ORWIGSBURG — If there was any thought of a letdown by Blue Mountain during Friday’s Anthracite Football League contest with Minersville, the Eagles put that thought away early and often.
Blue Mountain scored four first-quarter touchdowns en-route to a 42-6 victory at the Eagles’ Nest.
The Eagles used their defense and the strong leg of kicker Christian Puzzi to pin Minersville deep in its own territory in the first quarter.
Puzzi’s first five kicks were touchbacks and the Eagles defense held the Miners to zero total yards and picked off two Kei’dre Taylor passes in the first quarter to set up scores.
Lucas Forbes scored from 5 yards out for the first touchdown. That drive started at the 48-yard line.
Then quarterback Mason Freed found Spencer Welsh for a 17-yard touchdown pass. That drive started at Miners’ 18-yard line.
Next, Matt Kalyan scampered 5 yards for a score. That drive started at the Miners’ 11-yard line.
Then Mike Kalyan got in the act when he scored on the first play of the drive from 49 yards out to cap the first-quarter scoring.
In all, the Eagles ran 10 plays and scored four touchdowns to get off to the quick start.
“We don’t take anyone for granted,” Blue Mountain head coach Cory Mabry said. “I know Minersville isn’t where they want to be right now, but they have some athletes and some nice-sized kids. Our kids came with some emotion and I am happy with our execution, and that is what our goal was.”
The second quarter started just like the first. Blue Mountain scored two touchdowns on two plays.
Freed found Nathan Calderone for a 19-yard touchdown score for the first.
On the next series, Mark Chelius took a handoff and ran 42 yards to cap the Eagles’ scoring on the night.
With the win, Blue Mountain improved to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the AFL. The victory also kept its postseason hopes alive.
Mabry cautioned that Blue Mountain has some big games left, and there is still a lot to be decided.
“Sure we would like to be undefeated, but we lost to a pretty good football team,” Mabry said of undefeated Lehighton. “We are not looking back anymore. We are looking ahead. Every week we write 0-0 on the board. We have some pretty good opponents coming up and we need to be ready.”
Game Summary
Miners (0-7, 0-7) 0 0 0 6 — 6
BM (6-1, 5-1) 28 14 0 0 — 42
BM — Forbes 5 run (Puzzi kick)
BM — Welsh 17 pass from Freed (Puzzi kick)
BM — Ma. Kalyan 5 run (Puzzi kick)
BM — Mi. Kalyan 49 run (Puzzi kick)
BM — Calderone 19 pass from Freed (Puzzi kick)
BM — Chelius 42 run (Puzzi kick)
M — Griffiths 49 run (kick failed)
Miners Blue
First Downs 6 13
Rushes-Yards 32-109 34-243
Passes 0-6-2 5-8-0
Passing Yards 0 51
Total Yards 109 294
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties 1-5 4-40
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Minersville — Griffiths 5-73, Bethea 12-31, S. Hoffman 2-8, Taylor 8-7, Mikelsavage 1-4, McBreen 1-(-4), Fekette 3-(-10). Blue Mountain — Chelius 2-74, Mi. Kalyan 2-55, McKivigan 7-29, Sincavage 4-27, Krewson 5-25, Forbes 2-14, Ma. Kalyan 3-12, Donovan 4-8, Dallatore 4-3, Bedway 1-(-4).
PASSING: Minersville — Taylor 0-4-2, 0; McBreen 0-2-0, 0. Blue Mountain — Freed 4-6-0, 43; Krewson 1-2-0, 8.
RECEIVING: Blue Mountain — Calderone 1-19, Welsh 1-17, Kurten 1-8, Chelius 1-6, Lewis 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS: Blue Mountain — Chelius, Welsh.