ORWIGSBURG — It was a bad night for Lehighton’s offense Friday.

The first play from scrimmage for the Indians should have been an omen when the ball slipped out of the runner’s hands and Blue Mountain recovered on the Lehighton 9-yard line. An 11-yard carry was Lehighton’s longest rush. And, the Indians didn’t register a first down in the first half.

That sluggish – and sometimes even sloppy – performance was countered with an aggressive performance by the Eagles, which resulted in a 36-0 Indian loss.

Neither team had an impressive start. Blue Mountain took a 2-0 first period lead when Lehighton’s quarterback, while under pressure, got called for intentional grounding while in the end zone.

“Things went south real early,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll.

“I don’t have a whole lot of words, to be honest with you. It was not a good performance on our end in so many areas.”

Still, he found one bright spot.

“I will say, momentarily a couple of times, our defense helped us out with turnovers here and there.”

Disappointment was obvious in his voice.

“I kind of thought we had things worked out but we didn’t execute often,” said McCarroll. “That’s on me. I didn’t put the kids in a good position. The coaches will go back to the drawing board and we’re going to fix things.”

One of the things his defense did was get the ball back right away after the offense gave it up on the first play. Matt Yeakel, a 6-3, 265-pound lineman, forced a fumble on the following play to return the ball to the Maroon on the 10.

The defense came up with another awesome performance the second time the Eagles had the ball. Blue Mountain took a poor punt on the 37 and returned it to the Lehighton 11. The stubborn D let them get only to the 5 before they ran out of downs.

Coach Cory Mabry of Blue Mountain said his kids were pumped up for the game.

“We played poorly last week and I think the kids had something to prove tonight,” said Mabry.

“Offensively, I think we made a lot of mistakes early but we settled down. I’m very pleased with our kid’s performance, I’m pleased with their emotion, and it gets harder and harder as the season goes on. We’ve got to keep battling and battling.”

The Indians crossed midfield just twice in the game.

In the first quarter, they reached the BM 49 but ran out of downs.

In the third quarter, the defense of the Indians had a spectacular play. Blue Mountain had the ball and on a pass play, Zack Miller forced the Eagle receiver to bobble the ball and picked it out of mid air on the 49. In six plays, they drove to the 27 of the Eagles. Quarterback Lucas Sangiuliano, on a fourth and 10 play, ran around the right side but was able to only gain eight yards.

Two plays later, the Eagles answered with an 81-yard TD pass.

NEXT UP ... Lehighton (3-3) has another tough test next week when it travels to Pottsville. Blue Mountain (4-2) faces league contender North Schuylkill.

SOMETHING IN COMMON ... Lehighton has, for decades, had a cannon it shoots at home games when the Indians enter the field or scores. Blue Mountain also has a cannon. And, it’s just as loud as the one the Indians have.

QUITE A SCARE ... The Indians had a scare in the second quarter when Sangiuliano went down with an injury. He walked off the field on his own but didn’t call signals the rest of the night. He did return, though, for some action and indicated he was all right.