Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner was worried that Friday night's Homecoming game against Panther Valley could be a trap game after playing two tough games against Jim Thorpe and Schuylkill Haven.

He didn't have to worry long.The Raiders (3-2) score four first half touchdowns and put the game under the "Mercy Rule" with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter en route to a 41-0 Anthracite Football League win over the Panthers (1-4).The Panthers turned the ball over three times (two interceptions and a fumble) and the Raiders turned each one into scores."We didn't want to let up and we thought it was important to start to roll right off the bat," Bonner said afterwards. "Trevor Schilling came up with a big interception there. We were a little sloppy to start out but we got the score on the board. I thought all of our kids played a solid game."Schilling's interception put the ball on the Panthers' 19 and Bud Moyer took over running the ball on six of the seven plays it took to hit the end zone. His one-yard run gave the Raiders the lead. Ernie Shilko found Tyler Skripko open for a completion to make it 8-0 with 4:56 left in the first quarter.Before the end of the quarter, the Raiders added another on a six-play, 63-yard drive as Tyler Skripko scored on a 10-yard run.The two Tamaqua TD's in the second quarter were the result of two Panther turnovers.Trevor Skripko recovered a fumble on the PV 37. Three plays later, Tyler Skripko scored again on a 28-yard run.Moments later, Dylan Baddick intercepted a pass and gave the Raiders the ball on the PV 19. Moyer scored on a nine-yard run with 6:19 left in the first half."This has always been a tough place to play for Panther Valley," said the Panthers' head coach Matt Davis. "It's been a while since we've won over here."It was ugly from start to finish. There was a select few kids who gave effort the entire night which is good to see, but at the same time disheartening to see a lack of effort from the others."You can't give a team like Tamaqua the ball, two of the first three possessions in our territory. You can't give them a short field. We said all week we wanted them to drive the field where it's three down territory not four down territory."We've got to regroup. We have a big one next week against Jim Thorpe."An eight-play 54-yard drive by the Raiders on their first possession of the third quarter ended on Tyler Skripko's third touchdown of the night from six-yards out and Thorn Devlin's PAT made it 35-0.Malik Roper ended Tamaqua's scoring with a 33-yard TD run with 8:03 left in the game making it 41-0.The Raider defense held the Panthers from completing a pass and just one-yard total offense on the night. PV never threatened.On the other side, the Raiders have found a quarterback in Shilko, who took over when Thad Zuber went down with an injury"Shilko has done a great job managing the game," said Bonner. "He hadn't played the position, but the last two weeks I think he's done a great job out there. He's made some good decisions, not only throwing the ball, but when not to throw the ball."The two games we lost, those teams are a combined 10-0 so I think our kids have been playing tough football."The Raiders have Minersville and Shenandoah Valley the next two weeks before ending with Blue Mountain, Lehighton and Marian.