Mid-season must win.

That is the scenario for both Tamaqua and Jim Thorpe as the two Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division squads face off in an important contest that will help further shape the District 11 3A playoff picture.

A win for either program could send them in the right direction, while a loss all but solidifies a .500 or below record for this season. Because of the mid-season urgency in this one, the matchup between Tamaqua and Jim Thorpe is the Week 6 Times News Game of the Week.

“We’re at that mid-season mark, and getting a win this week is important if you want to make a strong push for the playoffs, and to gain momentum in order to play well in the playoffs,” said Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner. “We had a tough schedule to start this season, and I think we were competitive in pretty much every one of those games. We have shown some good things, but we’re going to need to play probably our best game of the year this week to beat a tough Jim Thorpe team.”

The Raiders (2-3) and Olympians (2-3) are both coming off dominant wins in Week 5 over struggling teams. Tamaqua defeated Salisbury 52-0, while Thorpe took care of business against Pine Grove on Saturday night, defeating the Cardinals 66-14.

The Olympians’ offense put forth their best performance this season, compiling 499 yards of total offense. Thorpe quarterback Brett Balliet threw for 218 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for a touchdown.

Tamaqua depended on its always strong running game to down the Falcons, rushing for 385 yards. Sophomore Bradley Whalen led the charge for the Raiders, rushing for 157 yards and two touchdowns. It has been a running-back-by-committee approach this season for Tamaqua, as it has six players with 120 or more yards rushing, with Connor Dillon leading the way in the rushing department with 171 yards and two touchdowns.

Both the Raiders and Olympians feature run-focused offenses, and will be looking to establish the run early in this one.

“We’re always looking to establish the run and play a physical brand of football. We certainly have a challenge in front of us in doing that facing off with an always-physical Tamaqua football team,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger. “It’s going to be a battle up front for sure and this one is important for both teams; we’re both trying to get back to .500. Balance will also be key in this game for us, and our passing game has come a long way and looked really good last week, and I’m happy with how we have improved there. We want to be around that 50/50 range with running and passing the football, but as I mentioned it all starts up front first.”

Balance will be crucial in this matchup, and both teams have been pretty balanced this season. The Raiders have passed for 127 yards per game, while rushing for 174 yards per game. Tamaqua sophomore quarterback Luke Kane has been a pleasant surprise for the Raiders. Kane has thrown for 603 yards, along with an efficient seven touchdowns and just one interception. He has developed a nice connection with Dillon, who has caught 19 passes for 449 yards and seven touchdowns.

Thorpe’s offensive attack has looked balanced at times this season as well, with the Olympians averaging 227 rushing yards per game and 156 passing yards per game. Sophomore Justin Yescavage has been a breakout player for Thorpe at the wide receiver position, catching 17 balls for 320 yards and three touchdowns.

Whichever team can best mix in timely and explosive plays in the passing game with their customary rushing attack could walk away with a ‘W’ in this one.

“There’s no doubt, we’re definitely going to need to be balanced. Luke Kane has a done a nice job of keeping us pretty balanced on offense and what has impressed me is that he has done such a good job of taking care of the ball,” said Bonner. “Offensively, we’re going to need to continue to do that, but this game is going to come down to who can get the best push up front. It’s tough to push a team like Jim Thorpe around because of their ranginess and size up front, but we need to be physical, and we need to make plays and spread the ball around to all of our playmakers.”