It can be an overlooked part of the game.

But at times, it can make all the difference in the world.

Quite often special teams play go unnoticed - unless it factors into winning or losing.

On Friday night, Panther Valley and Catasauqua battled to a scoreless halftime tie. The Roughies, however, came up with a pair of key plays in the punt game that turned around the complexion of the game and gave them a 21-0 Colonial-Schuylkill League White Division victory.

“Our special teams have been pretty good this season,” said Catasauqua head coach Travis Brett. “We switched some things up with our punt this week. We’ve had some blocked against us, so we changed some things there. (Our punter Christian Fye) was able to roll out and do a rugby-type kick. It’s the first time he’s done that this year.

“And the return was good. We had good coverage there, good blocking up front. We’ve been trying to get (Wyatt Younes) to catch the ball in the air a little bit more ... instead of letting it roll an extra 20 yards. We’re working on it and we get better every week.”

After Catty was unable to move the ball on its first possession of the second half, Fye - who struggled in the first half getting off his punts - pinned the Panthers on their own 9-yard line with a 46-yard boot.

The Roughies forced a three-and-out and took over with good field position.

Moments later, Fye - also the team’s quarteback - hit Dylan Pacheco over the middle on a fourth-down play for a 34-yard touchdown and the game’s opening score.

PV was pinned deep again on the ensuing kickoff when a muff once again put the ball on its own 9-yard line. Unable to move the ball on the ground, the Panthers were again forced to punt the ball away.

This time, however, Younes fielded the ball and found a seam, taking it 45 yards to the end zone and a 14-0 advantage.

“Field position became big there for a while,” said Panther Valley head coach Mark Lavine. “It seemed like we started three series there inside our 10. And then (Younes), you try to keep the ball out of his hands. They put two guys back and we end up kicking to him. And he returns it. He’s a playmaker and he made a play.”

It looked like PV was going to get that score right back when a couple of their playmakers turned in big plays. Brody Breiner had a 43-yard kickoff return, and Michael Pascoe broke free for a 36-yard run that gave the host team a first-and goal.

On fourth down, Pascoe nearly reached the end zone but came up just inches shy of getting his team on the scoreboard.

“We had a nice drive (in the first half) and we scored, but it was called back (on a penalty),” said Lavine. “And then we left one on the inch-yard line. Who knows what this game would have been like in the fourth quarter if we take care of those two opportunities.

“Overall, though, we were real happy the entire game with our effort. The last two weeks I thought we got outphysicaled and pushed around. Our defense played well, and to play like we did today especially in the first half, was great.”

FINAL SCORE ... Catty closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter with another touchdown pass from Fye. After the Panthers went for it on a fourth-and-short in their own territory and were stuffed, the Roughies used a 23-yard TD toss to Ian Juica to make it 21-0.

FLAGS FLYING ... The two teams combined for 16 penalties in the contest, but 14 of them came in the opening half. One of them, like Lavine said, took a PV touchdown off the board in the first quarter. Moments later, Catasauqua intercepted a pass in the end zone to extinguish the scoring threat.

RECORDS ... The Roughies are 5-3, having won five in a row after losing their first three. The Panthers fell to 2-6.