Sixteen.

Lehighton has played 16 quarters of football this season. And not once have the Indians trailed during their first four games.Until Thursday night.Down 8-0 against Panther Valley midway through the first quarter, Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll wanted to see how his team would respond to facing a deficit.The Indians responded with touchdowns on six straight possessions en route to a 43-16 victory over the Panthers."For the first time, we actually had a little adversity," McCarroll said. "I said all week I thought they had more playmakers than some of the teams we've faced in the last couple weeks. And I said that we needed to be ready to play. They came out and smacked us in the mouth, and I give them credit for that."But I like the way we responded. When you have a couple weeks where you kind of roll to victories, you're not really sure how the kids are going to respond to adversity. We faced it. I think they responded pretty well, and I'm glad, especially going into the schedule we have coming up."Lehighton (5-0) shook off any shock from the early deficit with 43 unanswered points to close the first half with a commanding lead."It's positive," McCarroll said of how his team bounced back. "I like our balance. We have the ability to kind of run the ball (and) throw the ball, I think, with just as much kind of dangerous threats both ways."Those weapons were on full display during the Indians' scoring surge. Quarterback Cody Scherer completed 7-of-12 passes for 155 yards and two scores, while also adding three rushing touchdowns and 45 yards on just six carries.Scherer hit Zack Crum (two catches, 68 yards) and TaQuan Bradley-Chambers (one catch, 45 yards) for touchdowns. Bradley-Chambers added 100 rushing yards and a score on 12 carries as Lehighton rolled up 344 yards of offense."I love it," Scherer said. "I have a ton of athletes outside and even inside, with TaQuan and Cameron Christman. I'm really happy with the way we're playing so far."Scherer setup the Indians' final touchdown with a 46-yard pass to Crum to the Panther Valley three-yard line with under 20 seconds remaining in the first half. Scherer scored his third rushing touchdown on the next play to give Lehighton a 43-8 lead at the intermission.The three-play drive typified the Indians' offense."We coach our kids to play all the time," McCarroll said. "And we want to coach all the time, especially in the first half. Our philosophy is the first half is not over until that buzzer sounds. Tempo has been a great advantage for us this season. Our kids love it. I think they're a little more locked in. They know we're gonna go fast and up-tempo."We know we can make plays. And it's gonna pay dividends I think for us down the road."Panther Valley (2-3) opened the game with a 10-play, 67-yard drive capped by quarterback Hunter Kennedy's scoring plunge from the one-yard line. Kennedy's two-point conversion made it 8-0. Kennedy completed 8-of-13 passes for 91 yards.The Panthers finished another impressive drive in the fourth quarter when Ethan Reis (9-of-10, 119 yards) found Tristan Blasko (five catches, 31 yards) for a nine-yard touchdown. Reis hit Tyler Baez (seven catches, 128 yards) for the two-point conversion to make it 43-16 with a little over seven minutes remaining in the game."We have to put together four quarters of football," said Panther Valley head coach Scott Price. "Against Jim Thorpe, we came out in the first quarter, they go three-and-out the first two series, second and third quarter they blow us out. (Against) Tamaqua, we give them three-and-outs. We give them some fits in the first quarter. They blow us out. Tonight, we drive the ball down the field. We're happy. We're excited. We're moving the ball, and they put up 43 unanswered (points). We need to put together an entire game."FOR A CAUSE... Thursday's game was the Fifth Annual Bo Tkach Foundation: "Under the Helmet Football Classic." The game was established after losses of students and community members through mental health and drug/alcohol issues occurred at both school districts. Lehighton and Panther Valley joined forces to promote awareness and support for these issues. The game is played annually between the two schools and was established to promote the best in both schools and communities by celebrating the power of athletics and to promote healing and healthy families. Visit

www.botkach.com for more information on the Foundation.