CATASAUQUA — Early in the season Catasauqua head coach Joe Henrich looked for ways to get the ball in Cadeo Estronza’s hands.

Now that the 5-foot-6, 135-pound senior is taking snaps, Henrich can just sit back and watch.

Estronza had his best game since taking over as the Rough Rider quarterback, running for all four of his team’s touchdowns in a 26-7 win Friday night over Palmerton at Alumni Field.

“For us to be without our quarterback (and) to have him play a position he doesn’t normally play, he’s been a sponge in learning,” said Henrich. “He’s a competitive kid with a lot of energy. He really came to play tonight. He wanted to get it done.”

Estronza, who was used as a slot receiver and running back before taking over as signal caller, ran for 155 yards on 17 carries against the Bombers.

Palmerton (3-7) got off to a good start. But when a few first-half drives stalled because of penalties, it gave life to a reeling Rough Rider team that won for the first time in six weeks.

“First half we were reading keys, making tackles and playing much better,” said Blue Bomber head coach Chris Walkowiak. “But second half was not a good performance. The game was on the line there and we didn’t show up in the second half.

“First half we were down in the red zone how many times and not punching it in. We just jumped offsides at least six times.”

The Bombers overcame their first two false start penalties when T.K. Gursky found Ben Negley with a 13-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

But three more false starts on Palmerton’s next two possessions resulted in a turnover on downs at the Rough Rider 29-yard line and a missed field goal.

Catty closed the gap when Estronza broke free for his first touchdown to make it 7-6 with 7:30 left in the first half.

The Roughies (4-6) went ahead on an 18-yard Estronza touchdown run late in the third quarter and converted the two-point conversion on an Estronza pass to Josiah Lafond.

An unintentional onside kick got Catty the ball right back in good field position. Kicker Aiden Reilly booted a low bouncing kick that caromed off a Palmerton player before the Rough Riders’ Mahkah Wright jumped on the ball at the Blue Bomber 42-yard line.

Six plays later Estronza scurried in from 4 yards out for a 20-7 lead with 11:21 left in the game.

Henrich, whose team snapped a five-game losing streak, said the inadvertent onside kick was the kind of break his team hadn’t been getting lately.

“We’ve had a couple of those go against us,” he said. “It obviously helped. We had scored and we were up by one. Once you go up by two it’s a different story.”

The Roughies capped the scoring when Estronza scampered in from 2 yards out with 6:20 left in the game.

Catty piled up 297 rushing yards with Estronza and Tayshawn Dunn (18 carries, 146 yards) accounting for most of it.

“We knew what they had there,” said Walkowiak. “We had to stop the run. That was an emphasis this week. We needed to shore up tackling. We worked on tackling. We didn’t tackle. They won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and that’s the story of the game.”

FOOLED YOU TWICE … Palmerton converted two fake punts in the first half. Both times up-man Christopher Wellington took the snap and tossed a pass to Negley for first downs.

SOME NUMBERS … Gursky went 8-for-12 passing. Palmerton quarterbacks completed 12 of 16 passes in the game for 129 yards. Vincent Taglieri caught six passes for 42 yards. Cale Young led the Bombers in rushing with 54 yards on 18 carries. Estronza threw just seven passes and completed four for 28 yards.

KEEPING IT CLEAN … While Palmerton committed seven penalties for 37 yards in the game, Catty wasn’t flagged at all and didn’t turn the ball over.

PLAYOFF BOUND … The Rough Riders sealed a Class 2A District 11 playoff bid with their win. The Bombers had already qualified. Catty will be the No. 8 seed in and take on Schuylkill Haven next week. Palmerton came into the game in sixth place in 3A but could fall to seventh with the loss. A first-round matchup against Notre Dame (Green Pond) or North Schuylkill is likely.

Catasauqua 26, Palmerton 7

Palmerton 7 0 0 0 - 7

Catasauqua 0 6 8 12 - 26

P - Negley 13 pass from Gursky (Sell kick)

C - Estronza 53 run (kick failed)

C - Estronza 18 run (Lafond pass from Estronza)

C - Estronza 4 run (kick failed)

C - Estronza 2 run (kick failed)