Pottsville head coach Tom McGeoy wasn’t sure where his team stood through the first two weeks of the season after up-and-down performances against a pair of smaller Schuylkill League schools.

A close loss in the opener against Nativity and a blowout win over Minersville left McGeoy wondering how the Tide would fare against an evenly matched Division 1 program.

Pottsville gave McGeoy a better understanding on Saturday night with a 48-0 victory over Lehighton.

“In the first game (against Nativity) we made every mistake possible, that’s why we lost that one,” McGeoy said of the 31-21 loss. “We got a little bit better last week (a 52-18 win over Minersville), but it was a smaller school so I wasn’t 100% sure where we were at.

“We knew coming in that they were a Division 1 rival, they played Tamaqua tough, they had a good win against Panther Valley, so I think we opened a couple eyes with this win.”

The Tide (2-1) rolled on both sides of the ball.

Pottsville put up 446 yards of total offense - with 301 coming on the ground - and surrendered just 97 to an Indians’ squad averaging 397 coming into the contest.

“I clearly came up short in getting our kids prepared,” said Indians’ head coach Tom McCarroll. “And that’s my fault.”

Quarterback Jazce Carabello-Snowell had 145 yards passing on four completions - all to Raeff Dicello - for the Tide. The pair connected twice in the first quarter on scoring plays of 34 and 42 yards.

On the ground, Carabello-Snowell added 66 yards - including a 40-yard touchdown in the second quarter to make it 21-0, a drive set up by an interception from Dicello.

Bobby Walchak came away with a pick on Lehighton’s next drive, and finished Pottsville’s ensuing possession with a 1-yard score.

Walchak (nine carries, 110 yards) opened the second half with a 19-yard TD to hit the mercy rule and added a 54-yard scamper to make it 42-0 late in the third quarter.

“I wasn’t sure what our O-line was going to be able to do,” said McGeoy. “We’ve kind of been a little bit bigger than the teams we’ve played, or a little bit more athletic.

“Tonight, I think our O-line answered a lot of questions. They packed the box, so we were able to throw the ball a bit more, and when push came to shove at the end, we were able to finish it well with a long touchdown by our big back Bobby Walchak (6-1, 205). It was a great overall effort.”

Lehighton (1-2) had just one first down in the second half while the Tide continued to control the line of scrimmage.

“We knew we had to get ready for their speed and their size,” said McGeoy. “Playing two smaller schools, we did well up front; if we eliminated some mistakes (against Nativity) things could have been a little different.

“But I like where we’re at. When our guys make plays, and we play like that defensively, we’re a pretty tough team. When we play a clean game, we’re a pretty good football team.”

After a 40-12 win over Panther Valley in the opener and a back-and-forth battle with Tamaqua that resulted in a 20-14 loss a week ago, McCarroll is determined to get the Tribe to regroup before moving forward.

“This is one of those situations where I’m probably not going to focus a whole lot on who we play next week; that’s not my concern right now,” said McCarroll. “My concern ... is that we have to get kids ready to play just the game of football. Clearly tonight, anyone who saw the game can say our kids weren’t ready and that’s my fault.

“It doesn’t matter who our opponent is; if our kids aren’t ready, the same result is going to come about. My main concern is not about schemes and things like that, it’s about how to get our kids mentally ready to play the game of football. I didn’t do a good job of that this week, so I have to fix it.”

UP NEXT

... Lehighton hosts Schuylkill Haven (1-2) next week.

SHUTOUT

... The Indians were held scoreless for the first time since a 36-0 loss to Blue Mountain in Week 6 last year.