FOUNTAIN SPRINGS - The speed, the quickness, the ability to dribble the ball and make good decisions were very evident Thursday at Gosh Orthodontics Field in Spartan Stadium.

Blue Mountain displayed all those things en route to a convincing 4-0 victory over Jim Thorpe in the Schuylkill League Boys’ Soccer championship game. It was the Eagles 17th league championship since the inception of the program in 1989.

The result was a disappointment for Jim Thorpe (12-4-1), a team that split during the regular season with their Division I rivals. Those results - a 2-1 loss and a 3-1 victory - had the upstart Olympians feeling good about this chance of winning back-to-back titles.

Jim Thorpe coach Mike Dudak said his team’s game plan coming in was to control the tempo, have more ball possession, and stay error free.

It didn’t take long for Blue Mountain to play havoc with the Olympians’ plan.

The Eagles (11-2-1) kicked their way to the 1-0 lead as Pablo Colindres cleanly booted the game’s first goal to the back of the net with Derek Burcik assisting. The goal came with 33:22 still remaining in the opening half.

Less than six minutes later, speedy Ryan Mundy was making it 2-0, and when the energizer swift Aidan Valentine added a third goal with 2:16 to play until intermission off an assist from Lorenzo Valenti, the flickering Thorpe fire was about to burn out.

“We value fitness and we’re lucky to have a deep and talented group of players,” Chris Brauer the Blue Mountain head coach said offering that he was able to substitute often and get hydration and breaks for his front lines, something Thorpe didn’t have the luxury of doing.

Dudak wasn’t subtle about the way his team came up short.

“The easiest way to explain it is that the kids wearing white shirts (Blue Mountain) showed up to play the kids wearing red did not,” he said.

Blue Mountain’s ability to run at the Thorpe defense kept the pressure at a high level. Jim Thorpe had only two shots in the opening half and the first wasn’t taken until there was 16:33 on the clock, that coming from Jack Morris.

Valentine’s crushing goal, Blue Mountain’s third, which just about put this out of reach was a terrific use of his footloose and fancy free style. He kept on dribbling in a short area until he got the defender off balance, then with one big swoosh, the ball freely sailed into the net.

“Once we settled into the game we started playing our style,” Brauer said. “Valentine is a gamer, he’s always ready to go.”

Brauer said the plan of attack was to slow down the Thorpe forwards. By doing that, the Eagles were able to control the tempo of the game.

When the second half opened, the Eagles knocked home their fourth goal with Mike Barbe scoring off an assist from Valentine.

GO FIGURE … Despite Blue Mountain dominating on the scoreboard, the stats were close. Both teams finished with six shots on goal and the Olympians held a 4-3 advantage in corners.

GOOD NEWS … According to coach Brauer, Valentine had a broken foot back in July and is now just coming into shape.

UP NEXT … Both teams get to play for a District 11 medal. Thorpe will participate in the 2A tournament and Blue Mountain in 3A.