PINE GROVE – The first half of the 2022 football season has been a bit of a rough ride for Jim Thorpe.

The Olympians had expected a better start to the campaign, but entered Saturday’s game at Pine Grove with just one win in their first four games.

The Olympians took out some of their frustration on the Cardinals, throwing more punches than a heavyweight pugilist, and scoring a knockout victory.

The final tally saw Jim Thorpe roll to a 66-14 mercy-rule victory.

“This is the type of team that we thought we had coming into the season,” Olympian coach Mark Rosenberger said.

The Olympians scored at will, making the long bus ride home extremely enjoyable.

Jim Thorpe let loose early, scoring four touchdowns in less than 10 minutes to pile up a 26-0 first quarter lead.

Thorpe hit the end zone initially with 9:25 to play in the quarter thanks to its defense, which had a stranglehold on the Cardinals from the get-go. Taking over deep in Cardinal territory, speedy David Fiorito zipped into the end zone on an 18-yard jaunt.

A little over a minute later, the Olympians were back in the end zone. Again, the defense set the tone thanks to Bryson Heydt, who picked off a pass from his end position.

It took just one play for quick-footed junior Sal Capria, who was nothing short of stellar with 166 yards rushing on 10 carries, to prance eight yards to paydirt for a quick 14-0 lead.

“Whenever I get the ball in my hands, I feel like I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do,” Capria said. “I want to give a big shout out to my line. They did a great job blocking.”

Vince Letosky made it 20-0 with a 13-yard run, before Thorpe mounted its longest TD drive of the game for a 26-0 lead. Capria was at the head of the class in the march as he scampered 39 yards on a nifty reverse, and then polished off the drive with a 12-yard run.

Thorpe’s next score came up with a scintillating 68-yard touchdown bomb from quarterback Brett Balliet to the sure-handed Justin Yescavage.

“I just put it up there, and Justin goes and gets it,” Balliet explained of the superb pass and catch. The pair hooked up a couple of more times on the night as the sophomore wideout had 109 yards on three catches.

“I love the confidence in him,” Yescavage beamed about Balliet, who had nearly 200 yards passing and a pair of TD tosses.

The fireworks kept booming for the Olympians, and Balliet capped off a 10-play scoring drive that pushed the numbers up to 40-0 at the 9:18 mark of the second quarter. Seconds later, junior Joshua James chimed in with an interception to set the offense up at the Pine Grove 28. It took all of one play to hit the end zone for the sixth touchdown by the Olympians as Balliet and Fiorito hooked up on a 28-yard pass play.

“Obviously, we weren’t happy starting the season 1-3,” Rosenberger said. “We felt we left some opportunities on the field the first few weeks of the season. But tonight we took advantage of those opportunities.”

Thorpe hit the jackpot to open the second half marching 73 yards, with James scoring on an 8-yard run.

The Olympians capped their big night with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. Joshua Louk blazed 65 yards to the end zone for one of them before Connor Miller capped the touchdown deluge with a 16-yard run.

“You saw what we can do; now we’ve got to put it back-to-back.” said Rosenberger, whose team plays Tamaqua on Friday night.

TALK ABOUT HITS … The Jim Thorpe defense was tenacious at times getting of the ball as the front line of Heydt, Noah Roshac, Billy Newtown, Paul Rutledge all had huge games.

QUOTABLE … “After the loss to Palmerton, we needed a big win to boost our confidence,” said Balliet.

THEY PLAYED ON … What a terrific showing by the Pine Grove marching band. The unit was 90 strong, well-choreographed and fun to listen, too.