ORWIGSBURG — Mark Rosenberger has been coaching long enough to know that there are positives you can take from every game, no matter the outcome.

That was the case Friday night when Rosenberger’s Jim Thorpe squad suffered a 48-0 loss to Blue Mountain in its season opener at the Eagles’ Nest.

Rosenberger is hoping his team can build off a strong finish to the first half after falling behind 28-0 early in the second quarter.

Cohen Kirby threw for 161 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Blue Mountain attack. Chase Guers hauled in two TD passes, Brody Foose rushed for 104 yards and Sonny Amato added a pair of scores as the Eagles utilized their vast array of weapons to post the victory.

“Credit to Blue Mountain. They’re an outstanding football team,” Rosenberger said. “They’re probably the best team we’re going to play all season long and they proved it tonight. Coach (Chuck) Kutz and his staff do a great job.”

Blue Mountain needed just two plays on each of its first two possessions to reach the end zone as Kirby hit Kole Luckenbill for a 49-yard score and Guers for a 45-yard touchdown.

The Eagles made it 14-0 midway through the first when a Jim Thorpe punt snap sailed over the punter’s head into the end zone for a safety. Blue Mountain then added a 4-yard TD pass from Kirby to Guers and a 9-yard run by Amato to go up 28-0 with 10:55 left in the first half.

The Olympians, however, showed some life in the second quarter.

Jim Thorpe got a red-zone stop on Blue Mountain’s next possession, then forced a pair of turnovers. Dominic Kiehl recovered his own forced fumble after he sacked Kirby on an edge blitz and Ralph Clay picked off a Kirby pass that was tipped by Tyler Hoherchak.

After giving up points on its first four possessions, the Jim Thorpe defense got three straight stops to close the first half.

“For us, there were glimmers of hope. We fought late in that second quarter ... we came back alive,” Rosenberger said. “We had two opportunities early on to attack the ball defensively and we didn’t do that. The ball was in the air, I thought we had guys in position to go after it and we didn’t do that.

“But I think we got some confidence midway through the second quarter and finished out the quarter on a strong note. We forced two turnovers in that quarter with some edge pressure, a forced fumble and an interception. I’m hoping that we grew a little bit, learned a little bit and clicked a little bit, especially defensively.”

Jim Thorpe also mounted its best offensive drive of the game in that second quarter, putting together a 12-play, 55-yard march that reached the Blue Mountain 4. On a third-and-goal from the Eagles’ 7, however, Hoherchak was intercepted by Guers in the end zone.

The Olympians had three turnovers, losing a fumble to go with the interceptions by Guers and Amato. The biggest problem Jim Thorpe had was rushing the football, as the Olympians were held to minus-24 yards on 30 carries.

“Offensively, we didn’t have any rhythm all night long,” Rosenberger said. “Their defensive line dominated the football game and we struggled all night long.”

Rosenberger rotated two quarterbacks for most of the game, as junior Tyler Hoherchak and sophomore Dominic Calcano each saw time under center.

Hoherchak rushed the ball 12 times for 15 yards and completed 6-of-13 passes for 59 yards. Calcano was sacked twice and was 2-for-7 for 15 passing.

Getting a better performance up front will be the key to his quarterbacks improvement, Rosenberger said.

“Tyler did a nice job running the ball for us and Calcano had a couple of nice throws,” Rosenberger said. “We just have to find a rhythm offensively. It doesn’t start with the quarterback, it starts with the offensive line.”

BY THE NUMBERS ... Blue Mountain compiled 17 first downs and 346 total yards. The Eagles rushed 28 times for 185 yards, while Kirby was 10-for-13 passing. Guers had five receptions for 82 yards and Luckenbill had three grabs for 68 yards.

ROUGH RUNNING ... Seven Olympians carried the ball in Friday’s game. Only Hoherchak (12-15) and Anthony Kiehl (3-2) finished with positive yardage.

SECOND-HALF SCORES ... The Eagles pulled away with three second-half scores. Foose made it 35-0 with a 4-yard run before Amato stepped in front of a Calcano pass in the flat and went 56 yards for a pick-6. Blue Mountain’s final score was a 5-yard run by Dalton Daubert.

Blue Mountain 48, Jim Thorpe 0

JT 0 0 0 0 - 0

BM 21 7 13 7 - 48

BM - Luckenbill 49 pass from Kirby (kick failed)

BM - Guers 45 pass from Kirby (kick failed)

BM - Safety, punt snapped out of end zone

BM - Guers 4 pass from Kirby (Russo kick)

BM - S. Amato 9 run (Russo kick)

BM - Foose 4 run (Russo kick)

BM - S. Amato 56 interception return (kick failed)

BM - Daubert 5 run (Russo kick)