Blue Mountain found a formula for success to snap a three-game losing streak a week ago with a shutout against Tamaqua.

The same blueprint got the Eagles another impressive victory on Thursday night, rolling past Lehighton 35-0.

It didn’t take long for Blue Mountain (3-3) to set the tone, with Gavin Bartholomew returning an interception 35 yards for a score on the first play from scrimmage.

The Tribe’s (2-4) first three possessions ended with a pick, a punt and a fumble.

The Eagles scored 14 points off the two early turnovers, and did all of their scoring in the first half.

“That stuff has been happening to us early on this season,” said Blue Mountain head coach Cory Mabry. “Now it seems to be bouncing in our favor.”

Bartholomew, who is 6-6, 257 pounds, and committed to Division 1 University at Buffalo, moved from his tight end spot to quarterback last week, adding another dimension to the Eagles’ offense.

“We put him there because we wanted to run the football a little more, and he’s a little bit quicker than Jack (Dean), not that Jack isn’t a good quarterback,” said Mabry. “He’s a sophomore, had a lot on his plate, we wanted to give him a little more focus on defense, and it seems to be working out for us right now, because Jack’s catching the ball at tight end, playing better on defense, and I think overall it made us a pretty good football team.”

Carter Thompson scored from five yards out to cap a 23-yard drive after Blue Mountain recovered a fumble on the Tribe’s third possession of the game for a 14-0 lead.

The Eagles also showed their ability to score from anywhere with Eman Parker racing 35 yards for a score, and Bartholomew hitting Bryce Hensley for a 30-yard TD to make it 28-0 midway through the second quarter.

Blue Mountain put together one final march before halftime with Parker finishing off a 66-yard drive with a three-yard plunge to push the advantage to 35-0 at the break.

Parker finished with 10 carries for 100 yards.

Bartholomew had 23 yards rushing and 77 passing. He threw for 136 yards, and rushed for 70 in a 28-0 win over Tamaqua last week.

“That’s a great coaching move,” Lehighton mentor Tom McCarroll said of putting Bartholomew behind center. “He’s the best player, arguably, on the field ... You look at not only the way he ran the ball - he’s a downhill runner - but he can obviously throw the ball as well. And that’s a dangerous combination.”

The setback was the second in a row for the Tribe, who fell to Jim Thorpe 37-6 a week ago.

But McCarroll knows his team has the pieces. It just needs to put them together.

“The beauty of it is that it’s a team game, and if it’s played like that, you have opportunities for success,” said McCarroll. “Even with a guy as talented as that (Bartholomew) ... so you really need 11 players to be doing their job at the same time and with the same sense of urgency and energy.”

The Indians took over with less than 20 seconds to play before halftime and made it to the Eagles’ 5-yard line after a 44-yard connection between Richard Fronheiser and Zack Hunsicker before time expired. Fronheiser hit Hunsicker for a 16-yard gain on the previous play to reach the Blue Mountain 49.

Hunsicker finished with five catches for 91 yards.

Bartholomew was intercepted by Ian Rarick on the Eagles’ first drive of the second half.

Lehighton wasn’t able to cash in after driving to the 14-yard line, with three straight incompletions keeping the score 35-0.

The Tribe also made it to the 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter, but had consecutive plays that netted negative yardage, and an incompletion, before failing to punch it in on fourth-and-goal from the 14.

COMING AROUND ... After a 35-0 win over Schuylkill Haven in the season opener, Blue Mountain lost three straight to Jim Thorpe (22-21), North Schuylkill (20-14) and Pine Grove (20-12) by a combined 15 points.

UP NEXT ... Lehighton travels to Pine Grove (1-4) next Friday, while Blue Mountain hosts Mahanoy Area (2-3).