Setting the tone.

A football team can do that in many ways. It can do so defensively by forcing an early three-and-out, or offensively by putting together a clock chewing drive that ends in a score.

Friday against Lehighton, Palmerton decided it wasn’t going to be patient in setting the tone, choosing instead to go for the home run on the very first play of the game.

The Bombers opening play gamble worked to their advantage as a go route down the right sideline was executed perfectly by wide receiver James Denicola and quarterback Matt Machalik. Denicola’s 74-yard touchdown grab would serve as the tone-setter for an eventual 46-13 Palmerton win.

Coming into the match-up with Lehighton, one of Palmerton’s top priorities was to create momentum from the onset. A goal that was certainly accomplished after the game-breaking hookup between Machalik and Denicola.

“We thought there were some match-ups where, if we executed, we could have some success if we got our guys in space. On that play, we saw something we liked and our playmakers went out there and they executed,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “We’ve really stressed coming into this season, we’ve always stressed it, but this year it’s been an extreme point of emphasis that we need to go out there and make things happen and we were able to do that early on, which created some momentum for us.”

The Bombers continued to make things happen in the first quarter, turning over the Indians on downs on their first offensive possession and then putting together a seven-play, 53-yard drive capped off by a Machalik 16-yard scamper around the right edge.

Machalik then made his presence felt on the defensive side of the ball, intercepting a Lehighton pass on its ensuing possession and taking it 45 yards the other way for the pick six to give the Bombers an early 20-0 cushion.

“You have to first off give Palmerton a ton of credit. We knew coming in that they were going to make some plays. They have some good skill kids, so it’s all about how you react and respond to adversity,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. “For as many plays as Palmerton made tonight, we also shot ourselves in the foot a lot as well.

“I thought we responded well after we got down 20-0, but we just had some key turnovers in those moments that hurt us from getting back in the game. We need to clean that up and focus on getting better as a football team.”

The Indians did respond well and played much better in the second quarter, driving all the way down to the 16-yard line after the Bombers third score, but their turnover woes struck again. A mishandled exchange between the quarterback and running back was recovered by Denicola, stalling the drive.

After holding Palmerton and forcing a punt, the Tribe finally did get on the board on a wide receiver screen pass from quarterback Brady O’Donnell to Hunter Crum, who took the pass 62 yards for the score.

But Lehighton’s turnover issues continued to plague it, thwarting any momentum it gained from Crum’s big play was another interception a few possessions later helped set up another Bombers’ rushing touchdown from Machalik to give Palmerton a 28-7 halftime advantage.

“Create turnovers and play complimentary football. That’s really what we want to accomplish in every game we complete in,” said Walkowiak. “We were definitely able to do that tonight. I thought we did a nice job defensively, we executed offensively, we created some turnovers and we took care of the football. If you’re able to do those things, you’re most likely going to come out on the winning end of things.”

Lehighton was able to get back within two scores after a Zach Miller 10-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter, but touchdowns from Machalik, Stephen Jones and Ty Sander helped the Bombers close on a 18-0 run.

MATTY ICE ... Just a sophomore, Machalik played with ice in his veins. The youngster threw for 220 yards and two scores, ran for 122 yards and three touchdowns, and returned an interception for six.

SPREADING THE WEALTH ... The Bombers spread the ball around consistently against the Indians. Denicola, Jones and Daniel Lucykanish all had three-plus receptions and six Palmerton players in all had receptions on the night.