Warren Stewart won’t shy away from contact.

Stewart delivered his punishing running style in Tamaqua’s 46-0 victory over Panther Valley last Friday, rushing for 289 yards and four touchdowns.

It was the type of effort that showcased Stewart’s ability and dedication to the program.

“It’s well deserved,” said Blue Raiders’ coach Sam Bonner. “He’s one of the hardest working kids I have, and that’s not just during the season, during a game; it’s the offseason. He’s a strong runner, and I think he was able to put that on display on Friday night. He doesn’t go down easy.

“And it’s not just this past week; the week before, against North Schuylkill, I think he had about 90 yards in that game. And a lot of that is yards after contact. That’s a testament to his hard work in the offseason.”

On a wet and windy night, Stewart’s performance sparked an offense that finished with 502 rushing yards.

“I like to run hard, and the blocking was good, our line did really good,” said Stewart. “They couldn’t bring me down.”

“Coach just wanted us to do our thing, and not blame bad things on the weather.”

Stewart has taken that approach to heart throughout his career.

“He’s one of those quiet guys; you never hear a complaint out of him,” said Bonner. “We always took pride in having that tough running back come out of Tamaqua, and he fits that mold.

“He’s not a guy who is going to use weather as an excuse to slip and fall, and maybe make a mistake. He held on to the ball well on a wet night. I think we ran him 29 times, and that was kind of our plan going into the game that, especially with the weather being the way that it was. But even without that, we kind of know that’s he our go-to-guy, and in a game like that, he can carry you, and he did. He did a great job. We started off a little sluggish, but he broke a couple of big runs that kind of put it out of reach for Panther Valley.”

Stewart entered the game with 419 rushing yards on 111 carries (3.77 yards per carry).

“I would imagine most of them,” Bonner said of how many of those yards came after contact. “This year, every yard that he gained, especially up to the Panther Valley game, they were all hard earned. I’ve said before that he may not have the highest yards per carry average, but a lot of that yards per carry is after that first yard, getting contact, and making a three- and four-yard gain out of no gain. Very seldom is he dropped for a loss, and again that’s a testament to the hard work he puts in.”

Stewart suffered an injury in a Week 4 34-14 win over Pen Argyl, and missed the following week’s victory over Salisbury.

“It’s been kind of rough with the injuries I’ve had, taking time off and coming back,” said Stewart. “I had to get back used to it again.

“I’ve been having some ankle issues. I sprained my ankle early on this season, and it’s been better since, getting better.”

Despite any time Stewart has missed on the field, he has continued to provide valuable leadership off of it.

“I feel like when things go wrong I can still help them out, being an upperclassmen,” he said. “I’ve been through it.”

But when he is on the field, Stewart always makes his presence felt, something he hopes to do again this week in a District 11 playoff game against North Schuylkill.

“I go back to what he does in the offseason, he never misses practice,” said Bonner. “I think up front, offensive linemen love seeing their running back get that kind of yardage. That’s a testament to those guys. A game like that kind of solidifies those guys a little bit more, and hopefully we can build off of that going into a playoff game.”