(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Times News is running a series of stories asking area coaches and athletic directors to remember their “Most Memorable” sporting event. Today’s Most Memorable moment comes from Tamaqua football coach Sam Bonner)

By TJ Engle

tengle@tnonline.com

The 2019 postseason run by the Tamaqua football team will undoubtedly be remembered for a long time.

The Blue Raiders reeled off four consecutive victories, including a District 11 championship game shutout of North Schuylkill and a pair of PIAA State Tournament wins.

Veteran Blue Raider coach Sam Bonner said that any of the wins during the recent postseason run could qualify as the “Most Memorable” game of his coaching career.

It would have been easy for Bonner to highlight the program’s first district win, first district championship or first state playoff win - all of which occurred this past season.

Instead, Bonner went back to his first season as Tamaqua’s coach for his choice.

It was a game against Minersville on Oct. 29, 2007.

The Raiders weren’t chasing a championship that season, but Bonner said what he saw that night was the type of performance that championships are built on.

“It’s tough not picking a game from this past season,” said Bonner. “Obviously, we had a great run.

“But when I look back and think about my time here, that game against Minersville, in my first year as head coach really stands out.”

Unlike this past season, the 2007 campaign featured a lot more losses than wins.

“We were 2-6 going into the game, while Minersville was in line to be the league champion,” recalled Bonner. “We ended up going up there on a Monday night because of a rainout that Friday. - and we beat them in overtime. We beat them by a point when we made a two-point conversion in the overtime.”

It was after that 29-28 Anthracite Football League victory that Bonner said he realized the potential of the program he had taken over..

“As a coaching staff, we went into that first year at Tamaqua knowing we had our work cut off for ourselves,” said Bonner. “I thought if we get these kids to buy into it, as well as the school, and the people in the community, they would all quickly realize we had something special in the works.

“We were establishing a program that we believed eventually would be very successful. I think winning that game gave us the confidence that we were heading in the right direction.”

That became apparent as the Blue Raiders dug deep on that Monday night in Minersville and pulled out an improbable win on an improbable play.

After Caleb Shilko hauled in a four-yard TD pass from Ryan Palsgrove in the first overtime period, the Blue Raiders were within a conversion of forcing a second OT.

But a muffed conversion snap led to game-winning heroics as holder Steve Clemson took the ball off the ground and started to run before looking up finding Griff Griffiths in the end zone with a two-point conversion pass.

The resilience the Blue Raiders showed that night - despite having a losing record and being a heavy underdog - is why it still stands out to Bonner 13 years after it was played.

“There are so many games that are memorable for different reasons,” Bonner said. “The North Schuylkill and Wyomissing wins this past year, and the 2012 win over Marian that capped an undefeated regular season are all high on my list.

“But just thinking back and realizing things, I look at that win over Minersville in my first year as the one that put us in the position where we could eventually have the kind of success we did and get some of those big victories in later years.

“I think we all thought to ourselves after that win that we had a chance to be a pretty good program down the road.”

If this past season proved anything, it’s that the feeling Bonner had that night in Minersville was definitely right.