The Palmerton field hockey team ran a two-minute drill that would make Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs jealous.

Trailing by a goal with the clock quickly winding down in the first half, the Bombers erupted for a pair of scores in the final 63 seconds.

Palmerton then added a late-game insurance goal to defeat Lehighton, 3-1, in the quarterfinal round of the District 11 Class 1A playoffs on Wednesday.

“No, we don’t do anything special in the final minutes of the quarter to speed up our offense. It was more a case of us just doing we what we do - which sometimes drives me crazy,” laughed Bomber coach Megan Leadbetter. “Honestly, I think we like to play from behind.

“We seem to take a little while to settle into games, and then all of sudden we start passing, communicating and shooting - playing Palmerton field hockey.”

Leadbetter said that yesterday that moment came at a very opportune time.

“To get the lead going into halftime was huge, especially after we trailed almost the entire first half,” said Leadbetter. “You have to give Lehighton credit for a lot of our early problems; they played super aggressive and we struggled a little bit.

“We’ve become pretty comfortable coming from behind, but in the district playoffs where a loss ends your season, it was nice not to go into the second half pressing for a tying goal.”

Lehighton’s Maggie Pagotto gave her team an early 1-0 lead scoring less than three minutes into the opening quarter.

The Indians (8-11) maintained that advantage until the Bombers got their goals from a likely source and an unlikely source late in the half.

With 1:03 to play in the half, Sydney Frantz carried the ball across the front of the net and rocketed a backhand past goalie Grayson Frey.

It was Frantz’s team-leading 18th goal of the season.

“Sydney is our leading scorer, and is just a few goals away from becoming the school’s all-time scoring leader,” said Leadbetter. “She has played extremely well all year, and is someone we count on for her scoring and play-making ability.”

While Frantz scoring the game-tying goal wasn’t surprising, the same can’t be said about freshman Kate Morgan’s go-ahead goal with :21 left in the half.

“This was Kate’s first start of the season, and first goal of the season,” said Leadbetter. “Quite honestly, she hasn’t even played very many varsity minutes ... she’s been primarily a JV player.”

Morgan got her start because the Bombers (12-7) were missing center midfielder Kelsey Balliet. Leadbetter moved some players around and inserted Morgan into the front line.

“Kate is a talented player, but our starting lineup is really strong,” said Leadbetter. “I know it’s been frustrating for her not getting on the field more this season, but I’ve been telling her that her time will come - and it did tonight.”

The Indians had several opportunities to tie the game in the second half, before Celeste Hoffman’s goal with 5:41 left in the fourth quarter sealed it for Palmerton.

NEXT ... The Bombers will meet Wilson in the district semis on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Whitehall.