CENTER VALLEY — From start to finish, Southern Lehigh had an edge on Tamaqua.

The Spartans’ tight end Andrew Olesh took a shovel pass from quarterback Colton Sams 87 yards on the very first play from scrimmage as Southern Lehigh thumped Tamaqua 43-7 in a Schuylkill/Colonial Red Division game Friday at Southern Lehigh Middle School Field.

“That’s one thing we said, we didn’t want to give up the big plays, and we gave it up on the first play of the game,” Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner said. “Obviously, we knew (Southern Lehigh) has some really good athletes and we knew offensively they would be tough to stop.”

The Spartans (6-1, 5-1 Red) started the game with all the momentum following Olesh’s big run, and then carried it throughout the game.

“I had no idea,” Olesh said when asked if he knew he was getting the ball on the first play. “I just got the ball in my hands and did what I had to do.”

Southern Lehigh tacked on points early and often as kicker Noah Tapler made two first-half field goals, one from 33 yards and another from 43 following an interception by Dariuz Lightner and a Tamaqua turnover on downs in the first quarter. Tapler totaled 13 points between four extra points and three field goals.

The Blue Raiders (6-1, 5-1 Red) struggled to move the ball in the first half as the defensive line of the Spartans gave Tamaqua fits. Southern Lehigh’s Carter Gilberson, Lucas Sutyak, Dylan Gretz and Alex Hobel bottled up Blue Raider QB Luke Kane and held talented running backs Bradley Whalen and Tyler Koch to a combined eight rushes for eight yards in the first half.

Spartans running back Sean Steckert muscled in a TD run from two yards and Tapler added his third field goal, this time from 22 yards, as Southern Lehigh led 29-0 at halftime.

And while Kane did rip off a touchdown run of 49 yards for Tamaqua with 8:10 left to play in the third quarter, the Spartans weren’t slowing down as Steckert tucked in his second rushing TD to push their lead to 36-7 as the third quarter closed.

The Blue Raiders fought hard as Damian Jazowski sacked Sams to force a fourth-and-12 from the Tamaqua 15, where Sams hit receiver Luke Kawczenski for the 15-yard score.

“For us offensively, I thought we had to click a little bit more than we did early on,” Bonner said. “We were stopped on a fourth down early on and couldn’t get in a rhythm. Defensively, we knew (Southern Lehigh) is a big-play team. I thought we played tough in the red zone for the most part. Giving up the big plays obviously put us in a hole early.”

So. Lehigh 43, Tamaqua 7

Tamaqua 0 0 7 0 - 7

So. Lehigh 19 10 7 7 - 43

SL - Olesh 83 pass from Sams (Tapler kick)

SL - Tapler 33 FG

SL - Tapler 43 FG

SL - Roman 54 pass from Sams (run failed)

SL - Tapler 22 FG

SL - Steckert 2 run (Tapler kick)

T - Kane 49 run (Barron kick)

SL - Steckert 34 run (Tapler kick)

SL - Kawczenski 15 pass from Sams (Tapler kick)