Five area players named to Class 3A All-State Football Team

The 2019 season was one for the record books for the Tamaqua football team.

In a year that included the program’s first District 11 title and a run to the PIAA semifinals, the Blue Raiders added another chapter on Friday.

Tamaqua placed four players on the 2019 Pa. Football Writers’ Class 3A All-State Team. Senior Nate Boyle (running back) was selected for the second year in a row, while fellow upperclassmen Brayden Knoblauch (quarterback), Matt Kistler (wide receiver) and Bronson Strouse (offensive line) were honored for the first time.

“It’s awesome,” said Raiders’ head coach Sam Bonner. “Nate made it last year, but ... to get four on one team, it tells you how hard these guys worked. I think each one of them, the three specialty guys, broke pretty much every school record there was to break, and that’s through hard work, sticking together and doing it as a team.

“And it’s great that Bronson made it. It’s always nice to see one of those big guys up front make it that sometimes get overlooked. But he was a big part of the success that those guys had, throwing the ball, running the ball and catching the ball. But it’s just great to see those guys on there, who have stuck together probably since sixth or seventh grade finish their careers with probably one of the biggest honors there is, making the all-state team.”

This is the just third time since 1987 that a Times News area team has had four players from the same school named All-State. Panther Valley did so in 1989 and Marian in 1990.

In addition to Boyle, Knoblauch, Kistler and Strouse, Jim Thorpe senior Cobe Frycklund (offensive line) was also selected to the Class 3A team for the first time.

“It’s just tremendous,” said Olympians’ head coach Mark Rosenberger. “He’s an outstanding worker. All the hard work he’s put in over the years has paid off. He’s a kid that’s really determined when it comes to the football field. And he was a very athletic lineman for us. All of the things that he does on the field – he’s big, he’s powerful, and a strong kid – but also extremely athletic. So when you put all of that together, you have an outstanding lineman, which we did with Cobe. It continues to validate what we’re doing at Jim Thorpe High School. All the hard work that our kids are putting in is paying off.”

Boyle sparked the Raiders with 1,877 yards rushing and 32 touchdowns on 241 carries. He also caught 33 passes for 423 yards and a score.

But it was in the postseason where he really excelled, rushing for 985 yards and 13 touchdowns in five playoff games. Boyle holds the records for career rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns, points and is tied with two others with three career 200-yard games at Tamaqua, which finished 12-3 and averaged 35.1 points per game.

He also holds single season records for rushing yards, touchdowns and the school record for rushing yards in a single game.

Boyle also converted 46 extra point attempts, and was a staple on both special teams and defense.

Knoblauch completed 138-of-233 pass attempts for 2,134 yards with 18 touchdowns, with only nine interceptions this season. He is the school’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns, and also holds the marks for most completions and yards in a single season and yards passing in a game.

Kistler was Knoblauch’s top target, finishing with 60 catches for 1,037 yards and 12 touchdowns. He holds school records for career receptions, receiving yards, single season receiving yards, single season receptions, and yards receiving in a game.

“They’ve really been involved with the program, sticking with what we do over the years,” said Bonner. “All four of those guys compliment one another. Each one of those guys played a role in the other having success. Without one of those guys, they don’t have the success that they did as individuals. And with Bronson, being our mainstay up front on both sides of the ball, he obviously helped those guys break all those records.”

Strouse led the team with 17 pancake blocks and also ranked fourth with 73 tackles. His 13 tackles for loss were a team-best, and his four sacks ranked second.

The Raiders closed the season on a tear, winning seven straight after back-to-back losses to Pottsville and North Schuylkill dropped them to 5-2. Tamaqua picked up its first-ever district playoff win with a 49-28 victory over Notre Dame Green Pond. Its season came to an end with a 21-0 loss to eventual state champion Wyoming Area in the Class 3A semis.

“At one point in the season, these guys could have kind of let it slip away with those two losses,” Bonner said. “But instead of doing that, they turned it into one of the most memorable years in Tamaqua football history. That says a lot about them, not just as players, but as people. They stuck together, they worked through some hard times and ended up making something that could have been a disappointing season into one of the best ever.”

Frycklund helped pave the way for an Olympians’ offense that averaged 33.8 points per game. Jim Thorpe defeated Salisbury 41-26 to win the Eastern Conference Class 3A title.

“Cobe is an outstanding young man with great character, so he’s a great role model because of the way he acts off the field,” said Rosenberger. “Then you add in his work ethic and his intensity and his willingness to be a great teammate, you put all those things together and you have someone that’s a captain, a leader for us, which he was. With his ability on the field, you have a well-rounded player. He puts all those things together, the character off the field, the work ethic that it takes to be an outstanding football player, and the grit and athleticism he shows on the field really pays off and produces an outstanding offensive lineman.”