One year ago, Tamaqua had a 150-pound sophomore tailback named Terrence McDowell who had never carried a varsity football workload.

The question wasn’t whether he could run — but could he keep doing it?

Well, it didn’t take very long for McDowell to put that question to bed.

McDowell tallied a whopping 313 carries, 1,740 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns by the end of the season, taking District 11 defenses by storm.

“We knew that he was eventually going to be a good one, but he was a small sophomore, so we didn’t know what the durability would look like,” said Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner. “Is he going to be a guy that could run the ball 20 times?”

Indeed he was.

“He proved it to us by the end of the year; I think there were games where he was running the ball 30, 35 times while playing defense and not coming off the field.”

McDowell and his Raider teammates went to the weight room this offseason and beefed up even more this summer, just like a Bonner-led program typically does.

Bonner noted McDowell is probably playing in the 180-pound range now, a big-time transformation, which should be even scarier for opposing boxes to defend.

“He’s squatting like 450, he’s benching like 280,” Bonner said. “I bet his bench is up probably 75 pounds.

“The squat’s probably up a hundred pounds, if not more.”

Enter the football team’s “90% Club,” an attendance-based workout program which motivates Bonner’s group to stay committed while school isn’t in session.

“We take roll starting the last day of school, when we do our first summer workout,” he said. “So it’s kids who made at least 90% of the summer workouts.”

Tamaqua ran roughly 35 summer sessions. Miss more than a handful, and you wouldn’t make the club.

Twenty-one Blue Raiders cleared the bar out of a roster Bonner expects to sit around 38 players. The rewards are subtle but meaningful — first in line for food or having a first crack at equipment.

McDowell earned a spot on the club, and so did the junior quarterback replacing Chase Serfass under center: Ace Schickram.

Schickram, who spent last fall on the outside at receiver, put on 15 to 20 pounds of his own and stands about 6-foot-1, Bonner noted.

“He’s got some wheels on him, so we think that he could give us another dimension in the backfield that we didn’t have for the last year or so.”

Tamaqua’s backfield has led by example, and its teammates have been drinking the Kool-Aid.

“Seeing those guys work their tails off, obviously it’s contagious, especially for the young guy,” Bonner added.

But there’s another name to watch who is joining McDowell and Shickram in the backfield again this season.

Senior Camden “CJ” Walker grew into Tamaqua’s power back by the end of the fall, and Bonner said he had six or seven pancakes in last year’s Saucon Valley District 11 playoff victory game alone.

Walker can definitely lay the lumber, but he could also tote the rock 10-12 times a game to help out McDowell, according to Bonner.

It sounds like a little thunder and lightning is the recipe for the Raiders in 2026.

Four of Tamaqua’s five projected offensive line starters will play one way, which could help provide some extra tread on the tires when the fourth quarter rolls around.

Tamaqua won four games a year ago; one of them was that 22-15 District 11 first-round upset at Saucon Valley that ended a long playoff drought before Notre Dame-Green Pond ended Tamaqua’s run at Lafayette College.

Bonner said there are takeaways from both halves of the season.

“Obviously, we want to do better than a 4-8 campaign,” he said. “But we want to build off the victory we had in the playoff game last year.

“This year, the kids know what they’re capable of doing. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

POSITION BREAKDOWN

QUARTERBACKS

Junior Ace Schickram moves under center after collecting 26 receptions as a wide receiver in 2025. Senior Kaden Krajcirik backs him up while currently starting at left tackle, the kind of double duty only small schools ask for.

RUNNING BACKS

Junior Terrence McDowell returns after a 313-carry, 1,740-yard, 19-touchdown sophomore season, and he is up to roughly 185 pounds from about 154 a year ago. Senior Camden “CJ” Walker starts at fullback and can both lead block and carry.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Senior Quinn Coleman opens at flanker with sophomore Ryder Holmberg splitting time there. Sophomores Chance Makovec and Gavin Shannon give Tamaqua two bigger-bodied targets on the outside and will rotate. Senior Teegen Phillips is the tight end.

OFFENSIVE LINE

Junior James Wronski anchors the middle at center, with juniors Carter Trotman and Dylan Garcia at the guard spots. Another junior, Bryce Nelson, and senior Kaden Krajcirik handle the tackles.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Senior Flynn Coleman sets the edge at one defensive end with Teegan Phillips at the other. Senior Alexander Pojoy and junior Carter Trotman occupy the interior at the tackle spots.

LINEBACKERS

Senior Damian Jazowski and junior Johnathan Kraeuter man the inside, with CJ Walker expected to take a third inside role. Chance Makovec will work outside with Flynn Coleman working in.

SECONDARY

Terrence McDowell, Gavin Shannon and senior Peyton Schwartz form the core of the back end. Ace Schickram rotates through, and Ryder Holmberg will be active there as well.