POTTSVILLE — Lehighton couldn’t have asked for a better first quarter on Friday night.

But the final three frames?

Let’s just say the Indians might want to forget about them.

Tom McCarroll’s squad battled powerful Pottsville toe-to-toe in the opening 12 minutes of their Schuylkill League Division 1 contest, but the Tide dominated the rest of the way and rolled to a 61-6 victory.

“I was proud of the way the kids came out,” said McCarroll, whose team trailed just 7-6 after the first period. “Last week (against Blue Mountain) I don’t think we were representative of what we want our program to be, so we talked about coming out and not worrying about the score. We didn’t want to worry about anything but just fighting — try to represent the program the way they should.

“And I couldn’t be more proud of how we came out of the gate swinging.”

After Pottsville’s Damon Yost hit Mason Barnes with a 56-yard touchdown pass on the Tide’s first possession, Lehighton responded.

The Indians (3-4) put together an impressive nine-play drive, converting on both a third and a fourth down, that resulted in a 25-yard scoring toss from Richard Fronheiser to Zack Hunsicker.

“We came out and scored relatively easy,” said Pottsville mentor Tom McGeoy. “But Lehighton didn’t quit. They came back and scored and kind of punched us in the face and woke us up a little bit.

“After that, I really liked the way our defense played. And our offense made the plays they needed to. The big plays were there and we started to finish some drives.”

The Tide (6-1) defense, like their head coach said, was lights out after the first quarter. Lehighton couldn’t muster any first downs and failed to reach Pottsville territory the rest of the contest.

Offensively, the home team put together a couple of impressive marches that resulted in touchdowns. Kevin DiCello finished off one drive with a 1-yard scoring run, and Yost tossed a 6-yard TD strike to Kevin Schenk, who outjumped a Lehighton defender in the end zone for a 21-6 lead.

Schenk turned in one of the biggest plays right before the half, when he scooped up a blocked punt by Lucas Drum and returned it 20 yards to the end zone. That pushed the margin to 28-6 with just 12 seconds left in the second frame.

“The blocked punt. That really sealed the deal,” said McGeoy. “That, and scoring on the first play of the second half. Those two kind of put things away.”

“There’s a very small margin of error when you play a team like that,” said McCarroll. “I said all week that they’re probably as complete a team as I’ve seen. They have the ability to throw the ball, and they’re very physical up front and able to run the ball. That creates a very difficult situation for us.”

The Tide ended up scoring all five times they had the ball in the second half, including the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter when Yost connected with Barnes for a 32-yard strike.

“We came down and we answered in the beginning,” said McCarroll. “A good team will bounce back one way or another. They got the stops they needed and eventually they answered. Give credit to them. They’re a heckuva team. They’re very well-coached team and they have 21 seniors, so they’re also very experienced.”

BIG PLAYS ... Pottsville ended up with 19 offensive plays that went for 10-or-more yards, compared to just three for Lehighton.

DEFENSIVE STOP ... After the Indians scored to make it 7-6, they also came up with a big stop on defense. Brett Gasker had a fourth-down sack of Yost in the red zone to thwart the drive.

INJURY BUG ... Lehighton started Fronheiser at quarterback, as starter Lucas Sangiuliano was sidelined. The Indians also lost Hunter Crum to an injury in the first half.

UP AHEAD ... The Indians host Tamaqua on Friday, while Pottsville travels to Jim Thorpe.