Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll knew his football team couldn't overlook a potentially dangerous Panther Valley squad, especially in a rare Thursday night contest.

McCarroll didn't have to wait long for reassurance that his team came ready to play.The Indians set the tone early with a touchdown less than a minute into the game and never looked back en route to a 41-14 Anthracite Football League win over the Panthers."We knew that we could not take this team lightly," McCarroll said of Panther Valley afterwards. "We tried to get up on them pretty quick, but we were ready to go four quarters with them."Fortunately, we executed very well and they made some mistakes that we were able to capitalize on. Things just kind of fell our way tonight in all facets of the game."Lehighton (5-2, 5-1 AFL) came out firing, as Tyler Cann hit Tyler Crum down the seam with a 42-yard strike on the first play from scrimmage to quickly move the team inside the Panther Valley 10-yardline.The Indians cashed in two plays later, as Wyatt Clements scored his first of three touchdowns from 1-yard out to give his squad a 6-0 lead with 11:02 left in the first quarter.What ensued just seconds later on Panther Valley's (1-6, 1-6 AFL) first possession of the game was a theme that was present throughout the first half.Lehighton needed just three plays to convert a Matt Hudicka fumble into a score as Clements recorded his second TD of the game, this time from 11 yards out to give the Indians a 14-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.Six turnovers plagued Panther Valley over the first two quarters and essentially eliminated any chance the Panthers had of making a comeback against the Indians."It's absolutely unacceptable to turn the ball over that many times in one half," Panther Valley coach Matt Davis said. "There's no way we're going to beat anybody playing the way we did."The Indians certainly made the most of the opportunities, scoring 28 points off the Panthers' miscues as they built a 41-0 halftime advantage, with Clements notching his third score of the game with over four minutes to play in the second quarter.Despite the solid performance - 55 yards on eight carries, in addition to playing stellar defense - Clements knows there's still work to do."There's always room for improvement," the junior said. "We can always come back next week and be better than we were this week."Clements wasn't the only one that had a big night on the offensive side of the ball. Tom Ruzicka scored two touchdowns, while Cann passed for 168 yards and Crum had 130 yards receiving to go along with a rushing touchdown in what proved to be a balanced attack for the Indians."Sometimes it's kind of difficult to spread the ball around because we have so many playmakers," McCarroll said. "But a night like tonight is good for that, especially when other teams are trying to prepare for us because it's tough for anybody to key on one or two guys."We know we have some kids that can make plays with the ball and tonight was a night that showcased that."Panther Valley found its rhythm on offense early in the fourth quarter after a Lehighton fumble.Freshman quarterback Tristan Blasko engineered a 31-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 6-yard touchdown pass to Josue Rodriguez, which was followed by a two-point conversion toss to Danny Gilberry.Blasko was at it again on Panther Valley's next drive, which he capped with a 15-yard scamper for a touchdown.The spark Blasko and several other underclassmen provided late in the game is something Davis is hoping his team can build on."We have a lot of juniors that start for us, but at the end it was basically all freshmen and sophomores," the coach said. "I think Tristan has a very bright future, and he took the opportunity he was given tonight and made the most of it, and it was great to see."For as difficult as the first half was, the second half kinda made us feel a little bit better about the future we have with this program."For Lehighton, the focus shifts to a future that will hinge on what happens over the final weeks of the season."We have three more games to go (in the regular season) and they're all important," McCarroll noted. "They're going to be crucial if we want to make the playoffs."