Tamaqua couldn’t have scripted a better first half.

Unfortunately for the Blue Raiders, Notre Dame flipped the script after intermission.

The Crusader offense virtually abandoned its high-powered passing game and instead racked up big numbers on the ground to post a 41-26 victory on Friday night.

“We played them really tough in the first half,” said Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner. “Our kids executed the game plan about as well as I could have hoped. We controlled the ball, limited their big plays, and won the turnover battle.

“But Notre Dame’s quarterback is a great athlete and he has some nice talent around him. They changed up what they were doing offensively in the second half and ended up making big plays in the running game.”

Tamaqua battled the favored Crusaders to a 14-14 at halftime tie thanks to a clock-eating 15-play touchdown drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock, and a huge 30-yard interception return for a score by John Klein.

The Raider defense also held ND quarterback Danny Darno to a 6-for-15 passing performance in the half.

“We went with a lot of three-man fronts and were dropping eight defenders into coverage,” said Bonner about the Raiders’ successful first half game plan. “John (Klein) did a great job in coverage all game and that interception return gave us a lot of momentum going into half.”

Tamaqua quarterback Luke Kane answered an early Notre Dame score with a one-yard TD run to cut the Crusaders’ lead to 7-6 at the onset of the second quarter.

After the Crusaders scored again, Klein came up with his pick six and when Connor Dillon ran for the two-point conversion the game was tied at 14-14 with 3:28 left in the half.

“Tamaqua played tough,” said Notre Dame coach Phil Stambaugh. “But that’s exactly what we expected. Their quarterback (Kane) and No. 23 (Dillon) are both really nice players and they gave us problems.

“On the other hand, we made way too many mistakes, especially in the first half. I just told our kids we have to be better. I was happy Danny (Darno) was able to make some big plays for us and that we got out of here with a win, but I wasn’t pleased with our performance.”

After running the ball just six times in the opening half, Notre Dame went to a run-heavy game plan in the second half. It resulted in four rushing TDs - a 37-yarder by Josh Ludlow and scores of 58, 32 and nine yards by Darno.

“(Darno) hurt us with quarterback draws and a little counter play they were running with him,” said Bonner. “They started to gash our three-man front. We also had a few kids hurt which forced us to use a lot of guys both ways, and I think we got worn down a little bit in the fourth quarter.”

SWITCHING UP ... The Raiders were concerned about Darno’s passing ability coming into the game and he did throw for 131 first-half yards. But where Darno did most of his damage was on the ground as he carried the ball 18 times for 222 yards and four touchdowns.

DILLON DELIVERS ... After scoring four TDs a week ago, Connor Dillon was Tamaqua’s top offensive weapon again last night. The versatile junior caught four passes for 119 yards and a pair of fourth quarter scores. He also ran the ball 10 times.

SELL HIGH ... Tamaqua’s Damon Sell came up with a couple of huge plays. He intercepted a pass early in the fourth quarter with the Raiders trailing just 20-14. He then added a 53-yard kickoff return that eventually led to a Kane to Dillon 33-yard TD pass.

POTENT PUNTER ... The Raiders’ Michael Styka had a tremendous game punting the ball. Styka booted seven times for a 40.3 average. All three of his first half punts were over 40 yards.