Caden Mengel, North Schuylkill (Photo by First Class School Imaging)

FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — Sometimes, a head coach on the losing end of a high school football game doesn’t like to acknowledge that the team that handed him the loss was much better.

But Tamaqua’s Sam Bonner was left to that conclusion after North Schuylkill’s 50-7 rout over the Blue Raiders in a Colonial-Schuylkill League Red Division game Friday night at Ghosh Orthodontic Field at Spartan Stadium

“They’re fast and we got behind,” Bonner said. “Offensively, we made some plays and had some decent drives. But for North Schuylkill, it’s their time.”

The Spartans’ offense rolled to 373 yards of total offense and took very little time to break out to a two-touchdown lead just over two minutes into the game.

North Schuylkill struck on its first play after the opening kickoff when quarterback Caden Mengel found a wide-open Landen Smith downfield and connected for a 65-yard touchdown pass. Luke Miller followed with a 2-point conversion run for an 8-0 lead with 11:16 left in the first quarter.

“We got the isolations and matchup we wanted, which we knew we were going to get on the first play,” North Schuylkill coach Wally Hall said. “Last week we ran the ball real heavy. This week we came out with a shock play.”

The Spartans struck again on their next possession on a 51-yard scoring run by Miller for a 14-0 lead with 9:39 left in the first quarter.

Miller added a 2-yard scoring run on North Schuylkill’s third possession to increase the lead to 20-0 at the end of the opening frame. He made it a three-touchdown night with an 82-yard scoring run in the second quarter as he rushed for 116 yards on just six carries.

North Schuylkill mixed in a solid passing performance by Mengel as he again connected with Smith for a 41-yard pass in the second quarter to up North Schuylkill’s lead to 42-7 at halftime.

Mengel threw for 214 yards on nine passes that included three touchdown passes, with Smith catching three passes for 130 yards and two scores.

He also threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Julian Nelson to cap the first-half scoring.

“We had a lot of explosive plays. We’re a multiple offence,” Hall said. “The execution was good. We have a lot of speed and a lot of guys that can run, so we’re going to use it. Defensively, was had some misalignments that we have to straighten out. The most important thing we need to look forward to is how are we going to get better.”

Despite being out of the game early, the Blue Raiders moved the ball at times and put together a scoring drive with 2:33 left in the second quarter on an 8-yard TD pass from Chase Serfass to C.J. Walker.

Terrence McDowell also had a good rushing game, gaining 120 yards on 23 carries.

But North Schuylkill had the game well enough in hand to be able to substitute freely in the second half. The Spartans capped the scoring in a third quarter when Brock Holmes returned a blocked punt 43 yards for a touchdown.

“We knew we had a letdown against Tamaqua last year,” Hall said. “I just told them to focus on us this year and let’s move forward.”

Game Summary

North Schuylkill 50, Tamaqua 7

Tam (0-2, 0-1)         0          7          0          0  —       7

NS (2-0, 1-0)          20        22          8          0  —    50

NS — Smith 65 pass from Mengel (Miller run)

NS — Miller 52 run (pass failed)

NS — Miller 2 run (run failed)

NS — Miller 82 run (Mengel run)

NS — Smith 41 pass from Mengel (pass failed)

Tam — Walker 8 pass from Serfass (McCabe kick)

NS — Nelson 10 pass from Mengel (Miller run)

NS — Holmes 43 blocked punt return (Miller run)

Team Statistics

Tam-NS

First Downs —- 13      11

Rushes-Yards — 42-170      16-159

Passes —- 7-16-0      10-16-0

Passing Yards —- 47      214

Total Yards —- 217      373

Fumbles/Lost —- 2-1      2-2

Penalties — 1-10      1-5

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Tamaqua — McDowell 23-120, Holmburg 7-35, Walker 5-15, Schickram 3-5, Fronheiser 1-0, Hartman 1-0, Serfass 1-(-1), Schwartz 1-(-4). North Schuylkill — Miller 6-116, Mengel 3-42, Ortiz 1-1, Lopez-Montz 1-0.

PASSING: Tamaqua — Serfass 7-16-0, 47. North Schuylkill — Mengel 9-13-0, 202; Meskunas 1-3-0, 8.

RECEIVING: Tamaqua — McCabe 3-33, Schickram 2-10, Walker 1-5, McDowell 1-(-1). North Schuylkill — Smith 3-130, Hubler 1-41, Miller 2-15, Nelson 1-10, Peters 1-10, Kline 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS: None.