Tamaqua surprised some teams early in the season, with big wins over North Schuylkill and Pottsville.

The Raiders are no longer surprising anyone, they are just simply beating up on the competition week in and week out.

This Friday night will serve as the toughest test to date for the unbeaten Raiders as they travel to 5-1 Southern Lehigh in the Times News Game of the Week.

Over the years, Tamaqua has always been known as a grind it out team that will line up and pound the football in the run game. The Raiders can and have done that in many of their games this season, but what makes them even more dangerous this season is their ability to come up with the explosive play with their vast arsenal of playmakers.

It all starts with their big and physical senior quarterback Luke Kane, who stands at 6-2, 205 pounds, possesses a big arm and has the ability to use his legs to extend plays and drives.

Kane’s big-play ability was on full display in a comeback win against Pottsville in Week 3. With the ball on their own 15-yard line and just 40 seconds remaining in the game, Kane threw two bombs to Victor Schlosser - one for 47 yards to the Tide’s 36-yard line, and then another for the game-winning touchdown - showcasing the Tamaqua offense’s quick-strike ability.

Not only can the Raiders (6-0) chew up the clock in the run game when they need to, but they can also strike quickly if the moment calls for it too.

Kane has thrown for 729 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He has also rushed for 384 yards at almost nine yards per carry. Kane’s top target has been Schlosser, who has 474 yards receiving and six touchdowns, to go along with 303 yards rushing and three scores.

Hard-running tailback Bradley Whalen has been the Raiders top rusher with 601 yards and four touchdowns.

The Tamaqua offense is averaging an impressive 40.8 points per game.

“Being more explosive was something that we emphasized coming into the season. We knew we had a chance to be that type of team with Luke Kane coming back for us at quarterback, and with guys like Victor Schlosser and a big target at tight end in Declan Coleman,” said Tamaqua head coach Same Bonner. “We knew we weren’t going to be a team this year that line up in Power I. We know we can go to that when we need to, but we have the ability to be more of a deep strike team this year. We also have been using our quick screen game, and our RPO stuff as part of our running attack. Bradley Whalen has done a good job of running the football for us, and Luke has also been able to pull the ball too in our RPO game and do some damage with his legs.”

The Raiders will be going up against a Southern Lehigh team this week who is playing some very good football of late. After an early season loss to Blue Mountain, the Spartans have won four in a row and are averaging 40 points per game during that span.

Southern Lehigh boasts a big and strong offensive line unit that has been the key to the Spartans balanced offense. Like Tamaqua, Southern Lehigh has playmakers all over the field. Quarterback Colton Sams has thrown for over 1,300 yards with 12 touchdowns and three interceptions. Running back Sean Steckert is a powerful runner and has rushed for nearly 700 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The Spartans have a few pass catchers with good numbers, but they’re led by the University of Michigan recruit Andrew Olesh, who has almost 500 yards receiving with two touchdowns.

“They have an impressive group of skill kids, and they have a big and physical offensive line to go with them. When you think of them you just think of the word explosive,” said Bonner. “We need to do a good job on the kid who is headed to Michigan. They like to move him around, so we have to limit him. The key will be how we fire off the ball up front on both sides. We’re going to need to beat them off the ball and make plays.”

The Tamaqua defense has been strong of late, as the Raiders are giving up just 4.6 points per game over their last three contests.