FOUNTAIN SPRINGS - Another game, another perennial District 11 powerhouse.

For the third time in four weeks, Tamaqua not only faced a team with a rich football tradition, but one that is projected to continue its excellence this season.

Friday night, North Schuylkill lived up to its advanced billing and rolled to a 49-24 victory over the Raiders.

The Spartans scored on six of their first eight possession and added a defensive score for good measure. It took North Schuylkill just a little over 25 minutes to score its seven touchdowns, initiating the mercy rule with 10:44 left in the third quarter.

“That’s a really good football team,” said Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner. “Their big and physical, and also have some speed. We knew their physicality would be a problem for us because we just can’t match up with them size wise.

“But I was proud of how we battled. We made some big plays, and we had a lot of freshmen and sophomores who did some nice things for us.”

North Schuylkill displayed both a physical running game and a big-play passing attack, piling up 245 yards on the ground and 181 through the air .

“We’re getting better every week and that’s what you want to see as a coach,” said North Schuylkill’s Wally Hall. “We want to be a team that runs the ball well, and that passes the ball well. We always want to have balance and we did a good job of achieving that tonight.”

The Spartans scored on their first three possessions - two of them ending on Trevor Minalda to Joey Flail touchdown passes.

Tamaqua did answer the first North Schuylkill score on a 40-yard TD pass from Luke Kane to Connor Dillon that pulled it to within 7-6 at the time. The score came on a fourth-and-24 play where Kane escaped several Spartan pass rushers before rolling to his left and launching the pass.

“Luke probably threw that close to 50 yards in the air and Connor made a bunch of big catches all game long for us,” said Bonner. “North Schuylkill is so explosive offensively that we knew we were going to need to make some big plays to try and stay with them.

“We did make some, but we just couldn’t keep pace with their offense.”

Trailing 28-6 in the second quarter, Tamaqua turned in its second huge play of the game when Isaac Curvey stormed up the middle to block a punt. John Klein scooped it up and raced 30 yards to end zone.

North Schuylkill quickly doused any Raider comeback hope with two more scores before halftime, including the third Minalda to Flail touchdown pass.

Four straight runs by Jared Tinari produced a quick third quarter TD that made it 49-12 and started the running clock.

Tamaqua got a pair of fourth quarter TDs as backup quarterback Klein hit Dillon with a 16-yard scoring pass and freshman running back Colton Tomczak went in from a yard out.

“It’s been a tough stretch to open the season,” said Bonner. “We’ve played some really good, veteran football teams. But there were positive things that we can build on in every one those games.

“Now we have to lick our wounds, and bounce back by closing the season strong. There is a lot of football left. We are a young team that is going to get better and better every time out.”

TOUGH STRETCH ... Tamaqua’s losses have come at the hands of Northwestern Lehigh, Notre Dame and North Schuylkill. Its lone victory was against Lehighton.

STRONG FINISH ... Tomczak had 13 second half carries and finished with 48 yards.

STOUT UP FRONT ... Bonner had high praise for the North Schuylkill defensive line. The Spartans (3-1) dominated on the interior in the opening half, sacking Kane three times and completly shutting down the Raider running game. In the first half, Tamaqua ran the 21 times for minus 32 yards.