Better late than never.

The 2020 high school football season kicked off last Friday night across Pennsylvania. The start of the season came two weeks later than originally planned and not everyone was playing.

But six of the nine Times News area schools that play football - Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Marian, Panther Valley, Northwestern and Tamaqua - were part of the opening night festivities.

Was it different? Definitely.

In the last month, schedules had to be changed, attendance policies had to be drawn up, and health and safety plans had to be put into effect.

But in the end, despite all the doubts about whether or not there would be a football season, games were played, teams impressed, and athletes shined.

Because all that happened, we’re able to kick off another year of our Overtime column.

Once again this season, Overtime will try to find stories from the previous week’s games that might have flown under the radar. Maybe it was an unsung hero, a daring play call, or a unique situation that has come to our attention. Meanwhile, the statistical part of our column will not only highlight some of the top accomplishments from the previous week, but will feature Rod Heckman’s research into the Times News archives to find out how often something has happened and when it happened last.

So with the first regulation games of the season now in the books, let’s head into Overtime.

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Anyone who has followed the Tamaqua football team the last couple of seasons, has undoubtedly read the words “Boyle kick” in newspaper boxscores following Blue Raider touchdowns. The way the high-powered Raider offense put up points during that span, those words appeared quite often.

In addition to being a true “48-minute man” for Tamaqua - an offensive and defensive star who rarely came off the field - Nate Boyle was the Bue Raider placekicker, converting 49 extra points as a junior and 46 as a senior.

With Boyle graduated, Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner needed to find a replacement. He found one in Nate’s household.

During last week’s 49-7 victory over Shenandoah, the Tamaqua box-score featured the words “Boyle kick” five times. That’s because the new Tamaqua placekicker is Nate’s younger sibling.

There are some differences, however. This Boyle is a lot smaller. Unlike Nate, this Boyle is strictly a kicker. But the biggest difference is that this Boyle is a female.

The new kicker is Nate’s sister, Sophia Boyle.

“Sophia has been our game day manager and water girl the last three years when her brother was playing,” Bonner explained.

The reason why Sophia was mostly a game day manager and didn’t attend practices was because she was busy as a standout member of the Tamaqua girls soccer team.

The soccer kicking skills have obviously served her well kicking a football.

“During the offseason, Sophia came up to me and asked if she could give placekicking a try,” Bonner said. “During her tryout, she shanked her first kick and then made eight or nine in a row. So I knew right away that Sophia could help us.

“She’s extremely accurate. It’s not unusual for her to go 9-for-10 or 10-for-10 during extra point practice.”

At 4-11, 120 pounds, Sophia Boyle is almost a half foot smaller than anyone else on the Tamaqua roster. But Bonner said he was never worried that she would have trouble going from a controlled practice environment to the pressure of game situations.

“She a tremendous athlete,” Bonner said. “If you saw her playing soccer or basketball you would know that she’s a gamer. She’s aggressive, she’s tough, she isn’t going to be intimidated.”

Boyle rewarded Bonner for his confidence, hitting her first five conversion attempts against Shenandoah.

Boyle is the second female football player during Bonner’s 14-year tenure as the Raiders’ head coach. Taylor Gerber was the only other girl, playing nearly a decade ago.

“Taylor was also a kicker and she had a few extra points the year she played,” Bonner said. “But I don’t think she even got as many attempts that entire season as Sophia got Friday night, so she is definitely the first female player that will have a big role for a team I coached.

“Extra points can be crucial. They can be the difference between winning and losing and sometimes a reliable, accurate kicker can be hard to find. I think both Lehighton and Panther Valley had seasons since I’ve been coaching here where they had really good teams, but were forced to go for two-point conversions all the time because they didn’t have kickers. So, I’m thrilled Sophia gives us a kicker that we can be confident with entering our games.”

Bonner said Boyle won’t be used for kickoffs or long field goals.

“If we needed a short field goal, we would use Sophia up to about 25-30 yards,” Bonner said. “For anything longer, we would probably use Lucas Schickram. But for extra points, Sophia is definitely the most consistent kicker we have.”

As far as comparing the kicking forms of the two Boyles are concerned, Bonner said Nate had more power and distance, but Sophia could give him a run when it comes to accuracy.

“Sophia is probably just as consistent as Nate was, but Sophia also never will have to worry about running 80 yards for a touchdown and then having to kick an extra point seconds later,” Bonner said with a laugh. “So, I would think that has to make things a little easier.”

Sophia Boyle will be saving her long runs with the ball for the soccer field. But when it comes to kicking it, she looks like she might have the ability to star on both the soccer and football fields.

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DEFENSIVE MILESTONE ... Northwestern’s Taylor Wickert tied a school record last Friday when he intercepted three Palisades passes during a 36-28 win. Wickert’s hat trick, according to assistant coach and stat guru Greg Mitchell, also matched the three picks recorded by Steve Clay (in a 1987 game against Stroudsburg) and Carl Fries (during a 1969 contest against Cardinal Brennan).

The Tigers actually had four picks in the game, as Jacob Peters also had one. Since 1993 - a span of 306 games - this is just the ninth time Northwestern has intercepted at least four passes in a game.

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WHO NEEDS TO PASS? ... Tamaqua cruised to a 49-7 victory over Shenandoah Valley Friday in its season opener. The Blue Raiders accumulated 389 yards of offense - all of them coming on the ground.

Sam Bonner’s team attempted five passes in the contest, without completing any. The last time Tamaqua didn’t complete a pass in a game was Oct. 17, 2003 - 177 games ago - during a 19-13 victory over Panther Valley. In that win, the Raiders ran for 243 yards.

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INDIANS AERIAL ATTACK ... While Tamaqua didn’t go to the air in its game, Lehighton surely did. The Indians threw for 349 yards during their opening-night win over Panther Valley.

Richard Fronheiser, the Week 1 Player of the Week, tossed five touchdowns in the victory. The last time a Lehighton player threw that many TDs in a game was Aug. 31, 2007 - 141 games ago - when Brandon Williams also had five at Marian.

In addition to that, four different Lehighton receivers (Ian Rarick, Zack Hunsicker, Hunter Crum and Ethan Buchert) caught TD passes. The last time the Indians had four different receivers snare scoring passes in one game was Oct. 1, 2010 when Josh Agosto threw for four scores - one each to Graham Strauss, Giuseppe Caruso, Anthony Farole and Matt Rebovich.

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LONG ONE FOR LOUIE ... In Panther Valley’s season-opening game against Lehighton last Friday, Louie Clouser gave his team something to cheer about when he broke free for an 80-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Since 2000 - a span of 204 games - the Panthers have rushed for 276 touchdowns. Only two of those scores on the ground have covered more yardage. Kyle Ferryman had a 94-yard rushing touchdown on Oct. 11, 2013, while Dan Blazosky reached the end zone from 86 yards away on Nov. 3, 2000.

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JT PRACTICES ‘SAFETY’ FIRST ... Jim Thorpe opened its season last Friday with a shutout win over Marian. The Olympians opened their scoring in the first quarter with a safety when they blocked a punt out of the end zone.

The last time an area team opened the season with a 2-0 lead (after registering a safety) was back on Sept. 1, 2001 when Tamaqua did it against Jim Thorpe. The Raiders’ Jeremy Stewart tackled Chase Lauth in the end zone for a safety and a two-point lead.