There are a few early-season games on every high school football team’s schedule that can pave the road toward the promise of a very successful, end-of-the-year record.

That game may have occurred Friday night for the Tamaqua Blue Raiders as they knocked off perennial Schuylkill League powerhouse North Schuylkill by a score of 35-17.

The Raiders stood toe to toe with the Spartans in the first half as quarterback Luke Kane rolled to his right on a third and 10 and found Victor Schlosser for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds to go before the intermission. Kane’s two-point conversion throw to Brady McCabe tied the score at 14.

In the second half, Tamaqua dominated time of possession with a relentless ground attack and a few more game-changing passes by Kane. Senior running back Bradley Whalen led the way to three touchdown drives. From the second half kickoff, the Raiders drove 74 yards in six plays, with Whalen punching the score in from the 4-yard line. The workhorse rushed for 179 yards on 22 carries in the contest.

“It didn’t feel like I had that many yards,” said Whalen, who then admitted it was the most yards he ever gained in one game. “My O-line was great. Their defense hit me hard. I’m not big in size and every time one of them landed on me it felt like it was two of them falling on one of me.”

A big play on that drive was Whalen’s 45-yard burst up the middle to the Spartan 19-yard line, and another was Kane’s third down 10-yard pass to Schlosser that put the ball on the 6.

Coach Sam Bonner has now seen his team put up 73 points in the first two games to remain unbeaten.

“We’re a different team than we were at the beginning of last season,” he said. “We returned 10 players on defense and nine on offense, and that makes a big difference.”

The Spartans (1-1) took a 7-6 lead in the first quarter on a 9-yard TD pass from QB Caden Mengel to Kevin Jones, and then took an eight-point lead in the second quarter on Mengel’s 2-yard TD plunge. After falling behind 21-14 in the third quarter, Gavin Mentzer sliced the Raider lead to four points at 21-17 with a 20-yard field goal. But Tamaqua’s defense, plus a few costly North penalties, shut the door on any further scoring by the visitors.

The end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter belonged to Tamaqua. A seven-minute, 80-yard drive was capped by Kane’s 13-yard TD pass to Schlosser, aided by a roughing the passer penalty on the Spartans. On the night, Kane was 5-for-9 for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Schlosser had 71 all-purpose yards and two TD receptions.

“We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half a couple of times,” said Bonner, “but then we established a solid run game against their huge defensive line.”

The Raiders put the icing on the game after a booming 45-yard punt by Nicholas Barron pinned the Spartans at their own 3-yard line with 4:48 left to play. Tamaqua took over on downs, and Tyler Koch scored his second TD of the game with a 2-yard run.

“This win is a big confidence boost for us,” Whalen said.

“I’m very proud of our effort,” said Bonner. “We didn’t think we could run the ball so well against them, but our execution was outstanding.”

Count the contributions … The Raiders gained 266 yards on the ground with a four-back attack. Kane, Koch, Schlosser and Whalen all ran well with pitches, counters and straight dive plays.

Size doesn’t matter … The Spartans offensive and defensive lines averaged 278 pounds, while the Raiders averaged just 210. Despite his 5-10, 173-pound frame, Whalen still managed to have a career high in rushing yards.

Approaching the century mark … The Raider marching band began the school’s 97th year of entertaining the crowd with selections from Kool and the Gang, Miley Cyrus and Bon Jovi.

Tamaqua 35, N. Schuylkill 17

N. Schuylkill 7 7 3 0 - 17

Tamaqua 6 8 7 14 - 35

T- Koch 1 run (kick failed)

NS- Jones 9 pass from Mengel (Mentzer kick)

NS- Mengel 2 run (Mentzer kick)

T- Schlosser 23 pass from Kane (McCabe pass from Kane)

T- Whalen 4 run (Barron kick)

NS- Mentzer 20 FG

T- Schlosser 13 pass from Kane (Barron kick)

T- Koch 2 run (Barron kick)