In a matchup of two teams that finished last season in the middle of the pack in the Colonial League, Palmerton put on a strong display on both sides of the ball to down Northwestern 42-14 on opening night of the high school football season.

Tekoah Guedes accounted for 351 yards of total offense, with 220 yards passing and another 131 yards on the ground to lead the Blue Bombers offense. Guedes, a senior, who is in his first season at Palmerton after playing last season at Northern Lehigh, also scored three touchdowns and threw for another in the win."Tekoah has really fit in well with our offense," said Palmerton coach Chris Walkowiak. "Right from day one, the guys accepted him and he's worked hard to help our team. He's a great athlete and great leader for us, he's one of our captains, and that's what we look for out of them."Northwestern turned the ball over on downs at the Palmerton 31-yard line with 11:09 left in the second quarter and the Blue Bombers went on a methodical march down the field. Guedes hit Mike Eckhart for two big plays equaling 35 yards on the drive and a Northwestern pass interference put Palmerton on the Tigers 13. Guedes scampered over the left side and into the end zone on a keeper to put Palmerton up 7-0.The Blue Bombers took advantage of a Northwestern mistake when a bad snap on a punt sailed into the end zone and Palmerton fell on the ball to go up 13-0.On their next offensive drive, Guedes took off on a 52-yard run into the end zone and a two-point conversion had the Bombers up 20-0 with just over three-minutes left in the half."Guedes is a good player," said Northwestern coach Josh Snyder. "He just didn't make mistakes tonight and was very accurate on his short routes and then he hurt us with his speed, too. He had a huge night."Tigers' quarterback Deven Bollinger was under pressure most of the night, but was able to find Caleb Clymer wide open on a 65-yard pass on the first play of Northwestern's next drive. On the next play, Bollinger found Clymer again, this time for 10 yards and the first Northwestern score of the night, cutting the lead to 20-7."Our line is pretty banged up, and we've had to shift guys around and go with some young guys earlier than we had hoped," said Snyder. "We're going to have to change some things up this week preparing for next week, but we'll get better. We might take some lumps this season, but we'll see how it goes."With time running out in the first half, Guedes called a keeper and ran three yards to put the Bombers up 28-7 at halftime.Northwestern came out in the second half and seemed to be ready to mount a comeback. Bollinger hit Clymer on a 53-yard completion and then connected for 24 more yards on the opening drive before his third connection with Clymer was in the end zone and pulled Northwestern to within 28-14.But Palmerton answered with a 73-yard, 12-play TD drive that ended with a Guedes to Eckhart TD pass to make it 34-14. Eckhart would complete the scoring with a five-yard run with just over nine-minutes left in the game."We weren't looking to send any message or anything, but we really did want to get this one," admitted Walkowiak. "You always like to win that first one and to come in here and get this win, and with how well we played, it's a good start for us, there's no doubt about that. Now, we just look at getting one next week."A CLOSE CALL . Bollinger was thrown hard to the turf on a sack and rolled over grabbing his knee. Before the trainer was able to get to him, he was up on his feet and limped off. After being checked out by the trainer, Bollinger was OK and went on to play the rest of the game without any sign of any lingering problems.BAD BOYS ... After being penalized for 60 yards in the first quarter, Palmerton was hit for just 35 yards in the rest of the game.GUEDES' TRAVELS ... Last season at Northern Lehigh was Guedes' first in Pennsylvania after having lived in Colorado. His grandfather Manny has coached at both Palmerton and Northern Lehigh