There are a lot of very good high school football players and there are a select few excellent ones who play the game as well. But greatness is rare; it comes with a very special player who steps on the gridiron only once in a long while.

The fans at last night’s 41-31 win by Palmerton over Jim Thorpe got to witness greatness in action. He wears No. 2 for the Blue Bombers and his name is Matt Machalik.

There just aren’t enough superlatives to describe what the senior quarterback did against the Olympians, especially in the fourth quarter with his team trailing by double digits.

Olympians’ coach Mark Rosenberger, who has coached high school football for more than two decades came, exalted the highest praise one could give to an athlete of Machalik’s caliber.

“If there’s a better and a more complete football player anywhere in Pennsylvania, I’d like to see him,” Rosenberger said.

After Thorpe took a 10-point lead in the third quarter spearheaded by its dynamic duo of sophomore quarterback Cole Lazorick, last week’s Times News Player of the Week, and junior wide receiver Justin Yescavage, who had nine catches for 193 yards and a touchdown in the game, Machalik did what Machalik does.

After his 92-yard touchdown run was called back for a holding penalty, he picked up a low snap and scampered 78 yards down the right sideline for a TD on the very next play to cut JT’s lead to four points at 31-27.

Then following a Thorpe punt, the Olympians’ defense, which had been chasing Machalik all game long behind the line of scrimmage, got what looked like a game winning tackle when Noah Rosahac tackled him for a two yard loss setting up the Bombers on a 3rd and 11 from their own 48. Machalik fought out of a grasp of tacklers and found Ty Sander for a 26 yard gain to the JT 26 yard line. Machalik then broke free for 23 to the 3 yard line where he punched it in for a 35-31 Palmerton lead on the next play.

“What more can be said about Matt,” said Palmerton coach Chris Walkowiak. “But we had a total team effort and proved to ourselves how good we can be. Thorpe is a good football team, but with our backs to the wall after the third quarter and down by 10, I told our team to stay calm and just go out and execute and that’s exactly what they did.”

The Olympians played a high octane offense all game long and despite the loss, Lazorick and company are sending an alarm to future opponents on their schedule. This team is improving each week.

“I’m extremely proud of our team tonight,” said Rosenberger. “We played with effort, with passion and with emotion. We were just one or two plays from getting over the top. We’re not happy with the loss, but you could see how far we’ve grown and now the sky is the limit.”

With six minutes left in the game. Thorpe drove from their own 44 to the Bombers’ 31 when a fourth down pass fell incomplete at the goal line. On the play, Machalik was injured defending the pass and wobbled off the field with assistance. He returned on a third down and 11 from the 30 and promptly broke free and turned on the jets for a 70 yard scoring run, effectively sealing the Bombers fourth straight win of the season.

When his night was over, Machalik 319 yards rushing, 113 passing, and six touchdowns: five 0n the ground and one passing.

Asked how good it must feel to have greatness on his side of the field, Walkowiak opened his mouth to say something, but instead, just smiled.

UP AND DOWN THE FIELD ... Both offenses had the chain gang running up and down the sideline throughout the game. The two teams combined for 832 yards, 32 first downs and 72 points.

YESCAVAGE YES! ... Number 13 for the Olympians continues to thrill the fans by exerting his will over defenders. On several of his nine receptions, he caught the ball in tight coverage.

41 for 41 ... Palmerton scored 41 points in the game, which is exactly what they are averaging in the four games played thus far this season.