Pottsville proved on Friday night that winning the battle in the trenches will almost always result in winning the game.

The Crimson Tide dominated up front on both sides of the football, using their power run game to defeat Lehighton 49-21.

From the start, Pottsville established its run game, running 10 plays on its opening possession, which resulted in a one-yard Tejay Allen plunge. The Tide ran the ball nine times on the drive, with speedy running back Parrish McFarland rushing for 45 yards on six carries.

The Indians didn’t do themselves any favors on the ensuing kickoff, fumbling the football, which would then convert into another Pottsville score when Allen hit tight end Thomas Scharadin on a nifty play-action pass on fourth and two from the Indians 15-yard line.

Pottsville’s success up front and getting out to an early 14-0 lead in the first was exactly the start the Tide were looking for after coming into the game with an 0-2 record.

“It was nice to see our guys have a little bit of success like that early on in the game. We have struggled the last two weeks, partly because of us, but also because we played two really good football teams,” said Pottsville head coach Tom McGeoy. “We knew coming in, Lehighton had some dangerous athletes out there, but if we could win the battle up front, we would have a chance to have some success and our guys did a nice job blocking and we were able to get our skill guys out in space and they made some plays.”

One of those dangerous players for Lehighton then put the Indians right back in it on their next possession, when Ian Rarick made a nice adjustment to a Brady O’Donnell throw down the right sideline, coming back to the ball and then outrunning the Pottsville secondary for a 59-yard touchdown catch to get Lehighton within a touchdown with 2:11 left in the first quarter.

However, the Tide would go right back to the run game at the start of the second frame, and it was McFarland making an impact yet again, taking a toss left and accelerating 77 yards down the left sideline to gain back Pottsville’s two score advantage.

A little later in the quarter, a 44-yard run from Amaree Bainbridge would make it a 28-7 game, but as the Indians have proven so far this season, they did not go away.

After a botched Pottsville snap on a punt, with just under two minutes left in the first half, Lehighton recovered at the Tide’s six-yard line and one play later converted on an Ethan Buchert run to cut the deficit to 14. But as Lehighton has also shown this season, it has shot itself in the foot when it has been on the verge of shifting momentum.

On the ensuing kickoff, Bainbridge scooped up the ball around the Tide’s 35-yard line and was never touched to push the lead back to 21 and just a few minutes later a Lehighton interception was returned for six on a well read play from Pottsville defensive back Evan Drum to give the Tide a 42-14 halftime advantage and a clear path to the win.

“I always say, special teams can always have a huge impact on the game and you saw that tonight with some of our special teams miscues that killed our momentum and directly resulted in scores for them,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. “Still, I like the fight in this team. The kids played hard and they fought hard tonight. It just seems of late that things are snowballing on us in games and we just need to continue to fight through that. At the end of the day, if we don’t win games, that’s on me. I think we have a talented enough locker room in there to win games and we’re gonna keep on fighting.”

SECOND QUARTER STALL

... The second quarter was a killer for the Tribe, as they were outscored 28-7, punted three times, threw a pick-six and gave up a kick return for a touchdown.

IN BETWEEN THE TACKLES

... The Tide came to play in the trenches. They allowed just 1.45 yards per carry on the defensive side of the ball and their rushing attack averaged just over seven yards per carry.