After allowing 48 points to Pottsville last week, Jim Thorpe was looking for a better result Friday night, especially on the defensive side.

It did not happen as unbeaten Blue Mountain put up 49 points in a dominating performance in shutting out the 1-2 Olympians.

The Eagles were methodical all game long and made the most of nearly every possession. Following a 28-yard opening kickoff return by Cole Swick, quarterback Brady Strause marched his team down the field in five plays covering 67 yards, with the drive culminating in a 19-yard strike he threw to tight end Bradley Renninger for an early 7-0 lead.

Thorpe went three and out the first time they got the ball, and it became an unwanted pattern that resulted in six punts in the game. The Olympian run game was pretty much non-existent. Sophomore quarterback Kaden Hess, filling in for the injured Cole Lazorick, was sacked four times, and his running backs couldn’t make enough forward progress throughout the game to get on the plus side of yards gained.

On their next possession, the Eagles drove 48 yards in four plays, with Tyler Stahley plunging across the goal from the one-yard line for a two touchdown advantage with 5:38 still to go in the first quarter.

The Olympians then moved the ball to midfield, mostly on passes from Hess to Aaron Curran, but the drive stalled, forcing another punt. The Eagles struck again for a 21-0 lead. Strause hooked up with Gaige Guers for 11 yards, and 13 yards to Lukas Kauffman. And, once again, Stahley pushed over from the one.

Thorpe managed their best sustained drive of the night after Joshua Louk returned the ensuing kickoff 27 yards to the Olympians own 42 yard line. From there, senior wideout Justin Yescavage pulled down a pass from Hess in heavy traffic for a 22-yard gain to the Blue Mountain 36. A fumble for a loss of yards and a procedure penalty pushed the Red, White and Blue backward, where they lost possession on downs.

Blue Mountain threatened to score on every first half possession. The Eagles took the ball and marched inside the Olympian one-yard line, but fumbled, with Jim Thorpe recovering.

After another punt by Thorpe, the Eagles unleashed a new weapon in running back Reese Miller. The 6-foot, 1-inch 205 pound junior running back carried three straight times from the JT 41, with his last rush being a pitch left that had him scamper 21 yards for a score and a 28-0 lead at the intermission.

Olympian coach Mark Rosenberger was not happy with his team’s physicality.

“We were physically abused tonight,” he said. “Toughness is something you cannot coach. It has to come from within, and we need to find it going forward.”

With 9:32 to go in the third quarter, the Eagles hit the 35-point mark and pushed the clock to the mercy rule when Strause and Guers played catch-and-run for a 50-yard tackle-breaking touchdown.

Blue Mountain (3-0) scored twice more. Brody Foose hit pay dirt from three yards out, while Chase Guers returned a fourth quarter punt 45 yards for the final score.

Balanced attack … Blue Mountain used nine running backs to gain 258 yards. In the air, four receivers caught nine balls for 151 yards.

A SILVER LINING …Rosenberger praised the efforts of Hess for being pressed into last-minute action when Lazorick was ruled out, as well as running backs Joshua Louk and Michael Antignani. He also lauded Yescavage, who caught three passes for 64 yards.

UP NEXT … Jim Thorpe heads to Tamaqua next week to take on the Blue Raiders.

Blue Mtn. 49, Jim Thorpe 0

Blue Mtn. 14 14 14 7 – 49

Jim Thorpe 0 0 0 0 – 0

Scoring summary

BM - Renninger 19 pass from Strause (Grace kick)

BM - Stahley 1 run (Grace kick)

BM - Stahley I run (Grace Kick)

BM - Miller 21 run (Grace kick)

BM - G. Guers 50 pass from Strause (Grace kick)

BM - Foose 3 run (Grace kick)

BM - C. Guers 45 punt return (Grace kick)