Palmerton’s performance through the air in the first half on Friday night could be a glimpse into one of the top passing attacks in the area this season.

Palmerton used its speed to build a lead and then held off a Lehighton comeback to defeat the Indians 42-29 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.

Junior quarterback Matt Machalik completed a 42-yard pass to Kendall Robinson on the Blue Bombers’ first drive and then finished it with a 19-yard scoring strike to Robinson for a 7-0 lead.

Machalik and Robinson hooked up for two more first-half scores, one from 22 yards and a 10-yard pitch and catch right before the end of the half.

Machalik and Daniel Lucykanish also connected on a 41-yard score in the first half to make it a 28-3 for the Bombers at intermission.

“Matt and Kendall, along with all of our skill guys just did a good job. Matt made good reads and our receivers ran crisp routes and made plays,” said Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak. “Matt’s ability to move around the pocket with his legs really makes it tough for a defense to defend him and then with our speed at the skill positions, we were able to really do some nice things in the passing game and execute. A bunch of guys really stepped up and made plays for us tonight.”

Lehighton looked like a completely different team to start the second half.

The Indians held Palmerton scoreless in the third quarter and cut the deficit to 28-17 at the 11:47 mark in the fourth. A seven-play 74-yard drive capped off by an Ethan Buchert 10-yard rush late in the third and a 50-yard run by Buchert on Lehighton’s next possession helped setup a Brady O’Donnell 12-yard run to get the Indians back in it.

“The first half was kind-of déjà vu for how the first half went last year against Palmerton, so we talked to the guys at the half about coming out and showing some fight. The question we asked them was, ‘how much did we really grow from last season’ and they came out and fought. These guys showed tonight that they have some fight in them,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. “We thought we could get back into the game, if we just came out and did a better job of executing than we did in the first half. We got some looks we wanted, we just didn’t execute in the first half, but in the second half our kids did a much better job of that and it showed.”

Palmerton then turned to Machalik in the fourth quarter, this time depending on his legs.

The Bombers came through with a big score at the 10:53 mark in the fourth to once again make it a three-score lead with a 13-yard burst from Machalik, which was setup by a 35-yard toss from Machalik to Dalton Drake.

Lehighton answered with another O’Donnell rushing score from 29 yards out, but the Bombers then put the game away later in the fourth quarter with another Machalik rushing touchdown.

“Credit to Lehighton. They scraped all the way back and put the pressure on us. We just came out flat in that third quarter and that’s something we talked about after the game. When you have a team down you need to put them away and that will be a focus and emphasis this week and we will fix that,” said Walkowiak. “But I was also proud of the guys as well tonight. They handled that scoring run by Lehighton like a veteran group and made the plays at the end of the game to finish out the win.”

BACK AT IT … Machalik was sensational again for the second consecutive opener against the Indians. He had 187 yards passing and four passing touchdowns in the first half. He finished the night with 348 total yards, four passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.

COMING OUT PARTY … Kendall Robinson is no longer Palmerton’s best kept secret at wide receiver. The senior hauled in five catches for 99 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.

MAKING HISTORY … Kicker Samantha Perloni is the first female kicker in school history for Palmerton and she was perfect on the night, going 6-for-6 on extra points.