CATASAUQUA - Palmerton’s offense - led by all-state quarterback Matt Machalik - receives plenty of attention.

And well it should.

But on Friday night, the Blue Bombers’ defense proved it deserve some recognition too.

Holding an explosive Catasauqua offense in check for most of the evening, Palmerton was able to earn a 27-7 victory to improve to 2-0.

“We take a lot a pride in our defense,” said four-year senior lineman Zack Anthony. “We have a lot guys back from last year, and we meshed together. We know each other well and as we play this year, we know we’re going to get better.

“Definitely, the key tonight was to get as much pressure on the quarterback. Our coach said he didn’t have much pressure on him in the first game, but we wanted to put as much pressure on him as possible and I think we did a good job of doing that.”

The Bombers registered five tackles for loss in the first half, including sacks by Alex Konze and Emilio Gonzalez, to keep the Roughies off the board.

In fact, the host team didn’t even enter Palmerton territory until it was already facing a 14-0 deficit.

“I thought we did a good job defensively, especially in the first half,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “They had a few scoring opportunities. And in the second half, we got some red zone stops. But it starts up front. We were on the kids this week about getting pressure ... Catty’s a very good team and has a lot of explosive players, and to hold them to just seven points is a great job.

“We were mixing up coverages and blitzes. We had different things schemed for their skill guys and we thought we could get pressure, so it was just a combination of continuing to mix things up and asking the kids to just come and play. And they answered the call.”

While the defense was doing it thing, the offense was also contributing.

The Bombers scored on their first two possessions, forcing the Roughies to play catch-up all evening.

Machalik had runs of 12 and 13 yards during the opening march, and also got Catty to jump offsides on a fourth down to keep the drive going. The talented senior went the final yard for the opening touchdown.

The next time the Bombers had the ball, Machalik converted on a fourth down and hit Brayden Hosier with a key 22-yard gain. That set up Machalik’s second score - a 4-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.

“I thought we did a good job in coverage tonight, but it was just too much Matt Machalik,” said Catasauqua mentor Travis Brett. “How do you contain the kid? You can spy him with two or three guys but he’s still going to make plays.

“He’s an athlete. You try to prep for him, but no matter what you do, he’s going to make plays.”

After Palmerton’s defense denied the Roughies on their only scoring opportunity late in the first half, Machalik and Company delivered an exclamation point to start the second.

The Bombers used a 14-play, 79-yard effort to extend their lead to 21-0. Machalik connected with Ty Sander and Jameson Trainer for a pair of first downs, and avoided tacklers en route to a 22-yard scoring run with 4:57 left in the third quarter.

“I thought we did a good job playing drive control,” said Walkowiak. “Our offense did a good job of extending plays, extending drives, and coming out in the second half and getting that score was big.”

Catasauqua finally broke the shutout with a fourth-quarter tally when quarterback, Aiden Hess, eventually reached the end zone on a 4-yard run.

But Palmerton answered right back to secure the victory, moving 81 yards in nine plays - including runs of 19 and 18 by Machalik (who finished the night with 179 rushing yards). Sander, who ran for 102 yards on the night, ended the drive with a 4-yard score.

“Every week, we’re just trying to go 1-0 so add them up and we’re 2-0 now,” said Walkowiak. “We’ll be looking to go 1-0 again next week. We’re looking forward to coming home after playing the first two games on the road. But I think if you’re going to be a good football team, you definitely need to win games on the road in a tough environment. And we did that tonight.”

DEFENSIVE EFFORT ... Palmerton’s defense allowed just 62 yards in the first half on 23 plays, an average of just 2.7 yards per play. Included in that was an interception by Machalik.

MATT’S MOUTH ... Machalik coaxed two offsides calls, which occurred during two of the team’s scoring drives. “That’s just us running our offensive team, and checking to see what they’re in,” said Walkowiak. “Matt has very good voice inflection.”

UP NEXT ... The Bombers play their first home game on Friday when they entertain Palisades.