FOUNTAIN SPRINGS - Palmerton couldn’t have asked for a better start.

Unfortunately, North Schuylkill quickly changed the momentum and rode it to a 35-21 Schuylkill-Colonial Red Division victory.

“It was a good start,” said Blue Bomber head coach Chris Walkowiak. “Cole Serfass made some great plays, some incredible catches, and our defense played really well early. We had the early momentum.

“But we had some miscommunication on special teams. North Schuylkill is a good team and they took advantage of that. They had some short fields, and they were able to take back the momentum.”

Serfass stunned the Spartans with a pair of first-quarter scores.

The senior opened the scoring with a 73-yard touchdown from quarterback Matt Machalik on the game’s third play from scrimmage.

A couple of possessions later, Machalik and Serfass hooked up again for another long scoring toss - this one for 69 yards that pushed the score to 14-0.

But as quickly as Palmerton was able to grab a lead, North Schuylkill rebounded to take control.

Jared Tinari reached the end zone on back-to-back drives to even the score, and a couple of interceptions on defense led to touchdowns at the offensive end for the home team.

Spartans quarterback Trevor Minalda and receiver Joey Flail accounted for those two scores later in the first half. The first scoring strike covered 43 yards, while the second went for 45.

A once two-touchdown lead for the Bombers was now a two-touchdown deficit at halftime.

The Spartans added yet another tally the first time they had the ball in the second half as Minalda and Flail connected for a third TD pass, this time on a 47-yarder. Flail would finish the contest with six catches for 147 yards and the three touchdowns.

While the 35-point unanswered run proved to be too much for Palmerton to overcome, Walkowiak’s club did fight back.

“We battled back in the second half,” said Walkowiak. I’m proud of our effort. We were able to get inside the 10 a couple times but just couldn’t capitalize.

“Obviously it was huge not being to punch those in. It could have changed the momentum, but we left two scores there. We showed character and grit.”

Palmerton used a third-quarter touchdown to get back in the game. Machalik tossed his third touchdown of the game - and his 26th of the season - when he threw a 28-yard scoring pass to Daniel Lucykanish to close the gap to 35-21.

The Bombers drove inside North Schuylkill’s 5-yard line twice during the final frame, but the Spartans defense stiffened and kept Palmerton out of the end zone on both occasions.

Despite the battle, the result was still a loss.

“At this stage in our program, we weren’t here for a moral victory,” said Walkowiak. “We played a good football team, but we need to take the next step and execute at a higher level. This is something we definitely can build off of. It can be a teaching tool, without a doubt.

“We put up a great effort, and showed character. We didn’t push the panic button when they went up. We just didn’t finish at the end there. We’ll learn from this and move on to Tamaqua.”

RECORDS ... Palmerton dropped to 5-3 on the season, while the Spartans are now 6-2.

PASSING ATTACK ... The two teams combined for over 550 yards of passing yards. Machalik had another 300-yard game, finishing with 345. Lucykanish had nine of Palmerton’s 18 completions for 141 yards.