Palmerton has been successful because its high-powered offense puts up lots of points.

That happened again Friday night in its 45-6 win over Tamaqua in the District 11 3A quarterfinals at Palmerton.

The story of the game was the Bombers’ stifling defense that held the Blue Raiders to just 58 total yards.

Tamaqua’s Connor Dillon appeared to have run back the opening kickoff for a 75 yard touchdown, but a personal foul negated the score and after a short drive, the Raiders punted on fourth down from their own 33.

Tamaqua forced a punt with the main play being a seven yard quarterback sack by Vincent Schlosser, one of two sacks the senior defensive end had in the game.

Starting at their own 44, the Blue Raiders moved the ball into Palmerton territory and then a pass interference penalty gave the Raiders a first down on the 39.

On a third a seven, Raiders’ quarterback Luke Kane pitched the ball to Connor Dillon who then threw to Kane streaking down the left sideline for a 37 yard pass and run touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

On the kickoff, Palmerton’s Matt Machalik returned the ball 51 yards to the Raiders’ 48 where the home team began a six play drive culminating with a Machalik pass to Daniel Lucykanish who made three defenders miss tackles on his way to a 24 yard TD. Machalik passed to Kendall Robinson for the two-point conversion and an 8-6 lead.

Palmerton exploded for 29 points in the second quarter.

The barrage began after a second down slant pass to Dalton Drake put the ball on the six, where Lucykanish broke several tackles for a touchdown run and a 16-6 lead.

Following a fake punt that resulted in an incomplete pass by the Raiders, the Bombers were back in business.

On a second and 14 from the 36, Machalik hooked up with deep pass to Robinson in the end zone for a 23-6 advantage with 5:36 to go in the half.

Tamaqua’s woes continued when Palmerton’s Stephen Jones recovered a fumble on the kickoff. The Bombers’ drive ran out of downs, but on the Raiders’ first down pass attempt, Machalik intercepted the ball and cut left and right for 46 yards for a score and a 30-6 lead with four minutes to go.

Another interception, this one by Robinson, gave the ball back to the offense when with 1:28 left before intermission.

Machalik found Bryce Marino for an 11 yard score and the rout was on.

Palmerton coach Chris Walkowiak was pleased with how his defense played. “It was a chess match early on, but our defense took over and gave us great field position all game long.”

Tamaqua coach Sam Bonner said that the negated kickoff return and the fake punt incomplete pass changed the nature of the entire game. “There was definitely a momentum swing and we never recovered from it. We missed a couple of shots early in the game and then it went downhill from there.”

Palmerton finished the scoring in the third quarter when Jones bulled over from the two-yard line to end a nine-play drive.

Bonner was proud of how hard his five seniors worked all season, but injuries forced several sophomores and freshmen into action.

Walkowiak complimented the play of his star QB Machalik.

“Matt was terrific as was Daniel Lucykanish, but once again, our entire defense set the tone of the game in the second quarter and we took over from there.”

FORTY YARDS TO MAKE THREE ... After a bad snap on an extra point attempt following Palmerton’s final TD, Machalik scooped up the ball and ran backward to near his 30 yard line where he uncorked a long pass that found Lucykanish 10 yards deep in the end zone for what amounted to a 40 yard two-point conversion play.

SPARTANS NEXT ... Next week, the Bombers take on top-seeded North Schuylkill, which beat Lehighton Friday night.