It’s the goal of every coach — in every sport.

Whether a team is winless or has the capability of capturing a state championship, they want their team to get better as the season progresses.

Jim Thorpe’s Mark Rosenberger has witnessed exactly that, and it showed again Friday night.

In what was anticipated to be a dogfight against host Northern Lehigh, the Olympians instead dominated from the start and pulled away for a convincing 35-7 victory.

“Our goal was to establish a running game and I thought we did a great job with that,” said Rosenberger, whose team is now 4-3. “And when we turned to the passing game, (quarterback) Tyler (Hoherchak) had some outstanding throws. ... It’s nice when we’re balanced and I think you see a team that’s getting better each and every week. The confidence has grown, and we feel like we’re going in the right direction late in the season.

“From Week One to now, we’re night and day. And that’s a tribute, I think, to the coaches, it’s a tribute to the players and the type of kids that we have right now.”

Thorpe gained momentum right from the start when it forced a three-and-out on Nolehi’s first possession, and then Dominic Kiehl blocked a punt, taking over on the 3-yard line. One play later, Bobby Levins reached the end zone for a quick lead.

“It was big for momentum,” said Rosenberger. “We thought we could get after them with their punt. We saw something in their protection that we thought we could take advantage of and the kids did an excellent job of doing that. ... One of our goals this week was to block a punt and scoop and score, and we almost did that. The execution was tremendous.”

The execution continued in nearly every phase of the game.

Thorpe’s offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and helped Levins break off a 59-yard TD run the next time it had the ball, increasing the lead to 14-0.

Defensively, the Olympians were just as tough in the trenches shutting down their opponents’ rushing attack.

“All week we preached, if we’re going to win this game we have to dominate up front and I feel like my boys did that,” said senior lineman Gavin Baker. “We were ready and hyped. We knew what we had to do, and we came here and we did it.

“We knew they were a run-heavy team from the get-go with their power-I and all that. And during practice we prepared for that, so we shut it down and it forced them into an uncomfortable situation which let our secondary make big plays.”

One of those big plays occurred at the end of the first half.

Thorpe had extended the margin to 21-0 when Hoherchak hit Anthony Kiehl with a 25-yard pass to set up Levins’ third tally — an 8-yard TD run. Northern Lehigh (5-2) countered by driving to the 8-yard line of the Olympians with under a minute until the break. But Anthony Kiehl intercepted a pass in the end zone to end the threat and sap the life out of the Bulldogs.

“I thought if we get in there and make it 21-7 and get the ball back (to start the second half), you feel pretty good about it, but not being able to do that hurt us,” said Nolehi mentor Joe Tout. “And it hurt the mentality of our team at halftime. We looked defeated at halftime.

“We felt good coming in to tonight. But they came out fast against us. ... We just didn’t click on offense. Football starts up front, and they definitely whooped us up front.”

Any thoughts of a comeback by the Bulldogs were quickly dashed to start the third quarter. JT’s Kaden Hess picked off a pass on the first play from scrimmage and Hoherchak threw a perfect strike to Spencer Gothard for a 27-yard touchdown that made it 28-0.

“I thought we did an outstanding job on both sides of the football,” said Rosenberger. “We knew it was going to be a fight. Last week (against Northwestern), I thought we stayed in the fight for 36 minutes and we preached that have to stay in the fight for 48 minutes and we did that this week, and we came out with a huge win against a 5-1 team. To dominate the game the way we did, that’s a really big plus for our team.”

The Bulldogs finally got on the board midway through the third quarter when Garrett Smoyer scrambled out of the pocket and found Chris Frame for a 21-yard scoring pass. However, Anthony Kiehl sealed the win for Thorpe on the final play of the period when he intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown.

“I told our guys we just have to come back tomorrow and work,” said Tout. “I’m not sure what it was tonight. I didn’t think there was that big of a gap between the two teams, and I thought it was a winnable game. I really did.

“But give them credit. That quarterback (Hoherchak) and the running back (Levins), they run the ball hard. They run the ball with an attitude, and maybe we can learn something from that.”

STATS ... Levins ran for 142 yards on 16 carries, while Hoherchak completed four passes for 83 yards and ran for 38. Nolehi’s Ryan Zambo, who was named Homecoming King, caught four passes for 65 yards.

UP NEXT ... Both teams have rivalry games next week. Thorpe hosts Lehighton, while the Bulldogs travel to Palmerton.

Jim Thorpe 35, No. Lehigh 7

Jim Thorpe 14 7 14 0 - 35

No. Lehigh 0 0 7 0 - 7

JT - Levins 3 run (Flyzik kick)

JT - Levins 59 run (Flyzik kick)

JT - Levins 8 run (Flyzik kick)

JT - Gothard 27 pass from Hoherchak (Flyzik kick)

NL - Frame 21 pass from Smoyer (Glatfelter kick)

JT - A. Kiehl 50 interception return (Flyzik kick)