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Spartans roll to victory 35 to 21 after falling behind 14 to 0 early !

Tagged under: District 11, Gameday Hub, News

| October 15, 2022


Spartans roll to victory 35 to 21 after falling behind 14 to 0 early !

Coming into the game, most people believed this one could get very offensive as both teams have very quick, and potent offenses. This assumption would be proven correct early on but not before Blue Bomber’s quarterback Matt Machalik, would throw what looked to be an interception by Spartan’s Joey Flail, only to witness some trickery when Palmerton receiver Cole Serfass would take the ball back from behind the back of Flail, and take off the rest of the way to the endzone for the games first score. Quick three and outs from the Spartans on their next two drives, would set up the Blue Bombers next score. Once again, it was Machalik to Serfass, this time for 68 yards giving Palmerton an early 14 to 0 lead with just over five minutes still to go in the first quarter. North Schuylkill would begin to regroup and drive 69 yards, on 11 plays, taking almost 4 minutes off the clock in the meantime when the Spartans RB-Jared Tinari(Sr) would finish the drive from 2 yards out.

A turnover on downs by the Blue Bombers would give the Spartans great field position from the Palmerton 23. Five plays later, North Schuylkill would tie the game when Tinari would score on an 11 yard run for his second touchdown of the first half. Junior SS-Collin McGee wasted no time giving the Spartans another chance to add points when he would intercept the Machalik pass 2 plays into the drive, giving North Schuylkill the ball at their 34 with 9:25 still to go in the half. Just three plays later, the Spartans had the lead when Trevor Minalda(Jr) would connect with star receiver Joey Flail, who would scamper 43 yards for the quick score to put his team ahead 21 to 14, 9:08 still to go. Matthew Machalik doesn’t just throw footballs either, as he would intercept the Minalda pass with 2:13 to go till halftime, giving the Blue Bombers some new life. Unfortunately for Palmerton, the spark was short lived as Collin McGee would record his second interception of the half, setting up North Schuylkill in great field position again. On the next play, Minalda would hit Flail for 40 yards and another score, his second of the game. Flail would finish with 110 yards on 6 receptions in the half, scoring twice to give his team a 28 to 14 lead just before halftime.

North Schuylkill would have momentum coming out to start the second half, and it showed. Two plays and 53 yards later, the Spartans would have a 35 to 14 lead and it looked like we were off to the races but, the Blue Bombers weren’t giving up just yet. Palmerton would put together what I felt was their best drive of the game, going 65 yards, on 9 plays, capped off by a Machalik to Daniel Lucykanish(Sr) for 28 yards to cut the Spartan lead to 35 to 21 in the third. North Schuylkill would punt away on their next possession and bang, the Blue Bombers star Machalik would take the punt and run left, right, forward, backward, up the sideline, across the field for about 60 yards for what was thought to be a touchdown until a flag was thrown for holding on the return, negating the touchdown. Palmerton would still have possession but now from their 45. Machalik would connect on a huge play to Lucykanish for 40 yards, down to the Spartan 2 when Keegan Curry and Joey Flail would make touchdown saving tackle. The Blue Bombers would not be able to convert into any points and the Spartans would take over on downs from their own 2 with just under 2 minutes left in the quarter.

A couple series later by both squads would see us now in the fourth quarter, with the Spartans still leading 35 to 21. Palmerton would once again show some grit as they would put together another long drive going 66 yards on 14 plays only to turn the ball over on downs at the Spartan 5 yard line with just 6:53 left to play in the game. North Schuylkill would close out the game driving 60 yards to the Blue Bomber 35 yard before kneeling twice to end the game with the Spartans winning 35 to 14. With the win, North Schuylkill improves to 6-2 on the season with a game on the road next Friday night at (0-8)-Salisbury Twp. Falcons. The Falcons lost last night to Pine Grove(2-6) 23 to 13.

The loss by Palmerton, now (5-3), sets up another tough matchup next week versus a tough, gritty at times Tamaqua Blue Raiders(3-5) squad, who lost last night to highly ranked (7-1)-Northern Lehigh 21 to 7.

Unofficial Short Stats:
Passing:
Palmerton-Machalik – 17-41-2 = 263 yards, 2 touchdowns
North Schuylkill-Minalda – 14-23-1 = 218 yards, 3 touchdowns

Rushing:
North Schuylkill- Tinari22 rush for 125 yards, 2 touchdowns

RECEIVING:
Palmerton –
North Schuylkill – Joey Flail – 7 receptions, 163 yards, 3 touchdowns

Defense: INTERCEPTIONS
Palmerton – Machalik(1)
North Schuylkill – McGee(2)

Stay tuned in tomorrow as I will have live updates from Harrisburg, State College(7-0) vs Harrisburg(5-1) at 1pm, and in the evening, I’ll be down at BASD Stadium for the game between the Parkland Trojans(4-3) vs Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks(4-3) at 7pm.

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