Damon Sell never panicked - and neither did his Tamaqua teammates.

The Blue Raiders overcame three turnovers in the first half, and had an answer every time Pine Grove threatened to make things uncomfortable the second half.

The result was a 19-7 Colonial/Schuylkill League football victory on Friday night.

The Raiders’ third victory of the season was due in large part to several huge plays by Sell - all of them coming after intermission.

Sell returned the second half kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, added a 45-yard kickoff return to set up Tamaqua’s next TD, and capped off his big night with an interception midway through the final quarter to help seal the victory.

On the return to open the second half, Sell bobbled the ball around the 10-yard line, scooped it up, broke several tackles, and outran the final Cardinal defenders to the end zone.

“I knew I had time to pick up the ball and still see where their coverage people were after I fumbled it,” said Sell. “So I didn’t panic. I got some great blocks from my teammates and I just tried to find the hole they created.”

Once he did that, he sprinted past the remaining Pine Grove defenders, despite several appearing to have an angle on him.

“Damon is probably one of the two or three fastest players on our team so when he gets in open field, he’s hard to catch,” said Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner. “That was definitely a big play for us.

“We had the 7-0 lead at half, but we were playing a little sloppy and were struggling to build on the lead. That touchdown gave us a little breathing room.”

The Raiders needed that breathing room because Pine Grove (1-6) answered with its best drive of the night. The Cardinals marched 65 yards immediately following the Sell touchdown to make it 13-7. Quarterback Mason Kroh’s 18-yard run produced the score.

Sell once again came up big for Tamaqua, however. This time, he fielded the Pine Grove kickoff at his own five-yard line and returned it to midfield.

The Raiders (3-4) then put together an 11-play drive that Connor Dillon capped with an eight-yard touchdown run to restore the two-score advantage.

“We decided to go to a little more power football in the second half,” said Bonner. “I thought it paid off in that third quarter touchdown drive. We didn’t bust any big plays ... we just kept it on the ground and kept moving the chains.”

The Tamaqua defense took over from there as Sell and Dillon had fourth quarter interceptions, and Curvey had a sack and fumble recovery on a fourth down play from the Raider seven-yard line.

“We were a minus-3 in turnovers during the first half,” said Boner. “But in the second half, it was us forcing the turnovers.

“I thought the goal line stand early in the fourth quarter was huge. They had four plays from around our five-yard line and we ended up stopping them and ultimately forcing a fumble. If they score there, it’s a totally different game in the final minutes.”

TOUCHDOWN CONNOR ... Dillon had a 25-yard TD catch in the first half in addition to his eight-yard scoring run in the second half for the Raiders.

CENTER OF ATTENTION ... Tamaqua sophomore Tyler Koch received praise from Bonner after the game. “Tyler played center for us tonight after being a JV running back early in the year. We had our starting center get injured this week, and we moved Tyler there late in Wednesday’s practice. He hadn’t played the offensive since his knee-hi days, but he stepped in with about a day-and-a-half of practice at the position and did a great job tonight.”

HAT TRICK ... Pine Grove’s Owen Hannevig had three interceptions in the first half and all three came in the red zone with Tamaqua driving.