Tamaqua stays unbeaten, rolls past Bangor

TAMAQUA — Taking care of business.

That’s what unbeaten Tamaqua did Friday night in defeating winless Bangor by a mercy rule score of 51-0 in a Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division game.

The Blue Raiders’ defense set the tone early on by stopping Bangor’s first three possessions with a Brady McCabe interception sandwiched between two three-and-outs. The Slaters finished the first quarter with no first downs and did not gain a positive yard until their first possession of the second quarter.

Tamaqua’s offense wasted no time putting points on the board.

On the Raiders’ first time with the ball, quarterback Luke Kane directed a five-minute, 62-yard drive with running back Bradley Whalen carrying the ball five times for 32 yards. A bubble screen for nine yards to Victor Schlosser helped set up Kane’s 12-yard burst off right tackle for a 6-0 lead.

The Raiders scored on their next two possessions for a 21-0 advantage at the end of the quarter.

Their second touchdown came in 13 seconds on a nifty juke to the house by Schlosser from the Bangor 31-yard line following the interception. The next TD took the final three minutes of the quarter when Schlosser caught another bubble screen from Kane and raced 26 yards to paydirt.

“We came out strong and scored the first three times we had the ball,” Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner said. “We hit some counter treys and a few passes that put us in a great spot early on.”

In the second quarter, a Tamaqua turnover sparked some life into Bangor’s offense.

Running back Riley Waldron, held to negative-2 yards in the first quarter, ripped off two 18-yard runs to get his team to the Raider 23-yard line, but penalties set the Slaters (0-6, 0-5 Red) back and they turned the ball over on downs.

Tamaqua (6-0, 5-0 Red) then lengthened its lead by 28 points following a 20-yard run by Kane just seconds before the half.

Following the intermission, the home team finished a three-minute, 68-yard drive for a 35-0 lead. The big play was a 30-yard run around right end by Whalen, who finished with 79 yards on 11 carries. The touchdown came on a 16-yard pass and run to Schlosser, who completed his night with six catches for 71 yards and one rushing and two receiving TDs.

Tamaqua’s final two touchdowns came on a 9-yard run by Terrence McDowell and a 3-yard scoring run by Quinn Coleman.

“We played better defense up front,” said Bonner, “and our linebackers had good gap control.”

The Raiders travel to Southern Lehigh next week with another road game against Lehighton before a big matchup at home against Northwestern Lehigh. Bonner said his team has to clean some things up.

“We can’t have penalties or turnovers against the teams we have coming up,” he said. “We’re going to have to play a solid four quarters.” He paused and added, “I’m certainly happy to be where we’re at right now.”

“D” Fence … In the first half, the Raiders held Bangor to 30 yards rushing and 25 yards passing. For the game, the Slaters managed just six first downs compared to 19 for Tamaqua.

Adding up the yards … For the season, Luke Kane now has over 1,000 combined rushing and passing yards. Bradley Whalen now has an average of over seven yards per carry.

Press box kudos … Hats off to the guys in the Raiders’ press box. They take great pride in every detail of every play, keeping the fans informed of yards gained and down and distance.

Bangor (0-6, 0-5)         0          0        0        0   —     0

Tamaqua (6-0, 5-0)     21        7        7       16   —   51

T – Kane 12 run (kick failed)

T – V. Schlosser 31 run (Whalen run)

T – V. Schlosser 26 pass from Kane (Barron kick)

T – Kane 20 run (Barron kick)

T – V. Schlosser 16 pass from Kane (Barron kick)

T – McDowell 9 run (run failed)

T – Q. Coleman 3 run (McDowell run)

T – Safety – (ball fumbled in end zone)