Blue Raiders’ linemen paving the way

Tamaqua’s run to the PIAA Class 3A semifinals has been spurred by strong second half play and a level of physicality that has been hard to match.

It’s something the blue collar Blue Raiders have been able to hang their hat on heading into Friday’s game against Wyoming Area.

“I think they love it,” Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner said of the team’s hard-nosed mentality. “We’ve been the underdog in, if not all four games, at least three of the four games (in the postseason). So being the underdogs, I think they kind of relish that. We’re going to upset somebody, we’re going to show them what we’re made of. Even though we may not be the biggest guys around, we’re going to play as hard as anybody, if not harder.”

The Blue Raiders (12-2) have dominated the second half over the past four weeks, having outscored opponents 84-22 after intermission through their two district and state playoff games.

In last week’s 20-10 win over previously undefeated Wyomissing, the Raiders flexed their muscle in the second half. Not only did they pitch a shutout, but running back Nate Boyle burned the Spartans for 183 of his 208 yards rushing over the final two quarters while also scoring twice.

Boyle has amassed 930 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns in four playoff games.

Defensively, Tamaqua is allowing just 107.5 yards rushing per game the past four weeks. Wyomissing’s longest play from scrimmage last Friday was 10 yards, both on runs from Evan Niedrowski in the second half. Max Hurleman, who had rushed for 1,192 yards and 15 touchdowns entering the contest, was held to 43 yards on the ground. The Spartans only touchdown came on a fumble recovery in the end zone late in the first half, one that gave them a 10-6 lead.

The offense and defense have been clicking, playing their best football at the perfect time.

“I think we’re just playing as a team,” said Bonner. “Obviously, (quarterback) Brayden (Knoblauch), Nate (Boyle), (receiver) Matty (Kistler), those guys are making huge plays for us. But I think overall as a team, upfront on both sides of the ball, the defensive line and the offensive line, those guys have really gelled.”

Bonner pointed to seniors Sean Lavine, Bronson Strouse, Jared Reed and Jake Barron, and junior Lucas Schickram for what they’ve been able to do playing both ways all season. Lavine is a three-year starter at center who moved into a starting defensive end spot midway through the season. Strouse is a two-way tackle. Reed is an offensive tackle/defensive end who leads the Raiders in sacks. Barron is primarily a blocking tight end on offense who depending on the formation plays either nose guard or middle linebacker on defense. Schickram is an offensive guard and defensive tackle.

“Those five guys in this playoff run have been doing a great job for us (defensively),” Bonner said. “And I can flip it over, and those guys are all doing it on offense for us as well. For those guys, being big guys and not coming out and playing the way they’re playing, especially in the fourth quarter, I think has been huge for us.”

The reason for that success has been simple.

“We trust each other,” said Barron. “We know that if we do our job, everyone else is going to do their job. We don’t have to fly around to try to make a play everywhere on the field, because we know everything is just going to fall into place. We know our guys are going to make the tackle, everyone is going to do their job, everyone is solid, knows what they’re doing, and we all have our assignments down, so we just trust each other.”

Since a 27-18 loss to North Schuylkill on Oct. 4 dropped them to 5-2, the Raiders have outscored their past six opponents 230-72. Tamaqua received a forfeit against Marian in Week 10.

“It’s not like we weren’t on the map before,” said Bonner. “I feel like with these guys, since their freshmen year, as well as Tamaqua football in general, we’ve had some great years in the past, but we always seemed to have a hard time getting over that hump. For these guys, I think after getting that big victory against Jim Thorpe (40-7) in Week 9 and carrying that over to the Notre Dame game (49-28) to get our first district win, I think was huge.

“I think these got a little bit more confidence as the year went on and started to have a little bit more swagger to us and realize that we can win these close games, and put these teams away in the fourth quarter. That’s what they’ve been doing for the last four or five weeks.”

And it’s put them on the doorstep of playing for a state championship.

“Everyone kind of looks at us as the underdog,” said Barron. “Most people look at us and they don’t think we’re going to win this game or win that game. We’re getting picked against in the newspapers, and we all kind of take that to heart. We know how hard we worked, we know how much effort we put into everything, and it kind of puts a fire in us that we want to come out here and we want to prove everyone wrong. We want to show everyone what we’ve been working for all season long.

“We’re excited. It’s the Eastern final, pretty much. We know how hard this game is going to be, we know exactly what we have to do, and we’re looking to punch our ticket to Hershey.”