It's no secret that North Schuylkill is the consensus favorite to win the Anthracite Football League again in 2015.

It seemed that the Spartans were right on track to cruise by Tamaqua in the first quarter, as they put two quick scores on the board within the first six minutes.Tamaqua faced adversity, but showed no signs of giving up at any point despite being down early.After clawing their way back, the Raiders had possession with just under two minutes left in the contest. A few missed opportunities and a big defensive play by the Spartans' Major Jordan on the final Tamaqua possession sealed the deal for the defending AFL champs, as they clung to a 20-14 victory over the Raiders.Thad Zuber's first throw of the game was picked off by North Schuylkill and was ran back deep into Raider territory. The Spartans were then able to trot down the shortened field and punch it in behind a Major Jordan one-yard plunge. Following an immediate Tamaqua three-and-out, Tevin Murray impressively beat a double coverage and was on the receiving end of a 32-yard Bobby Grigas bomb."He's an amazing athlete," Grigas said of his 6-6 wide receiver. "His height is ridiculous and it's hard to come by. When you have (a target) like that, you have to use it toward your advantage. If I have a tight pocket, I know I can throw it up and he'll go up and get it."Before the first quarter was over, Tamaqua responded positively behind Bud Moyer's untouched 33-yard scamper to the end zone."We could have folded up after we were down two scores, but we definitely didn't," said Tamaqua head coach Sam Bonner. "We drove about 75 yards for the score and it put us right back in the game. We had some momentum going for us in the second half, even though we had a touchdown called back against us (holding call). That may have been the difference--- but that's part of the game."North Schuylkill's offense seemed to stall during the midst of the game, while Grigas was on the sideline with an ankle injury that he sustained in the first half. It didn't matter who was behind center for the Spartans though, because Tamaqua's front-seven was impressive for a large majority of the game. Although North Schuylkill tailback Pat Gownley compiled 133 yards on the ground, he only had three gains of double-digits. Besides those few missed gap assignments by Tamaqua, they were solid in the trenches.Bonner said, "We got Chance Szabo back and he's a big part of our defense up front. We were very discipline and didn't lose much contain. I thought our linebackers played very tough. There was one drive (in second half) that I thought we let up a little bit on, but I thought we did an excellent job.Zuber did have a few miscues in the contest, but he definitely showed a few flashes of brilliance. He tossed a perfectly thrown 12-yard score in the fourth quarter that tied the game at 14 apiece.However, it was Grigas who came up big for his team in the second half. As it looked like Grigas could barely walk, he unexpectedly returned to the field when his team needed him most. With just about five minutes left in the game, he led his team on what was a very gutsy, go-ahead score."They (the training staff) didn't say anything to me (about his injury). I just told them to tape me up, I'm going back in-- we need to win. A lot of things didn't go our way tonight, but we had enough heart and guts to pull it out."FIRST WEEK JITTERS?...North Schuylkill uncharacteristically accumulated seven penalties for 50 yards in the first half.SECOND HALF SURGE...After five attempts for a dozen yards in the first half, North Schuylkill's Pat Gownley rushed for 121 yards on 11 touches in the final two frames.BUD IS BALLIN'...Tamaqua star running back Bud Moyer accounted for 72 of his team's 81 total rushing yards on Friday (88%).