PEN ARGYL – Palmerton ran the ball to near-perfection Saturday, and earned its first victory of the season.

Jordan Nelson had 141 yards on the ground and scored two rushing touchdowns, while Andrew Sabo ran for 109 yards and scored four touchdowns.

The 1-2 punch carried the Bombers to a 62-30 victory over Pen Argyl.

The Palmerton defense also contributed as it intercepted Green Knight quarterbacks four times and forced eight turnovers in the game.

“We forced a lot of turnovers,” Palmerton coach Chris Walkowiak said. “That helped feed our offense and give ourselves good opportunities. Defensively, I think what we worked on this week of pursuing the ball and creating turnovers helped out.”

Palmerton stormed out of the box early on an 88-yard opening drive, that included a big 61-yard pass from Aaron Stasko to Eli Rivera to set up a Sabo score. Sabo added two more first half scores and Stasko threw for one and returned an interception for another as the Bombers built a 35-2 lead.

Pen Argyl did fight back late in the opening half as Stasko threw two interceptions which both resulted in pick-sixes. Pen Argyl didn’t score its first offensive touchdown until Anderson Dear found a wide-open Tadd Barr for a 75-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter, which cut the Palmerton lead to 42-23.

With Pen Argyl finally getting an offensive score, coach Walkowiak put Nelson in the game at quarterback and swapped Stasko around in the Palmerton offense.

“Jordan hadn’t played quarterback in a game, but he’s gotten reps in practice,” Walkowiak said. “We’re on our fourth quarterback right now due to injuries and different things. Next man up, we’re always looking to be prepared. Credit to him coming into a situation and playing very well.”

From there, Nelson mainly ran the ball in the second half while taking snaps.

“Reps weren’t bad. I know we just had to get our blocks down and holes would be open,” Nelson said about running the ball from the quarterback position. “We just had to hit them.”

In addition to his big game running the football, Nelson also caught four passes for 66 yards and an additional TD prior to taking over at quarterback. He also completed one pass for 13 yards.

“Offensively, we were able to run the ball well,” said Walkowiak. “On the hand, “they had 16 points off of turnovers in the first half, so we still have to fix that area. We’re also still waiting to put four quarters together.”

PICK OFFS … Cody Waterhouse, Stasko and Rivera all intercepted passes for the Bombers.

UP NEXT … Palmerton spoiled Pen Argyl’s homecoming party Saturday and now turns it attention to Northwestern this Friday. The Tigers are 4-1 on the season, while the Blue Bombers are now 1-4.