POTTSVILLE — The football gods can be cruel and kind. Just ask the Pottsville and Tamaqua football teams.

There were exactly 39.8 seconds remaining in Friday night’s slugfest between a pair of gallant warriors. The Tide was looking for sure a game-winner. The Raiders were never yielding to defeat.

The stunned crowed in Pottsville’s Veteran Stadium could not believe what had occurred before their eyes.

Tamaqua quarterback Luke Kane and his best friend, wide receiver Victor Schlosser, combined for two sensational plays to soar over Pottsville’s defense, going from their own 15 to the end zone in 31 seconds to stick a dagger in the heart of the Tide for an unbelievable 24-21 victory.

The win keeps Tamaqua unbeaten in the Schuylkill/Colonial League Red Division at 3-0. Pottsville falls to 1-1 in the division and 1-2 on the season.

“Victor Schlosser is my best friend, and I knew if he could get open I could get it to him,” Kane said. “He finds a way to get open.”

Not once but twice.

The first big play was a 47-yard heave to the Tide 36. After a spike, the Kane-to-Schlosser show continued, as the speedy Tamaqua receiver was uncovered and alone in the left corner of the end zone.

“I just ran to the open field,” Schlosser said.

His first catch was a deep slant, again uncovered, for 47 yards. And the game was still in hand.

“Once I got in the open (for the first catch) I knew he would get it to me,” Schlosser said.

Tamaqua’s mental toughness came to the surface in a grinding display of determination.

“The kids did a hell of a job,” said head coach Sam Bonner. “I’d like to take credit for it, but it was the way they came back. It was all them.”

The way the game lifted off was a defensive gem from Schlosser, who picked off a deflected pass and zoomed into the end zone for a 70-yard score before Nicolas Barran booted the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 7:34 to play in the first half.

The Tide quickly reversed the tempo and turned to its superb junior running back Ju Ju Bainbridge, who ran every which way he could to find a hole and finished the night with 140 yards on 24 carries. He cracked the end zone twice and helped drive Pottsville’s first touchdown of the evening, a well-executed 56-yard march down the field.

Sophomore quarterback Andrew Allen rode the offensive line into the end zone for a 10-yard score and Christian Alverez booted the first of his three extra-points.

Tamaqua caught a huge break when Pottsville fumbled a punt at its own 37-yard line with time dwindling in the first half.

The Raiders went rambling toward the end zone in six plays, with Kane crashing home for a one-yard score with 34 seconds in the half. He also had a 19-yard bootleg to set up the score at the 1-yard line. The Raiders went to the locker room with a 14-7 halftime lead.

Pottsville was getting super play from its dynamic linebacker duo of Brayden Evans and Tserill Curry, and also from disruptive lineman Cole Cesari. That trio threw a wrench at the Raiders, who looked touchdown-bound only to be foiled at the Tide 6-yard line.

“It was upsetting that we came away without points,” Bonner said.

Pottsville got the equalizer when it forced a fumble on a punted ball at the Tamaqua 46. Allen then found Curry open for a 45-yard completion at the 1 and immediately called Bainbridge’s number for the score and a 14-14 tie.

Tamaqua mounted a drive of its own, getting to the Tide 13, but the Raiders had to settle for a field goal, with Barron converting from 28 yards and a 17-14 lead.

Pottsville answered with its best drive of the game to slip on top 21-14 with just 3:04 to go. Owen Holley set the stage with a great runback on the kickoff following Barron’s field goal. In eight plays, Bainbridge zipped in from four yards out and the Tide felt a bit celebratory.

But plans quickly shifted, even after Tamaqua was forced to give up the pigskin deep in its own territory at the 16 with 2:15 go play. A miscue lost the Tide a yard, and three plays later the Tide turned the ball over on downs at the Tamaqua 15.

The rest was history.

“Disappointing, obviously,” said Mike Brennan, the first-year Pottsville head coach. “We’re a young football team, not good enough to overcome (mistakes). We’re making catastrophic errors and unable to recover.”

DIFFERENCE MAKERS … Tamaqua is undersized up front, but physicality is far from lacking. Call the grunts junkyard dogs.

QUOTABLE I … “I told them the game is not over, this is football,” Kane said about what he told his team in the huddle before the winning drive.

QUOTABLE II … “It’s nuts, crazy. I didn’t know what they would do at the end … we thought they might kick a field goal,” Bonner said of the hectic finish.

BY THE NUMBERS … Bainbridge led the way on the ground for his side; Tamaqua was led by Bradley Whalen, who kept coming up with clutch runs all night as he finished with 64 yards on 20 carries. Schlosser had 124 yards on 7 catches. Koch came up with a big 30-yard reception in the second half and carried 7 for 32 yards.

Tamaqua 24, Pottsville 21

Tamaqua 7 7 0 10 — 24

Pottsville 7 7 0 7 — 21

Scoring Summary

T — Schlosser 70 interception return (Barron kick)

P — Allen 4 run (Alverez kick)

T — Kane 1 run (Bonner kick)

P — Bainbridge 1 run (Alverez kick)

T — Barron 28 FG

P — Bainbridge 4 run (Alverez kick)

T — Schlosser 36 pass from Kane (Barron kick)