Nick Breiner has etched an indelible legacy at Tamaqua.

A record-setting rusher with no shortage of highlight-reel plays to his name, the senior added another chapter to an already storied career with the Raiders last Friday.

Breiner rushed for 195 yards and three touchdowns as Tamaqua capped its regular season with a 48-0 win over Marian.

His performance helped the Raiders clinch a spot in the District 11 Class 3A playoffs, and secured Breiner Times News Football Player of the Week honors.

“It was great. I think it was important for the coaching staff, as well as his teammates,” said Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner. “The kid’s done so much over the past four years, it was good to see him finish his regular season, first off at 9-1 and with a piece of the Schuylkill League championship, and against a rival. To have 185-200 yards against a rival team, finishing the year as the leading rusher at Tamaqua, he kind of puts a little stamp on it. It’s (the rushing record) not going to be that easy to break, getting a couple hundred more yards. The kid, if anyone deserves it that I’ve coached, it’s Nick.

“But we’re hoping for a big game from him this week as well. But it was nice to see him get the three scores, rush for almost 200 yards. He’s a good kid, and he deserves it.”

Breiner’s scores covered 30, 33 and 25 yards. It was his second game of the season with three rushing touchdowns, the other coming in a win over Panther Valley.

“We were looking to pound the ball,” said Breiner, who has rushed for 1,211 yards and 17 scores on 140 carries this season. “We tried to throw in some stuff we didn’t run before, a little hurry-up offense, but we really tried to pound the ball, and really run it down their throats. It worked out for us. I had a good game, Nate (Boyle) had a good game, it worked out well.”

The Raiders have had balance all season, something that was on display again last week against the Colts, with Boyle adding three rushing scores on just nine carries, while also hauling in three passes for 57 yards from quarterback Brayden Knoblauch, who added 130 yards passing.

“It helps a lot,” Breiner said of the team’s varied attack. “We have a lot of weapons. We don’t just focus on one guy, and it really spreads it out. You never know what we’re going to throw at the defense, and the defense doesn’t know what’s coming at them. Anyone can run the ball, anyone can catch the ball. Brayden (Knoblauch), he has a great arm, he can really put it in there in tight spots, and it really worked out.”

Tamaqua piled up 274 yards on the ground, and 433 total, while pitching its sixth shutout of the season against Marian.

“We just wanted to look at shoring up our fundamentals, going back to some basic stuff that we ran successfully, and making sure that we ran it well,” said Bonner. “We wanted to get back to our power game, back to our toss, stuff that has been kind of a staple in our playbook, and we wanted to do that well. And we threw in a little wrinkle here and there, a little no-huddle and stuff like that, which is something we may be looking at running down the line. But we just wanted to get a little practice with that as well.”

Breiner, who became school’s all-time leading rusher earlier this season, will have a chance to add to his legacy Friday night as Tamaqua seeks its first District 11 playoff win in the Class 3A semifinals against Notre Dame Green Pond.

“It’ll be great. It’s motivation for our school,” said Breiner. “Like I said before, we haven’t won a district game ever in school history. So it would be really cool for us to get that first win in districts, and make history for our team, and my senior year. It would be great, and it’s just awesome for us.”