It was a knockdown, drag-out, back-and-forth battle for Palmerton last week against Jim Thorpe that saw the Bombers erase a 10-point fourth- quarter deficit to escape the Olympians’ stadium with a victory.

This week, Palmerton will face its toughest test to date, as the always high-octane Notre Dame Green Pond offense comes to Fireline Road in the Times News Game of the Week.

Big plays have been a big reason for the Bombers success this season. It was big plays by their offense and big plays given up by their defense against Thorpe that made that matchup come down to the wire.

On the offensive side, Machalik turned into a ballistic missile in the fourth quarter, scoring three rushing touchdowns, including scores of 78 and 70 yards. But on the defensive side of the ball, Palmerton gave up 410 yards of offense, with Olympians sophomore dual-threat quarterback Cole Lazorick torching the Bombers for 254 yards passing and 87 yards rushing.

There’s no doubt that Palmerton will need to be better this week on the defensive end at limiting the big play, as it will face off with a more experienced dual-threat signal caller in the Crusaders Danny Darno. Darno is having yet another impressive season for Notre Dame. The senior has thrown for 715 yards and nine touchdowns, and has added 433 yards on the ground and eight rushing scores.

As a whole, the Crusaders’ offense has put up huge numbers, as Notre Dame is averaging 46.5 points per game and 410 yards per game.

“Darno is a dynamic player. He can make plays with him arm and his legs, and he has a nice quick release. He also has a nice stable of wide receivers as well that will make plays in space with the ball in their hands. That’s going to be key for us this week. We can’t let the five-yard completion turn into a 50-yard gain. We have to make tackles and limit big plays,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “And then staying in our rushing lanes and creating turnovers will be key for us too. Fundamentally, we need to be a lot better this week on the defensive end.”

It’s no secret that the Bombers will also be leaning on Machalik’s big-play ability once again this week. The senior All-State quarterback is on pace for one of the best District 11 - and potentially statewide - seasons of all time for a quarterback. In four games, Machalik already has 928 rushing yards on just 57 carries (16.28 yards per carry) and 16 rushing touchdowns. Machalik has also been good through the air, completing 40-of-70 passing attempts for 555 yards and five passing scores.

Machalik rushed for 319 yards and five touchdowns, and threw for 121 more and a touchdown last week against Jim Thorpe.

“I think everyone knows that having a player like Matty (Machalik) on your team is always an advantage. Arm, legs, vision, intelligence, passion; those are just some of the things that he brings to the table on each and every play,” said Walkowiak. “He always wants the ball in the late-game moments, just like he showed last week. But as we do every week, we need everyone to go out there and do their job as well. We’re going to especially need that this week against a very good football team in Notre Dame.”

Each week it’s a primary focus for Palmerton to establish its rushing attack, but the Bombers did struggle at times running in-between the tackles at Thorpe last week. Most of the Bombers’ rushing yards came on Machalik’s big-play runs that saw success on the edges of the Olympians’ defense. Palmerton does have a chance to control the trenches with its run game against the Crusaders. The Notre Dame defense has been vulnerable against the run this season, as it’s giving up 226.75 rushing yards per game, including giving up 318 yards on the ground to Southern Lehigh in a Week 2 loss.

“Notre Dame always has an athletic defense that is going to fly around and bring pressure,” said Walkowiak. “We’re going to do what we always look to do, and that is establish the run. We need to be physical up front, and get off to a good start with our rushing attack.”