The stage is now set.

Lehighton's convincing 43-7 Anthracite League victory over Tamaqua Friday night not only kept the Indians perfect at 9-0, but it also put them in position to claim a championship next week in an anticipated matchup against rival Jim Thorpe.With many looking ahead to that showdown with the Olympians, Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll needed to keep his club concentrated on the Blue Raiders.Touchdowns on the Indians' first two drives proved that task was accomplished."Our kids game out of the gate fired up," said McCarroll, whose squad has already clinched at least a share of the AFL title. "We knew that Tamaqua had the potential to be a very physical team and they showed it on film. They gave some good teams a run for their money, so I'm super proud of the way our kids came out."We did a good job trying to keep them focused on this week. We talked to them that our playoffs start right now. That's the kind of mentality we have. It's been well documented what the District 11 AAA looks like so we want to put ourselves in the best position possible. We don't know what will happen next week but hopefully by winning tonight we put ourselves in a good position."Wyatt Clements wasted no time putting Lehighton in a good position on the scoreboard.The senior broke free on his team's second play from scrimmage and rambled 68 yards for a touchdown.After a three-and-out by Tamaqua, Indian quarterback Tyler Cann completed five passes during a 72-yard drive that upped the lead to 13-0. Cann's final strike was a 26-yard toss to Cody Scherer."We gave up some big plays early on defensively, and it was tough to get a rhythm going offensively," said Raider mentor Sam Bonner. "We knew they were a very athletic team. We knew we were going to have our hands full with their speed, and obviously Clements is a top runner and a strong kid."They have a lot of athletes on the field. I thought Blue Mountain was a very physical team, whereas Lehighton is an athletic team. That's not to say they're not physical but they're definitely athletic in that they can hit you with the deep ball as well as grind it out inside."Lehighton hit one of those deep balls to extend the margin. Cann found Nick Chambers for a 43-yard scoring strike to make it 20-0 early in the second frame.A minute and a half later Tanner Haydt, who had two interceptions last week, picked off a pass and went 35 yards to the end zone."(Tamaqua) runs that play and we repped it all week," said McCarroll of the pick-six. "Our coaches do a great job of getting tendencies. They see it. And our scout team also does a great job. It was a great play but it wasn't the first time we saw it."The Raiders finally posted some points early in the second half when Thad Zuber spotted Zeke Wassell for a 45-yard touchdown pass, but scores from Lehighton's Tyler Durishin (7-yard run) and Mike Mayernik (15-yard run) later in the period put the game out of reach."Everybody knows what's coming next week and it's going to be a great environment," said McCarroll, whose team can win the league title outright with a victory next Friday. "What a great atmosphere it's going to be with the last varsity game played on this field."SPREADING THE WEALTH ... Lehighton's six touchdowns were scored by six different players. Haydt's was his first of the season. "That's been the story of our year," said McCarroll. "Every single week we have different players stepping up making big plays."RAIDER DEFENSE ... Tamaqua registered three sacks on the evening and ended the contest with six tackles for loss.THREE-AND-OUT ... The Indians' defense had five three-and-outs and forced four turnovers. Lehighton's turnover ratio is now an impressive plus-13 this season.NINE STRAIGHT ... Lehighton, who has scored at least 40 points in five of its games this season, has won nine straight games. The last time an Indian squad accomplished that was in 1991, when they had a 10-game streak.