BEAVER SPRINGS - The Northwest Rangers picked up right where they left off after last week's shelling of Carson Long.
Northwest played efficiently and wore down East Juniata as the Rangers went on to score 26 unanswered points in the first 15 minutes of regulation during a 38-12 victory Friday night in Beaver Springs.
Northwest quarterback Jeff Moss had a phenomenal game, throwing for 206 yards and four touchdowns on the night.
Three of Moss' touchdowns went to one of the All-American Conference's most potent receivers, Steve Merth, who finished with 109 yards.
Merth also intercepted East Juniata's Kyle Pannebaker at the Rangers 25-yard line and returned it for a touchdown, one of two interceptions for Merth on the night.
"Steve (Merth) is a very legitimate weapon in this offense," Northwest coach Carl Majer said. "Anytime you get the ball to him, hes got the ability to take it to the house."
Bret Rutkoski scored on his first carry of the night - a 25-yard run to the right side to put Northwest up early.
The Tigers were forced to punt after a three-and-out during their opening possession.
Northwest saw an opportunity and took full advantage of a sluggish East Juniata defense.
Moss connected with Brett Sikora for a 51-yard strike to put the Rangers up by two touchdowns midway through the first quarter.
Pannepaker led the Tigers into Ranger territory, but Merth found himself in prime position to intercept the pass for a 75-yard score.
A three-and-out on East Juniata's next possession led to yet another Merth score.
The Tigers got on the board when Dexter Herman caught a 16-yard pass from Sam Wray to make it 26-6.
After Ranger cornerback John Voyton intercepted Pannebaker's pass, Moss found Merth in the corner of the end zone to put Northwest up by 26 at the break.
"We're doing everything we can to keep our guys on the right track," Majer said. "We just want to get to the next level and show what we're made of against teams in the Wyoming Valley Conference."
Northwest added a pair of second-half scores before Dexter Herman returned a fumble 44 yards to the second East Juniata touchdown to close the scoring.
East Juniata (5-5) travels to Shikellamy for a District 4 Class AAA playoff game Friday night.
NOTES: East Juniata took a quirky path to its 5-5 regular-season record winning all of its road games while losing all its home contests. ... The Tigers avoided having to play top-seed Selinsgrove after Lourdes Regional defeated Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech 27-6 to keep the Rams as the No. 4 seed. East Juniata is the No. 3 seed.
