ORWIGSBURG — A week before Halloween, Tamaqua threw a pretty big scare into Blue Mountain, but the Eagles made enough big plays on offense and enough stops on defense to pull out a victory on Senior Night and Hall of Fame Night at the Eagles’ Nest.

Senior Carter Smith scored two touchdowns and fellow senior Josh Hoover caught a long TD pass just before halftime as Blue Mountain turned back Tamaqua 34-20 on Friday night in a Schuylkill-Colonial Red Division game.

“I thought we made the plays we needed to make to get the W,” Blue Mountain coach Chuck Kutz said.

That “W” didn’t come easily.

Tamaqua (3-7, 2-6 Red) used its ball-control offense to great effect early, but a gadget play produced the first touchdown of the game. On fourth-and-6 from the Blue Mountain 34, the Blue Raiders ran a pitch pass. Star running back Terrence McDowell took the pitch from quarterback Chase Serfass. Instead of running, McDowell threw a 34-yard strike to Ace Schickram for the score. McDowell then took a shovel pass from Serfass for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.

Blue Mountain answered with a five-play, 65-yard touchdown drive. Quarterback Cohen Kirby hit Chase Guers for a 28-yard pass into Tamaqua territory. Smith then ran for 13 yards and again for 26 yards to the end zone.

Back came the Raiders. McDowell, who finished with 117 yards rushing on 25 carries, ripped off a 32-yard jaunt to set up first-and-goal. Malachi Stewart blasted into the end zone from the 3 to give Tamaqua a 14-6 lead with 10:41 left in the second quarter.

“I thought our kids played one of their better games of the year,” Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner said. “It was a tight ballgame the whole time. We gave up some big plays that hurt us. But the overall effort was there. I thought our kids played a great game.”

Blue Mountain (6-4, 5-3) answered with a pair of long pass plays to take a 20-14 lead at halftime. First, Kirby connected with Frankie Russo on a crossing pattern, and Russo turned on the jets for a 58-yard touchdown reception. Then, with 9.8 seconds left before halftime, Kirby fired a deep pass and hit Josh Hoover in stride for a 62-yard TD down the Tamaqua sideline.

“That’s always huge to flip momentum,” Kutz said of the score just before halftime.

The Eagles opened the third quarter with a nine-play, 70-yard drive to take a two-score lead. Smith, who finished with 102 yards rushing on just 12 carries, raced the final 11 yards to make it 27-14.

Tamaqua, though, wasn’t done yet as Serfass connected with Schickram for a 13-yard TD pass with 11:09 left in the game. That cut the deficit to just one score at 27-20.

The Raiders had other chances, but two lost fumbles and an interception by Blue Mountain’s Brady Strause in the final seconds stopped potential scoring drives.

Brody Foose’s 11-yard TD run with 1:12 left in the game sealed the victory for the Eagles.

Both teams will be in the District 11 playoffs next week, Blue Mountain in Class 4A and Tamaqua in Class 3A. The victory likely clinched the No. 4 seed and a home game for the Eagles. Tamaqua will open the playoffs on the road.

Blue Mountain had some of its own issues it must address before the postseason begins. The Eagles lost two fumbles and got penalized eight times for 65 yards. Two negated positive plays on offense, and another on fourth down gave Tamaqua a first down.

“We need to clean up our mistakes,” Kutz said. “In the playoffs, you’ve got to clean that stuff up, but I’m very proud of the effort on Senior Night.”

Blue Mtn. 34, Tamaqua 20

Tamaqua 8 6 0 6 - 20

Blue Mtn. 6 14 7 7 - 34

T - Schickram 34 pass from McDowell (McDowell pass from Serfass)

BM - Smith 26 run (kick blocked)

T - Stewart 3 run (pass failed)

BM - Russo 58 pass from Kirby (run failed)

BM - Hoover 62 pass from Kirby (Guers run)

BM - Smith 11 run (Hoover kick)

T - Schickram 13 pass from Serfass (pass failed)

BM - B. Foose 11 run (Hoover kick)