PINE GROVE - An old fashion calculator would have burned up.

A computer whiz’s programing may have run out of memory.

It was that type of football game Friday evening - an old fashion shootout. Luckily for Palmerton, it had the better numbers up and down the stat meter.

The Blue Bombers’ offense was too potent in their entertaining 53-28 Schuylkill/Colonial League win.

Palmerton piled up collegiate type numbers - 564 total yards of offense; 342 passing and 222 rushing.

Pine Grove didn’t quit though, scoring three fourth quarter touchdowns in the 2-and-a-half hour game.

Palmerton’s high-powered offense was led by quarterback Matt Machalik who completed 18-of-25 passing attempts for a whopping 342 yards.

Machalik threw six touchdown passes, including a pair to shifty all-purpose standout Danny Lucykanish of 22 and 15 yards. Dalton Drake caught a pair of scores - a superb 34 yarder and a 20-yard strike. Stephen Jones pulled in a 4-yard score and top receiver Kendall Robinson latched on to a 37-yard touchdown, Robinson made five catches for 139 yards in the game.

“Oh, we don’t have problems scoring, but our defense didn’t do a very good job,” Palmerton head coach Chris said. “We had too many penalties and left a lot of stuff out on the field.”

The Bombers were torched on Pine Grove’s second offensive play as junior Lane Lehman stunned the Palmerton defense, racing 79 yards for a quick 7-0 lead.

Then it was lights out. Palmerton ran off 40 unanswered points.

Machalik orchestrated all the scoring drives. The first took six plays, and the all-state junior quarterback ran two yards for the score, and then flipped the PAT conversion to Lucykanish for an 8-7 lead.

Palmerton’s next scoring drive was 80 yards, Machalik racing 49 yards into the end zone.

Palmerton then polished off a 26-yard drive, following a recovered fumble at the Pine Grove 26 after the kickoff. Lucykanish pulled in a 22-yard pass from Machalik.

Before the half, the Bombers upped the scoring to 34-7. It was Machalik to Lucykanish on a 15-yard pass for a fourth straight touchdown.

Robinson set the Bombers up for another scoring chance with a pass interception. Machalik tossed a 20-yard score to Drake, who made a spectacular catch.

“Our whole offense was just working together, we were throwing the ball (at will),” Lucykanish said.

Machalik never took things for granted.

“We’ve got to fix some things with homecoming (next week),” Machalik said.

Of course, the offense needs little fixing.

“As receivers all we need to do is catch the ball,” Robinson said. “(Matt) just can buy time the way he runs around and he can get it to us.”

Palmerton’s air attack carried over into the second half. Jones pulled in a 4-yard score to open the third quarter, Robinson latched on to a 37 touchdown and Drake hit the end zone again with another passing score.

Pine Grove answered with its best player; Lehman scored two more times on runs of 12 and 2 yards.

“I’ll tell you we’re getting better each week; our kids need to just believe they can get the job done,” Dave Shiffer, the first-year Pine Grove coach, said. “They’re such a great team, they’ve got a lot of skill set. They’re really impressive.”

WAKE UP CALL … Pine Grove gave the Blue Bombers a quick punch to the solar plex when the Cardinals took the early 7-0 lead.

SURE HANDS … Palmerton receivers seldom drop a ball. Anything close, and the Bombers are sure-handed.

OH THOSE NUMBERS … The slot machine would have cashed out the way both teams were putting up yardage and the scoring. Palmerton had too much firepower, but for sure, it needs to shore the defensive side of the ledger.