After Jim Thorpe's 42-8 impressive Anthracite Football League victory over Minersville on Friday it was evident that this year's Thorpe team had a little bit of a different attitude.

The tone setter came on Minersville's second play from scrimmage from their own 28-yard line. Miners' running back Aaron Beach took a pitch to the left side of the field and there to meet him was Olympians' defensive back Antonio Madera. Madera laid a video game like hit on Beach that sent not only the JT sideline, but the home side of the bleachers into a frenzy.From that hit on, the Olympians scored six unanswered touchdowns and held the Minersville offense to just 97 yards of total offense.It was a complete and dominant effort by a football team that was frustrated by the way their 2014 season ended."We came into this season with a chip on our shoulder because we're still not happy about losing three straight games to end the season last year and missing the postseason," said Madera. "We all worked hard in the off-season and tonight that showed. We wanted to come out here tonight and make a statement that we're a much tougher, stronger, and hard-hitting team this season."A question mark entering the season for Jim Thorpe was its offensive line. There was a lot of inexperienced players upfront making their first start on Friday night, but those questions were answered early.Thorpe's "O-line" paved the way for a Jim Thorpe rushing attack that gained 246 yards on the ground at 7.6 yards per carry. The Olympians also had five rushing touchdowns on the night, with three of them coming inside the 10-yard line where pushing the guy across from you becomes paramount."Our line did a great job of opening up holes for what I think is a really talented backfield," said Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger. "The offensive line and our backs really had it working tonight. If we can consistently play the way we played upfront tonight for the rest of the season we're going to be successful. But we know it's week one, so this game is behind us now and we need to move forward and keep taking it one week at a time."The most notable returning player for the Olympians this season is running back Robbie Heller. Heller believes that this year's ball club is ready to make a statement."This is the strongest team I've been on in my career at Jim Thorpe," said Heller. "We had a lot of guys working in the off-season to get stronger in order to finish games stronger. That's our goal this season and if we play like we did tonight then we can certainly accomplish that."SPYING THE QUARTERBACK… Minersville Sophomore quarterback Kei'Dre Taylor was on a lot of people's lists to be one of the breakout players in the Anthracite Football League this season. The Jim Thorpe defense must've been paying attention. The "Red Swarm" held Taylor to 1-for-10 passing and also kept him in check on the ground, giving up just 13 yards on 10 carries. Leading Jim Thorpe on "D" was Justin St. Hill and Greg Palmer, who each had sacks on Taylor as well as Robbie Geisinger, who intercepted a Taylor pass.FRIDAY NIGHT LAUNDRY... For Minersville, Friday night must've been laundry night, or so it seemed with all the flags that were flying. Minersville committed nine penalties on the evening, including five for illegal substitution.BIG PLAY ROBBIE… Jim Thorpe running back Robbie Heller only touched the ball six times on the night, but every time he took a handoff he made it count. Especially, on two early JT touchdowns where Heller took it to the house from 49 and 46 yards out.STEPPING IN… Olympians' senior quarterback Dean Richards made his first start on Friday night and looked good doing so. He completed 2-of-4 passing attempts for 74 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 66 yards and a score.