Sometimes the outcome of a football game can be inspired by a player who’s not at the game.

Such was the case in Jim Thorpe’s 35-13 win over Nativity on Friday night.

“We lost Derek Hunter, one of our captains and a team leader, to a shoulder injury in the first half,” said Jim Thorpe coach Mark Rosenberger. “When he left for treatment, our team got inspired and fired up and you can see what happened in the second half.”

What happened after a 7-7 deadlock at the intermission was nothing short of complete domination by the Olympian offense and defense. After a three and out by the Green Wave to start the third quarter, Thorpe (6-2) drove 63 yards in nine plays capped by a six-yard TD pass from Davier Calcano to Cameron Tinajero. The drive took nearly five minutes as Tinjanero, Calcano, Derryl Fisher, and David Fiorito used the entire width of the field in dicing and slicing through and around Nativity’s defense.

On the ensuing kickoff, Olympian linebacker, Dominic Berger brought the crowd to its feet with a perfect lock, lift and drop tackle of the Nativity ball carrier, setting up another three-and-out for the Green Wave offense.

With 2:29 to go in the third, freshman sensation, Sal Capria, who would gain 130 yards on 12 carries in the game, bolted through the right side for nine yards on first down. Fiorito scampered for 22 on a nifty reverse play before Tinajero, who tallied three TDs on the night, finished the scoring drive with two 12-yard runs up the middle for 21-7 Jim Thorpe advantage.

Rosenberger’s offensive game plan was executed perfectly against the Green Wave. In particular, it was a showcase of many more good things to come for Capria.

“Sal gets better every week. He has an exceptional ability to hit the hole. He’s going to be special,” said Rosenberger.

After still another Nativity punt, a Capria 17-yard run was followed by an excellent touch pass of 31 yards from Calcano to tight end Ian Hubbard for another Olympian score.

Capria would put the icing on the cake with a beautiful 36-yard cutback run to get just inside the pylon.

Thorpe’s second half command was on every statistical level. They had 16 first downs to three for Nativity. Total yards for the last two quarters favored Jim Thorpe 196-91.

Rosenberger’s game plan was to put pressure on Miller and keep him in the pocket. In the second quarter, Miller broke containment and ran 41 yards for a touchdown.

“We didn’t stay disciplined to our pass rush lanes and he got loose, but the second half we held him in check pretty well,” said Rosenberger.

Defensive end, Bryson Heydt and outside linebacker, Jason Bowen sacked Miller for big losses in the second half and other times forced him to throw incomplete passes.

INSPIRATION ... Although Derek Hunter was absent for the second half, his presence was felt by his team for extra motivation in attaining their sixth win of the season.

FIRST ON TURF ... The win was Thorpe’s first on its new field turf that debuted last week.

UP NEXT ... The Olympians are the third seed in the D11Class 3A tournament and will likely play current No. 2 seed Notre Dame of Green Pond next week.