Sometimes the Times News Game of the Week does not live up to its billing.

This time it did.In Friday night’s game between Blue Mountain and Jim Thorpe, the hype matched the intensity of the game. The Blue Eagles defeated the Olympians, 17-14 in a physical battle between two very good Schuylkill League teams.“We found a way to win,” said Blue Mountain coach Cory Mabry. “We got sloppy with the ball in the second half and their double tight end set gave our defense some problems. Thorpe is a very well coached team, but our resilience won it for us at the end.”Blue Mountain (5-1) put up a number on the scoreboard first, primarily aided by the inside running of Connor Kerkstetter, who ran for 28 of his total of 58 yards on the night in a first quarter drive that resulted in a 26-yard field goal by Jonathan Benner.Meanwhile, Jim Thorpe (4-2) failed to gain a first down until early in the second quarter as the Eagles’ defense bottled up the running of quarterback Brendan Carroll and tailback Justin St.Hill.A nine-play, 57-yard touchdown drive with four minutes left to go in the half put the Eagles up 10-0, a score that would send both teams into the locker room at the break. Ben Kramer bolted up the middle from a power I formation to lengthen his team’s lead. Thorpe would then drive from its own 41 to the BM 18 yard line when Jack Mckivigan intercepted a pass to thwart the home team.The Olympian defense stopped their opponent’s drive at their own 15 at the nine minute mark of the third quarter.Thorpe would then go on an 18-play drive to the BM 14-yard line only to lose possession from a fumbled snap on a fourth-and-one.On the very next play, however, JT’s Trevor Keefer picked off a deflected Eagle pass, setting up his team’s offense once again deep in Blue Mountain territory.With seconds gone by in the final quarter, Justin St.Hill raced into the far right corner of the end zone to bring the score to 10-7.Thorpe’s Noah Snisky would recover a fumble at the BM 24 yard-line on the very next play. St. Hill would then cap off a scoring drive with a one yard scamper around the right side to give the Olympiians a 14-7 lead with 10 minutes to go.With just under three minutes to go, Blue Mountain’s Kramer would tally a 3-yard run to put his team up by three. Thorpe’s subsequent drive got to the Eagle’s 32 yard line, but a first down pass out into the flat was picked off by Dan Greenawalt to seal the win for Blue Mountain.“Our defense played a great game,” said Jim Thorpe coach Mark Rosenberger. “They played physical football, especially in the second half. We just didn’t finish the last drive, but I’m very proud of our team’s effort. They left it all on the field tonight.”TWO FOR THE MONEY …Jim Thorpe had 37 carries on offense, all by just two backs, Brendan Carroll and Justin St. Hill.ROSAHAC RECEPTIONS …The Olympians’ Nicholas Rosahac had a nice game, hauling in four catches for 59 yards to keep his team’s drives alive.