by KC Wallace and Jonathan Mascay
Tamaqua hosted Lehighton on Saturday afternoon. Each team was coming off dominant victories from the week prior, Lehighton over Panther Valley and Tamaqua over Shenandoah Valley. The game was a physical battle from the start, with each team exchanging a series of punts on the first four drives. Lehighton had a fourth and five at the Tamaqua 18, but couldn’t convert.
The game was scoreless after the first 12 minutes of play. In the second, Tamaqua broke through when Nathan Wickersham took it to paydirt from 18 yards out. The extra point was blocked, but Tamaqua had a 6-0 lead. Lehighton would attempt to respond as they drove down the field and converted multiple big plays including a third and 26 and fourth and six on the drive, but the Tamaqua defense would hold firm in the red zone as AJ Light just barely missed right on a 32-yard field goal try. With less than two minutes to play in the half, Nathan Wickersham was intercepted by Brandon Kocher of the Indians, who would return it to the Tamaqua 15. On the subsequent drive, Jayvon McDowell punched it in from three yards out to put Lehighton up 7-6, the halftime score.
Both teams looked strong coming out of the first half. After a punt by Lehighton, Tamaqua drove down the field, scoring on a 17-yard touchdown run by Nate Curvey, set up by a 29-yard screen pass from Wickersham to Lucas Schickram. Schickram would then run it in for a two-point conversion. Lehighton responded right away scoring on a 77-yard pass play from Richard Fronheiser to Zach Hunsicker, making the score 14-14. On the next drive, Lehighton was able to drive to the Tamaqua five, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty cost Lehighton 15 yards, coming up with no points on a missed 37-yard field goal.
At the end of the third, the game was still tied at 14 a piece. In the fourth quarter, Tamaqua used their strong running game to set up an eight-yard touchdown pass from Wickersham to Nathan Gregoire. The two point conversion was unsuccessful, making the score 20-14 Tamaqua with 6:08 left on the clock. Lehighton was able to drive into Tamaqua territory, but failed to convert on a fourth and seven, handing the ball over to Tamaqua on their own 41 with 4:47 left on the clock. Tamaqua was able to gain two first downs, and run out the clock securing their 20-14 win over Lehighton.
Lehighton falls to 1-1 on the season. They will try to rebound against Pottsville on Saturday at home, September 26th at 6:00PM. You can catch the game live on D11Sports.com. Tamaqua improves to 2-0, and will look to remain undefeated as they take on Riverside at home on Friday, September 25th.
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