory over Notre Dame on Friday night in the District 11 Class 3A championship game.<\/a> The senior\u2019s 19-yard run in the fourth quarter helped seal the Tigers\u2019 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. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a heck of a game last Friday night against Notre Dame in the district championship,\u201d Snyder said of Bollinger. \u201cParticularly, 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\u2019s had a knack over the years of playing his best games in the biggest games. You need guys to do that. We\u2019ve been fortunate to have him on our side in the stretch run over the last couple years.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Tigers, who are looking to advance to their third straight state title game, are riding a 29-game winning streak. <\/p>\n

Scranton Prep started this season 0-3 as senior quarterback Will McPartland was out with an injury. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

In Scranton Prep\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

\u201cPretty similar to what they\u2019ve been the last couple times we played them, for sure,\u201d Snyder said about the Cavaliers. \u201cThey\u2019re physical, they\u2019re big, they\u2019re athletic. They\u2019re really stingy on defense. It\u2019s 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\u2019s not going to be easy.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOn the offensive side, I\u2019ve said this over the couple years, they actually do a lot of things that we do. They\u2019re multiple, they shift, they motion,\u201d the Northwestern coach continued about Scranton Prep. \u201cThe McPartland kid now at quarterback, he\u2019s a heck of an athlete. He had an ACL and he\u2019s back. He missed the first couple of games when they were struggling a little bit. They\u2019re a totally different team now than what they were at the beginning of the season. The offense runs through him. He\u2019s big and athletic. They don\u2019t 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.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThey haven\u2019t changed too much from what we saw,\u201d Bollinger said of this year\u2019s Cavaliers compared to the last two seasons. \u201cWe 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\u2019re used to.\u201d <\/p>\n

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