Playoffs often produce appealing matchups, and that’s exactly what the District 11 3A quarterfinal contest between No. 2 seed Palmerton and No. 7 seed Jim Thorpe is offering to area football fans tonight.

The Olympians (4-6) gave the undefeated Bombers (10-0) one of their toughest tests of the season back in Week 4, as Palmerton escaped Olympian Stadium with a 41-31 victory.

“Credit to Jim Thorpe for how they played in that first matchup. They had a good offensive game plan, and showed us some schemes that we didn’t see from them before,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “Their quarterback, Cole Lazorik, and receiver, Justin Yescavage, are tough. But again, credit to JT. We need to come out and start fast and establish physicality early, and also communicate. We know they have some play-makers with big-play ability, so we need to try and limit that by trying to control the line of scrimmage early as well and by getting pressure. Getting off the field on third down will be key.”

For as well as the Thorpe offense played, and it did play well, with Lazorick throwing for 254 yards and rushing for 87 yards and Yescavage hauling in nine catches for 193 yards, the Olympians defense - like most defenses in the area - did not have an answer for Palmerton’s All-State quarterback Matt Machalik in the fourth quarter.

Trailing 31-21, Palmerton outscored JT 20-0 in the fourth, including two Machalik 70-plus yard touchdown scampers. One touchdown run – a 78-yard rush – was called back by a penalty. So, all Machalik did was take it 78 yards again for a touchdown on the very next play. Machalik finished with 319 yards rushing and five touchdowns, and also added 121 yards passing and a touchdown in the Week 4 contest against Thorpe.

“We had our offense rolling there for the first three quarters of that game, and I thought we did a really good job in the middle quarters on both sides of the ball,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger. “Then as everyone knows, Machalik went off in the fourth quarter. That’s something we have to try and limit this time around. He is a special player, and he is going to make some big plays, but you have to try and limit him to one to two of those plays. Once he starts to pile those up to four or five of those plays, then you’re in trouble. So, that will be big for us, limiting the big plays, and also, we can’t let some of their other guys beat us for big plays either. Also, winning the turnover battle is going to be huge in this game.”

Machalik owns pretty much every statistical record there is at Palmerton, but also cemented himself into the Pennsylvania record books last week when he became the first player in state history to surpass both 5,000 yards rushing, and 5,000 yards passing.

“I couldn’t be happier for a kid and all his success than I am for Matt. He deserves it all, because of all of the hard work that he has put in. Matt truly loves the game of football,” said Walkowiak. “He has put himself in the storied history of PA football with this unbelievable accomplishment, and it goes to show you what kind of a person he is, because if anyone asks him about it, the first thing he does, is say that he couldn’t have been able to do any of it without his teammates.”

Machalik isn’t the only big-time football player in this game, however, as Syracuse commit Noah Rosahac has really stepped up his game over the past few weeks to help the Olympians finish strong. Rosahac - who goes both ways up front for Thorpe - has been as dominant as they come on the defensive line. He has tallied 57 tackles, 24 tackles for loss and three sacks from his defensive tackle position.

The Olympians, who have had a roller coaster type season - playing well, then losing a few, then winning a few - have now won two straight to end the regular season.

“Two things I think have contributed to some of our struggles, and No. 1 is that we came out of our first game of the season decimated by injuries. We have gradually gotten healthier, and this week is the healthiest we have been, and the healthiest we’re going to be,” said Rosenberger. “No. 2 is that we’re just a young and inexperienced team. We start a lot of sophomores and even some of the juniors and seniors that we do start, this is their first year really seeing any significant varsity time. So, I think all of those younger players are much more comfortable now, and are gaining experience and getting better.”