Nate Wickersham wasn’t worried about picking up style points.

Tamaqua’s senior signal caller might favor a smashmouth style of football.

But he also possesses the poise to put the Blue Raiders over the top when they need it.

Wickersham’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass pushed Tamaqua past Lehighton for a 20-14 Schuylkill League victory on Saturday.

It also capped a nine-play drive that ate up nearly 4:30 and saw tailback Logan Hess carry the ball eight times for 50 yards to drive the Blue Raiders to the doorstep of the end zone before Wickersham hit Nate Gregoire from eight yards out on the fourth-down scoring play.

“We know that we’re going to have to grind for those four quarters to get the wins,” said Wickersham. “All of our wins might not be pretty ... but we’re looking to go out there and play four hard quarters and get wins.”

Hess led a stable of ball carriers with 99 yards on 22 carries, as Tamaqua piled up 211 yards rushing on 46 attempts.

“At halftime we talked about a lot of the mistakes we were making on offense with blocking, we couldn’t really run the ball in the first half,” said Hess. “In the second half, especially in that fourth quarter, the offensive line really tightened up and started knocking people on their butts and we started chunking them there in the Power-I and it was great.

“The offensive line really did their job to seal the win.”

The Blue Raiders (2-0) took command with an attack that featured power backs Nate Curvey (14 carries, 59 yards) and Lucas Schickram (six carries, 23 yards).

Wickersham added 30 yards rushing - including a 19-yard touchdown to put Tamaqua ahead 6-0 in the second quarter.

His passing proved just as crucial.

A 29-yard screen pass to Schickram on third down put Tamaqua deep in Indian (1-1) territory in the third quarter. Curvey finished the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run two plays later to put the Blue Raiders ahead 14-7 with 7:23 to play in the period.

Lehighton was able to counter with plenty of big plays of its own.

On the ensuing drive, Richard Fronheiser hit Zack Hunsicker across the middle for a 77-yard touchdown, with AJ Light’s extra point making it 14-14 midway through the third.

“We thought we had some matchup advantages in certain spots and we did that,” said Indians’ head coach Tom McCarroll. “We came out in a two-back look, which we haven’t shown and we had some success with that, and then they kind of figured that out a little bit, and forced us back into what we’re comfortable with, which is OK.”

Lehighton forced a punt on Tamaqua’s next possession after tying the game, and took the ball to the Blue Raider 7-yard line. A penalty backed the Indians up to the 20, and the drive ended with two incompletions and a missed field goal with under 1:00 to play in the third.

The Tribe had success on the ground and through the air. Fronheiser built on his stellar start to the season with 222 yards passing, while Hunsicker had eight catches for 165 yards, and JJ McDowell’s 76 yards rushing - which included a three-yard score to give Lehighton a 7-6 lead at halftime - helped sustain several drives.

The teams traded punts on their next two possessions before the Blue Raiders went 42 yards for the go-ahead score.

“I thought our kids did a real good job,” said Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner. “We have a young team, and when it’s 14-14 in the fourth quarter I thought our kids did a good job making plays, having a good drive; I thought our offensive line did a good job of kind of taking over the game as well as our power backfield.

“I always say, anytime we get into that power running game at the end of the game and we can (run) clock and get a score at the end, it’s a good thing. I thought our kids did a good job for a young team to respond in a tight game.”

The Blue Raiders held on defense on Lehighton’s next possession, with senior Jerome Balliet knocking down a pass on third down.

Tamaqua’s offense took over with 4:47 to play and ran out the clock, with Hess carrying the ball on all six plays - including a five-yard gain on fourth-and-three with 3:11 to play - before picking up one more first down with 1:34 remaining and the Tribe out of timeouts to seal it.

STUFFED

... Tamaqua’s defense allowed just three yards - a pass from Fronheiser to Hunsicker - in the fourth quarter. The Blue Raiders forced four incompletions, two carries for no gain and a punt in the final period.

CHANCES

... Lehighton had first-and-10 at the Tamaqua 22-yard line on its first drive of the game but came away empty-handed after two short runs and back-to-back incompletions from the 19 to turn the ball over on downs. The Tribe had first-and-goal at the Blue Raiders’ 9-yard line midway through the second quarter but the drive resulted in a missed 32-yard field goal after a Jacob Wasserleben sack on third down from the 8 pushed them back to the 15.

I’LL TAKE THAT

... Branden Kocher came up with an interception for Lehighton on Tamaqua’s next possession, which put the Tribe in the red zone and set up McDowell’s score before halftime.