The Notre Dame-Green Pond Crusaders will face off against the Tamaqua Blue Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Notre Dame-Green Pond's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last eight contests.
Notre Dame-Green Pond is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Thursday. They blew past Salisbury Township 56-6. The win continues a trend for the Crusaders in their matchups with the Falcons: they've now won seven in a row.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Notre Dame-Green Pond to victory, but perhaps none more so than Jonathan Striba, who picked up 83 receiving yards and one TD, and also punched in one score on the ground. Matt Bodnar was another key signal caller, throwing for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only 15 passes.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Notre Dame-Green Pond's defense and their four sacks. That dominant display was truly a team effort as four different players picked up one apiece. Nyechay Lawless got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Tamaqua was able to grind out a solid victory over Saucon Valley on Thursday, taking the game 22-15.
Tamaqua found their leader in sophomore Terrence McDowell Jr, who rushed for 179 yards and a pair of scores. McDowell Jr's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 113 rushing yards. Tamaqua also got a significant boost from Malachi Stewart, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 93 yards.
Tamaqua was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 283 rushing yards. They are 3-1 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
Tamaqua didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Shawn Chen and Ace Schickram.
Notre Dame-Green Pond's record now sits at 11-0. As for Tamaqua, their record is now 4-7.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Notre Dame-Green Pond has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 266.2 passing yards per game. Tamaqua, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 195 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Everything came up roses for Notre Dame-Green Pond against Tamaqua when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 60-13 win. In that game, the Crusaders amassed a halftime lead of 40-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
