Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner was looking for a bounce-back week.

After scoring on all six first-half possessions and cruising to a 59-6 victory over Panther Valley Friday night, it's safe to say the Blue Raiders' mentor got what he wanted."Coming off a tough loss, the kids were anxious to play at home in front of a big crowd," said Bonner, whose team battled a powerful Schuylkill Haven squad last week before suffering its first loss. "We made plays tonight, and it helped that we started making them right off the bat. We got the fast start we were hoping to get."It's a confidence-builder and it's good to bounce back."That fast start included diversity in its offense, as well as a key play on defense.Tamaqua's top runner, Nick Breiner, gave his team an early lead when he broke loose for a 42-yard scoring run less than two minutes into the contest. After a safety on a bad Panther Valley snap, the Raiders (3-1) reached the end zone again when Thad Zuber hooked up with Casey Rother for a 34-yard touchdown pass.Panther Valley responded with a drive that netted two first downs, but the Raider defense forced a fumble and quickly turned it into a score - this one coming on Nate Boyle's 50-yard scamper down the right sideline."Penalties and turnovers are killing us," said PV head coach Matt Davis. "When we don't do those things, we're able to move the ball. We moved the ball tonight, but then we have a turnover and before you know it, it's 23-0."Unfortunately for Davis and his team, things only got worse.Zeke Wassell reached the end zone twice in the second frame, first on an 18-yard run and then on the receiving end of a 5-yard strike from Zuber. The Raider quarterback found him again for a 29-yard gain that eventually set up Chance Szabo's 1-yard touchdown plunge, pushing the advantage to 44-0."The last few years we were pretty much just a straight-out power kind of running team," said Bonner. "We only threw the ball when we had to. It's nice to be able to throw the ball ... and feel comfortable doing it. We have confidence in Thad. He's a heckuva quarterback, plus we have a good group of receivers that can catch the ball.""This is not Tamaqua from years past," said Davis, whose team fell to 1-3. "They're balanced. They have a very nice quarterback and nice skill players. They trust their QB to throw it or run it. They're definitely a lot harder to prepare for than usual. Hats off to them, they're well coached."The Panthers avoided a shutout early in the third quarter when Brett Paulus raced around the right side for a 60-yard touchdown run, but PV wouldn't reach Tamaqua territory again the rest of the game.Scoring runs from freshmen Jake Barron and Matt Kistler in the fourth quarter added to the lopsided margin, and allowed Tamaqua to have seven different players score touchdowns."Offensively, the more people we get involved, the better we're going to be," said Bonner. "It was a great opportunity to get some of these younger guys playing time. We have a real good freshmen class coming up, and we had a lot of freshmen on the field tonight."Any time you get a win at home, that's great, but now we get into the thick of things. We have to get better. We performed well, but we have to make sure that in areas where we need to get better, we get better."BALLCARRIER BONANZA ... In all, 24 different players carried the ball. Panther Valley had 11 players run the ball, while Tamaqua had 13 different rushers.FAB FRESHMEN ... As Bonner mentioned, a number of freshmen played on Friday. In fact, six of them ran the ball for a combined 157 yards on 12 carries. Boyle, who also intercepted a pass, led the way with 93 on six attempts.DEFENSE STEPS UP ... Outside of the 60-yard touchdown run by PV, Tamaqua's defense allowed just five other plays to gain more than five yards. The Raiders produced negative yardage on 11 of the Panthers' 34 plays from scrimmage.