Football can be such a strange game.

The AFL contest between Lehighton and Minersville started off slow-very slow. The Battlin' Miners' first drive consisted of 13 plays and milked just under eight minutes off of the clock. Both teams combined for six penalties, two of which gave Minersville automatic first downs.However, Lehighton clamped down defensively, and stalled Minersville in the red zone on the game's initial drive. The game would quickly shift gears after that, as Lehighton roared back and completed a 41-6 rout of Minersville."We weren't quite surprised with Minersville's first, long drive," said star Lehighton tailback Wyatt Clements. "We knew they would try and take it to us right away. We told each other to pick our heads up and not worry about it. We know if we play the game we know how to play, we would drive the ball right back down."The Indians indeed drove the ball "right back down," as Clements took Lehighton's second play of its initial drive 49 yards to pay dirt. Clements had no trouble running during the win, totaling 134 yards on just eight carries."We had a very poor week of practice," explained Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. "I wasn't very surprised with the way we came out of the gate. We had too many penalties, it's not characteristic of the way we coach our kids and the way we prepare in practice. But, I was pleased with the way we bounced back."Lehighton's second defensive sequence was much better, as it forced a Miners' three-and-out. Immediately following the defensive stand, Lehighton decided to speed the game back up and utilize "the big play." Senior quarterback Tyler Cann found Nick Chambers over the middle for a 53-yard score. The Indians were up by two scores in the first quarter, and never trailed in the contest."He's a new kid, but he sure doesn't look like it," explained Clements of the team's new tight end. "He has the skills of a four-year starter. He has outstanding athletic ability. He's great at every sport he plays, not everyone quite saw him yet, but we're looking to have big plays from him all year."Cann completed five his six passes on the night, mostly to new weapons that weren't featured in last year's offense.Said McCarroll, "Even though we lost some great playmakers last year, we have some new kids that came in that we really trust right now. We were able to showcase a few of them tonight, and hopefully we can for the rest of the year."Cann is not only a leader on the offensive side of the ball, but showed his playmaking capability on the other side of the line of scrimmage on Friday. Cann racked up four scores on the night, one being a 23-yard interception return. The Lehighton senior credited the play to his teammate Gavin Zehner, who laid a massive block to make the touchdown possible.He said, "We're going to need to be resilient if we want to compete against big schools. I'm happy with our offense, and I liked the way we exploded off of the ball-but our defense is going to have to pick it up next week. Now, our focus is on North Schuylkill."FAKE, WHAT?...Minersville completed just one pass and tallied 20 passing yards during the contest, all of which were accounted for on a fake punt-pass on the team's first drive.GAINS FOR DAYS...Lehighton showcased their offensive explosiveness, as it had five plays of over 20 yards.WHY WAIT?...Chip Kelly would approve of Lehighton' offensive pace last night. After the lethargic start of the game, the Indians scored on two of its first four plays of the game, and racked up 133 yards during the sequence.TIME IS MONEY...Lehighton wasted no time when it scored in the first half. On its first three soring drives, it only took the Indians a combined 2:37 of actual game-time to find the end zone.