TAMAQUA - Tamaqua's young defense hung tough for a half.
After that, Pottsville's speed, athleticism and experience was just too much for the Blue Raiders to handle.
Humza Hnesh and Brandon Kessock each tallied hat tricks as the Crimson Tide erupted for eight second-half goals to down Tamaqua 10-2 in a Schuylkill League Division I boys' soccer match Monday night.
Hnesh scored a pair of goals 48 seconds apart to break a 1-1 tie, and the Crimson Tide were off and running after that, as eight of their 11 second-half shots found the back of the net.
"Humza and Brandon Kessock have a tremendous amount of speed," Pottsville coach Dave Newton said. "It's nice to have that luxury. It's nice to have that."
Tamaqua (2-4, 2-2 D-I) has just one senior on its active roster and starts three sophomores and a junior on defense in front of junior goalkeeper Dylan Rynkiewicz.
Pottsville (3-4, 2-1) tried to take advantage of that inexperience from the outset, and dominated play for most of the first half.
The Crimson Tide grabbed a quick 1-0 lead at the 4:16 mark when a ball played by Shea Golden was misplayed by a Tamaqua defender into the net. Pottsville had several other excellent opportunities, but couldn't add to its lead.
"For the first 20 minutes, the passing was crisp, it was the way it was supposed to be," Newton said. "As a coaching staff, we were impressed with it.
"Then all of a sudden, the wheels came off a little bit and we had to get back into it. Finally, they came back to the way they're taught how to play."
Tamaqua tied the game at 1 at the 30:47 mark when Stephen Billet collected a goal kick by Rynkiewicz and fed Roberto Borrero, who beat Pottsville goalie Austin Womer.
The game stayed tied until the closing seconds of the first half, when Kessock made a rush up the middle and perfectly chipped the ball over the Tamaqua defense to a rushing Hnesh, who beat Rynkiewicz with 25.9 seconds left in the half.
Pottsville carried that momentum into the second half, scoring three goals in the first nine-plus minutes to take control. Most of the Tide's goals came on passes up the middle of the field to a teammate making a run, leaving the player 1-on-1 with the goalie.
Hnesh started the flurry 23 seconds in, then fed Jake DiCello for a pretty loft from the left side at 46:25. Kessock made it 4-1 on a penalty kick at 49:16 after he was tackled in the box, and Hnesh tallied his third of the game off a feed from Shane Smith at 65:53.
Golden added another goal at the 74:54 before Kessock tallied two goals in the final two minutes to record his hat trick.
"The second half was pretty diabolical," Tamaqua coach Ian Blyth said. "We have a young team. Most of our guys are sophomores or freshmen, and we're struggling to get 11 guys out here every week.
"Pottsville played a great game. They're a very aggressive team, not aggressive to the point where they do things wrong, but they use their size and their speed to their advantage. They took us to the cleaners tonight."
Another key to Pottsville's victory was the play of the Tide defense, which took Tamaqua's leading scorer, Josh Delp, out of the game.
Delp, who entered the game fourth in the league in scoring with seven goals, was held to just two shots before scoring with 5:20 remaining. By that point, Pottsville led 7-1.
"Our guys knew about him, so we adjusted to that," Newton said. "We made sure he didn't have the opportunities, and it worked out."
Added Blyth: "He was buried in the midfield. We had to move things around because our stopper was injured, so we had to put six in the midfield and no one up front.
"He was the guy to shut down. He's one of the top scorers in the league."
The victory was a key one for Pottsville. So far this season, Division I looks like Blue Mountain and everyone else. That means games like Monday's are key in the battle for the second Schuylkill League playoff berth from Division I.
"Hopefully, we'll be in the thick of it," Newton said. "It's the team's goal to be there at the end of the season. It's a long time coming, but I think we'll be there."