North Schuylkill's Landen Smith hauls in a 38-yard pass from Caden Mengel in the first quarter of Thursday's Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division game against Blue Mountain at the Eagles' Nest. The play led to a Spartans' touchdown. North Schuylkill defeated Blue Mountain 38-14 (Photo by Brook Koch-Guers).

ORWIGSBURG — North Schuylkill’s defense has had its share of ups and downs this season.

The Spartans’ D came through when it needed to the most Thursday night.

North Schuylkill forced six turnovers, including five interceptions, en route to a 38-14 victory over Blue Mountain in a Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division showdown at the Eagles’ Nest.

Luke Miller scored three touchdowns, one of which was a pick-6, as the Spartans (5-3, 4-3 Red) got a much-needed victory to enhance their District 11 Class 3A playoff chances.

“We challenged them all week … they’ve been challenged all year,” North Schuylkill coach Wally Hall said of his squad. “This was a really important game for them. You can tell in their play how much they wanted it.

“We’ve faced a lot of adversity the whole year. Our backs are against the wall. We’re fighting to get into the district playoffs. We challenged the guys and they accepted it.”

North Schuylkill entered Thursday’s contest allowing 28.6 points per game, giving up 30 or more points in five of its seven games. An area of concern was the Spartans’ pass defense, which had given up a bevy of big plays throughout the season.

That trend looked like it was going to continue Thursday as Blue Mountain scored on its second play from scrimmage when Brady Strause and Gaige Guers connected on a 79-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles an early 7-0 lead.

North Schuylkill buckled down from there, however, stifling a Blue Mountain offense that was averaging 221.1 yards rushing per game and 196.3 through the air.

The Eagles rushed for just 35 yards in the first half and finished the game with 20 carries for 98 yards.

“We played defense,” Hall said. “Guys did their jobs. They started to take it personally. It’s easy to back away from something when it’s tough, but they kept fighting.”

Unable to run the ball with any consistency, Blue Mountain was forced to go to the air and North Schuylkill took advantage.

The Spartans intercepted Strause five times, with four of those coming in the second half. A fumble recovery by Julian Nelson on Blue Mountain’s first play of the second half led to a 7-yard TD run by Miller and Nelson’s interception at the goal line late in the third quarter halted a potential Blue Mountain scoring drive.

Miller’s 15-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter gave North Schuylkill a 31-14 lead at that point, and Cooper Carl and Miller followed with interceptions on the Eagles’ next two possessions.

Strause finished the game 12-of-29 for 218 yards and five interceptions. He was just 5-of-22 after starting the game 7-for-7. The Eagles turned the ball over on four straight possessions at one point in the second half.

“They outphysicalled us,” Blue Mountain coach Tom Gallagher said. “They wanted it more than we did. That’s the bottom line. They went out and dominated the football game.

“We didn’t make plays. We didn’t make any plays when it counted. They did, we didn’t.”

Offensively, North Schuylkill got a kick-start with a pair of long pass plays on its second possession. A 38-yard pass from Caden Mengel to Landen Smith on a third-and-9 play was followed by a 31-yard pass to Michael Mogish that tied the game at 7-7 with 2:23 left in the first quarter.

“You just have to take shots to your guys. You have to trust them,” said Mengel, who was 8-of-11 for 161 yards and two touchdowns. “If you see 1-on-1, you have to take it, trust that they’ll come down with the ball.”

After forcing a punt, North Schuylkill went to the air again on its next possession as Mengel connected with Miller on an acrobatic 36-yard touchdown on a third-and-12 play. The pass was tipped by the Blue Mountain defender and Miller caught the ball as he fell backwards into the end zone.

The score helped North Schuylkill take a 14-7 lead into intermission.

“I’m not sure what really happened. It was kind of like slow motion,” Miller said of his touchdown grab. “I thought (the defender) picked it. It kind of fell right in my hands … touchdown.”

Miller’s 7-yard TD run on the Spartans’ first possession of the third quarter made it 21-7, but Blue Mountain answered quickly with a 46-yard TD run by Tyler Stahley.

North Schuylkill upped its lead to 24-14 with 4:06 left in the third quarter on a 27-yard field goal by Gavin Mentzer. That score was set up by another long pass, this one for 31 yards to Miller.

After scoring five touchdowns in last week’s win over Bangor, Miller rushed 28 times for 65 yards and a touchdown, caught five passes for 83 yards and a score, and had two interceptions on defense.

One of those interceptions he took to the house, giving North Schuylkill a 31-14 lead with 9:31 left. Kolton Joyce’s 1-yard TD run in the final minute set the final score.

“We were in man coverage. I was safety over the top and I saw Gaige (Guers) was out wide,” Miller said of the interception. “I had a feeling he was going to run a slant because there was all that space.

“I saw the QB’s eyes, I saw him throw it and came out with the pick.”

The victory was a critical one for North Schuylkill, which is battling to earn one of the fourth District 11 Class 3A playoff berths. The Spartans entered the week on the outside looking in behind Northwestern Lehigh, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Tamaqua and Saucon Valley.

Getting a win Thursday was imperative if the Spartans wanted to make the district playoffs.

“It was so important to get a win,” Mengel said. “I’m so proud of my team. Through the ups and downs they kept working and kept the mentality that we can do this. We came in here and proved it tonight.”

Added Miller: “This was a huge win. We knew what was at stake. We actually had this game on the calendar because we lost to them last year. We had to come in and take care of business tonight.”

For Blue Mountain, a trip to districts is a virtual lock since eight of the 10 teams qualify in Class 4A. Thursday’s loss, however, came at a rough time with games against backyard rival Pottsville and 6-1 Tamaqua ahead in the final two weeks.

“We have some soul searching to do,” Gallagher said. “We need the guys who want to be leaders step up, guys who want to make plays step up. Not make excuses, go out there and make plays.”

Game Summary

North Schuylkill 38, Blue Mountain 14

North Sch. (5-3, 4-3)             0          14        10        14  — 38

Blue Mtn. (6-2, 5-2)               7          0          7          0  —    14

BM — G. Guers 79 pass from Strause (Grace kick)

NS — Mogish 31 pass from Mengel (Mentzer kick)

NS — L. Miller 36 pass from Mengel (Mentzer kick)

NS — L. Miller 7 run (Mentzer kick)

BM — Stahley 46 run (Grace kick)

NS — FG Mentzer 27

NS — L. Miller 15 interception return (Mentzer kick)

NS — Joyce 1 run (Mentzer kick)

Team Statistics

                                          NS               BM

First Downs                      13                12

Rushes-Yards                    43-132        20-98

Passes                                8-11-1         12-29-5

Passing Yards                   161              218

Total Yards                       293              316

Fumbles/Lost                    0-0              1-1

Penalties                            8-62            4-20

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: North Schuylkill — L. Miller 28-65, Mengel 6-48, Joyce 6-11, Angel Ortiz 2-8, Mogish 1-0. Blue Mountain — Stahley 15-86, R. Miller 2-9, Kauffman 1-3, H. Blankenhorn 1-2, Strause 1-(-2).

PASSING: North Schuylkill — Mengel 8-11-1, 161. Blue Mountain — Strause 12-29-5, 218.

RECEIVING: North Schuylkill — L. Miller 5-83, Smith 1-38, Mogish 1-31, Joyce 1-9. Blue Mountain — G. Guers 4-93, Renninger 4-67, Swick 3-45, H. Blankenhorn 1-13.

INTERCEPTIONS: North Schuylkill — Nelson, L. Smith, L. Miller 2, Carl. Blue Mountain — G. Guers