Football Preview: Tamaqua Blue Raiders vs. Northwestern Lehigh Tigers
Tamaqua has won five straight games at home (dating back to last season), while Northwestern Lehigh has won five straight on the road also dating back to last season, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Tamaqua Blue Raiders will square off against the Northwestern Lehigh Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Tamaqua is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 33.2 points per game this season.
Tamaqua is headed into the game out to prove that what happened against Lehighton on Friday (when they were outscored in every quarter) was just a minor bump in the road. Tamaqua lost 34-14 to Lehighton. While the Blue Raiders didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Indians 14-7 in the first quarter.
Tamaqua might have lost, but man, Luke Kane was a machine: he rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries, and also threw for 134 yards on ten of 17 attempts. 85 of those passing yards were hauled in by Brady McCabe.
Meanwhile, Northwestern Lehigh never let their opponents score on Friday. They blew past Jim Thorpe, posting a 55-0 win at home. Fans of the Tigers have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Northwestern Lehigh to victory, but perhaps none more so than Shane Leh, who rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 54 yards and a touchdown. That's the most rushing yards Leh has posted since back in November of 2023. Seth Kern was Leh's top target, rushing for 75 yards and a touchdown on only five carries.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Northwestern Lehigh's defense and their six sacks. Shane Hulmes was especially locked on to Jim Thorpe's QB and sacked him three times. Hulmes is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last nine games he's played dating back to last season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Northwestern Lehigh was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 335 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 175 rushing yards in eight consecutive contests.
Tamaqua's loss dropped their record down to 6-2. As for Northwestern Lehigh, their victory bumped their record up to 8-0.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Tamaqua has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 241.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Northwestern Lehigh struggles in that department as they've been averaging 271. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Tamaqua was dealt a bruising 49-6 defeat at the hands of Northwestern Lehigh in their previous matchup back in August of 2023. Thankfully for Tamaqua, Dalton Clymer (who rushed for 74 yards and three touchdowns) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
