ORWIGSBURG – Jim Thorpe’s offense didn’t look as attractive as the Blue Mountain homecoming court Friday evening.

Then again, with uniforms soiled, muddy and ugly, it needed only to look good enough for the coach and the fans.

Turning loose a tenacious defense, and just the right offensive touch, the Olympians bounced back with a win over the Eagles, 14-0.

The win shoots Thorpe’s record to 6-1 after losing an 8-6 heartbreaker the previous week to North Schuylkill. It also showed what Thorpe is made of and what lay ahead. Tamaqua’s huge 26-14 win over North Schuylkill in a battle of undefeated teams keeps Thorpe’ Schuylkill Football League Division I title hopes alive.

“Our team is going to fight you all the way,” said Thorpe quarterback Roberto Santiago, who scored his teams’ second touchdown on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter. “We believe in each other; we can’t worry about the loss … we had to come back and win this game.”

Although they dominated on both sides of the ball, the real telltale sign was a defensive thrashing. Blue Mountain couldn’t run, couldn’t pass and managed a grand total of 29 yards of offense.

“We hurt ourselves with penalties and fumbles,” said JT head coach Mark Rosenberger. “It was a fumble that stopped us in the first series … but the bottom line is our defense played lights out, They were outstanding.”

The only real legitimate threat the Eagles could muster came with 6:39 to play in the game. Thorpe muffed a punt return try, forked the ball over on its own 29, and then proceeded to smack Blue Mountain with a punch-in-the-nose defensive stand. On four downs, Blue Mountain found itself with minus 6 yards, with a huge sack by Nathan Rosahac that quelled the attack on third down.

“We talk about doing your job and discipline,” said Rosenberger.

Perhaps that was never more profound than when cornerback JC Sandoval didn’t bite on a halfback option pass.

“They tried hitting on him twice — one on a speed pass, the other on a fade,” said Rosenberger, “but he was in great coverage.”

The Olympians flew right at the Eagles to start after deferring the first-half kickoff, forced a three-and-out and mounted a drive that started on their own 6. CJ Selby, who ran for 174 yards on 21 carries, ripped off two runs for 28 yards, and the drive looked spot-on until they turned the ball over at the Blue Mountain 22 with a fumble.

The Eagles returned the turnover favor two series later at the Thorpe 35. Thorpe needed seven plays to hit pay dirt, as Jarrin Geisinger ran four yards for the score.

“There was no need to panic,” said Selby. “Yeah, we hurt ourselves with the turnovers and all but when we went to the (Wildcat offense), that seemed to open things up for us.”

Even though Thorpe wasn’t hitting the end zone with regularity, they were dominating with time of possession and scored enough points with the way the defense was so agitating.

“Any time you possess the ball, that’s going to help your defense,” said Rosenberger. “I think the bottom line comes down to kids following the game plan ... The bottom line was executing.”

HEADED FOR A CLASH ... Through seven weeks of football the lone undefeated team in the SFL D-I is Tamaqua. The biggest matchup will come in Week 9 when Thorpe hosts the Blue Raiders. Get a ticket now, as it will be an SRO show.

DRIVING YOU DIZZY ... Thorpe’s offense can cause a team to go gaga if you don’t stay home and let the action come to you with all the misdirection. And when the Olympians go Wildcat, well that makes for even more confusion.

JUST MISSED A SURE SIX ... Rosahac came close to getting a 52-yard touchdown pass. He got behind the Blue Mountain secondary and was free but Santiago overthrew him.