Game Summary
Tam (5-2, 4-2) 14 21 6 6 — 47 SV (0-7, 0-4) 0 0 0 0 — 0
T — Moyer 2 run (Moyer kick)
T — Moyer 25 pass from Shilko (Moyer kick)
T — Wassell 54 pass from Shilko (Moyer kick)
T — Moyer 35 run (Moyer kick)
T — Moyer 4 run (Moyer kick)
T — Roper 85 run (kick failed)
T — Gordon 14 run (kick failed)
Tam SV
First Downs 16 4
Rushes-Yards 39-342 23-53
Passes 3-7-0 1-6-1
Passing Yards 84 34
Total Yards 426 87
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-0
Penalties 2-10 2-10
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Tamaqua — Moyer 21-144, Roper 3-104, Gordon 4-28, Smith 3-21, Woods 2-20, Skripko 3-9, Dannenfelser 1-11, Hermany 1-4, Baddick 1-1. Shenandoah Valley — Santana 14-13, McCole 4-7, Florio 2-22, Huggins 1-4, Allegretta 1-2, Urbanavage 1-5.
PASSING: Tamaqua — Shilko 3-7-0, 84. Shenandoah Valley — McCole 1-6-1, 34.
RECEIVING: Tamaqua — Wassell 1-54, Moyer 1-25, Baddick 1-5. Shenandoah Valley — Urbanavage 1-34.
INTERCEPTIONS: Tamaqua — Ty. Skripko, Wassell.
SHENANDOAH — The Shenandoah Valley homecoming parade and the halftime ceremony had the local partisans in a festive mood Friday night.
But visiting Tamaqua was in its own kind of mood, the one of a contending team looking to keep a winning streak going and stay alive for a playoff run.
The Blue Raiders won their fourth straight game and fifth in their last six after taking it to the Blue Devils from the outset for a 47-0 victory in an Anthracite Football League game.
The win keeps Tamaqua in contention in the District 11 Class AA power rankings with three regular-season games remaining.
“We’re going to have a tough run ahead of us so we have to get better each week,” Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner said. “We’re going to be underdogs the next three weeks and we kind of like that. It’s time to show what we got.”
Tamaqua (5-2, 4-2 AFL) and its offensive line established itself on its first offensive series. The Red Raiders used a 15-play, 73-yard drive to take the lead for good at 7-0 on a 2-yard scoring run by Collin Moyer that took more than 8 minutes off the clock.
Moyer rushed for 144 yards and scored four touchdowns as Tamaqua used the momentum to build a 35-0 lead at halftime. The Blue Raiders ended up with 426 yards of total offense.
Quarterback Ernie Shilko, a converted running back who entered the season as the emergency backup signal-caller, made two of those scores happen with a pair of touchdown passes — a 25-yard toss to Moyer with 35 seconds left in the first quarter and a 54-yard bomb to Zeke Wassell with 10:02 left in the second quarter.
Moyer then scored on touchdown runs of 35 and 4 yards, respectively, to put the game in mercy-rule mode by halftime. Two of Tamaqua’s first-half touchdowns were set up on interceptions by Tyler Skripko and Wassell.
“We’re a run-first team. We stayed on our blocks and had a nice long first drive,” Bonner said. “Shilko has been managing and running the team very well.
“We are throwing more stuff at him each week. Moyer is getting close to the 1,000 yard mark.”
Tamaqua’s reserve players had a chance to shine in the second half as running back Malik Roper broke loose for an 85-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Roper ended up with 104 yards rushing.
Josh Gordon also scored a touchdown on a 15-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, Tamaqua held the Blue Devils (0-7, 0-4) to four first downs and 87 yards.