The heavy rain and 30 mile-per-hour wind gusts last night didn’t bother Jim Thorpe as it cruised to a 28-6 victory over Lehighton and kept hold of the Route 209 trophy for the fourth year in a row.

After a three-and-out by the Indians to start the game, Thorpe marched down the field on an eight-play, 51-yard drive with the big play coming on a slant pass from Brett Balliet to Derryl Fisher for 25 yards to the Lehighton 18.

David Fiorito then broke four tackles off the left side to the 9-yard line. On a fourth-and-goal from the five, Balliet hit Ben Goldberg with a square out TD pass and the Olympians took a 7-0 lead with 5:15 to go in the first quarter.

On JT’s next possession, Balliet found Bryson Heydt - who juggled the pass but held on for a 33-yard gain to the nine. Two plays later, Sal Capria bolted through the left side of the line for a 14-0 advantage.

The Indians couldn’t muster much offense in the half and finished the first 24 minutes with only 24 total yards as the Red Swarm defense manhandled the line of scrimmage.

Senior back Cameron Tinajero, who would gain 157 yards in the game, began to flex his tackle-breaking muscle in the second quarter after some power running from quarterback Balliet. On four fake jet sweeps, the junior signal caller ran off tackle for 28 yards on a drive that ended with a Tinajero 9-yard run to paydirt around left end.

Olympian coach Mark Rosenberger’s game plan factored in the nasty weather.

“We wanted the wind at our back for our passing game, and we deferred to the second half to have that advantage, too,” said Rosenberger, who gave credit to his center who snapped the ball perfectly to Balliet all game long. “Nate Lopez was outstanding getting the ball to Brett, considering the rain and wind.”

Thorpe took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 70 yards in three minutes to go up, 21-0. This time, Fioroto - on a second-and-seven from the Lehighton 21, ran a jet sweep around left end for a 28-0 home team lead.

Except for a few good runs by Ethan Buchert and Zach Miller, the Indians continued to struggle on offense until the clock showed 3:52 left in the game. From the Thorpe 47, the Tribe began a drive that was aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty that put the ball on the 15. Hunter Crum, on a second-and-goal from the 4-yard line, took a pitch right and got the corner of the end zone for the Tribe’s only score.

Rosenberger likes the way his team is peaking come playoff time.

“Our total team defense continues to play solid physical football and we have multiple weapons on offense. Brett is doing a great job improving his throws each week, and we practiced his running game this week and that was very effective tonight.”

The statistical advantage was huge for Jim Thorpe except in the category of penalties where JT was flagged nine times for 85 yards. The Red Swarm held the Tribe to just 81 yards and seven first downs for the game. On offense, the Red, White, and Blue outgained the Maroon and White by a decided margin of 262 yards.

BRETT SET ... Balliet had a great game in the wind and rain. He was a perfect 3-for-3 passing for 63 yards that put him at 1,042 for the year. H alsoe ran for 58 more, his highest rushing total of the season.

BALL SECURITY ... Despite the adverse elements, there were only three total fumbles in the game by both teams and only one was lost.

REMATCH LOOMS ... The Olympians will travel to Easton next Saturday night for a rematch against Notre Dame-Green Pond in hopes of avenging a 49-21 loss in late September.