TAMAQUA — At 5-foot-10, 206 pounds, Tamaqua’s Tyler Skripko is an imposing figure on the football field.
The senior fullback is a bulldozer when he’s the first guy through the hole.
When he’s carrying the football, he’s even tougher to stop.
Skripko excelled in both facets on offense Friday, helping Tamaqua to a 40-8 victory over Minersville in an Anthracite Football League contest at Tamaqua All-Sports Stadium.
Skripko first cleared the way for junior Collin “Bud” Moyer to rush for 217 yards and four scores as the Blue Raiders (4-2, 3-2 AFL) compiled 392 yards on the ground. Then he rumbled for a pair of second-half touchdowns, finishing with a season-best 138 yards and increasing his season TD total to 11.
The win was Tamaqua’s third straight.
“Tyler and Bud are two big, strong kids,” Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner said. “They have more burst than we expected, and they get some tough yards. Both kids are hard-nosed kids.
“Both of those guys have been doing better as the year has gone on.”
Moyer rushed for 151 of his yards in the first half, scoring on runs of 1, 47 and 21 as Tamaqua built a 21-0 halftime lead.
His first touchdown capped a game-opening, nine-play, 69-yard march. His second score came on the Raiders’ first play of the second quarter, when he blew through a big hole on a trap play and raced down the sideline for a 47-yard TD.
“The line did a really good job pulling,” Moyer said of the trap play. “Tyler Andrews got me a really big hole. I don’t think I was touched.
“The line blocked great, (Skripko) was blocking great for me and I just hit the holes. He gets holes for me every week.”
Tamaqua pulled away in the third quarter, scoring on three straight offensive plays.
Skripko scored on a 16-yard run on a third-and-5 play on the Blue Raiders’ first possession, then burst free for a 43-yard TD on the first play of Tamaqua’s next possession.
When Tamaqua got the ball back again, Moyer raced 59 yards for a score on the first play to make it 40-0 with 2:06 left in the third quarter and invoke the mercy rule.
“I like when Coach gives me the ball. I don’t get it a lot, but when I do I like to take advantage,” Skripko said. “I like to hit the hole quick and make plays.”
Defensively, Tamaqua dominated the line of scrimmage, stuffing Minersville’s running game and harassing quarterbacks Jon McBreen and Kei’dre Taylor when they tried to throw.
The Blue Raiders held Minersville to just 17 yards rushing in the first half and 68 for the game and recorded five sacks, two each by junior linebacker Trevor Schilling and sophomore defensive end Eddie Titus.
Not including punts, 13 of the Miners’ 45 plays went for negative yards.
“Eddie Titus really stepped up. I was really proud of him for being a young guy,” Skripko said. “We had a few mental lapses, but I thought our defense played great. We had a lot of people flying to the ball and making plays.”
Minersville (1-5, 1-5) ended Tamaqua’s bid for a shutout in the fourth quarter when Taylor connected with Storm Fekette on a 2-yard TD pass with 1:11 remaining.
The Miners entered Friday’s game on the heels of two strong performances, but were just overmatched by the Blue Raiders.
“They were just physically better than us tonight,” Minersville coach Pat Mason said. “They run the ball well, they have three strong backs, they’re sound at what they do and they just do it. We weren’t physical defensively tonight, and we weren’t physical offensively tonight. They just took it to us.”
Game Summary
Min (1-5, 1-5) 0 0 0 8 — 8 Tam (4-2, 3-2) 7 14 19 0 — 40
T —Moyer 1 run (Devlin kick)
T —Moyer 47 run (kick failed)
T —Moyer 18 run (Moyer run)
T — Ty. Skripko 16 run (run failed)
T —Ty. Skripko 43 run (kick blocked)
T —Moyer 59 run (Kurek kick)
M —Fekette 2 pass from Taylor (Griffiths run)
Min Tam
First Downs 7 16
Rushes-Yards 36-68 45-392
Passes 4-9-1 3-5-0
Passing Yards 23 41
Total Yards 91 433
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 2-1
Penalties 0-0 7-51
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Minersville — Killian 3-38, Miklesavage 2-27, Bethea 6-25, Griffiths 4-20, Schultz 7-19, Lucas 2-3, Stephen 2-(-2), Taylor 3-(-4), Team 3-(-28), McBreen 4-(-30). Tamaqua — Moyer 18-217, Ty. Skripko 9-138, Shilko 3-21, Woods 9-11, Gordon 3-8, Dannenfelser 2-5, Rother 1-(-8).
PASSING: Minersville — McBreen 3-5-1, 21; Taylor 1-4-0, 2. Tamaqaua — Shilko 2-4-0, 41; Rother 1-1-0, 0.
RECEIVING: Minersville — Fekette 2-14, Brennan 1-6, Stephen 1-3. Tamaqua — Ty. Skripko 2-41, Kurek 1-0.
INTERCEPTIONS: Tamaqua — Moyer.