Following a two-game losing skid, most teams are expected to have some rust heading into the following week’s contest. Palmerton definitely had that in the first half of its Week 8 showdown with Catasauqua.

However, after figuring out the problems and getting over that slump, the Blue Bombers utilized two strong second-half drives to close out their fifth win of the season over the Rough Riders (2-6), 26-7.

“Defensively, I thought we did a pretty good job tonight, except for the one coverage opportunity for them,” Palmerton head coach Chris Walkowiak said after the win. “They have some very skilled players and some of the strongest receivers in the league, but we did a good job tonight, with the exception of the one or two breakdowns. Offensively, we had some dropped passes, we shot ourselves in the foot. But in the second half, we responded and sealed the game with that strong 93-yard drive to end the game.”

With 7:31 remaining on the clock, the Bombers just closed out the Roughies’ scoring opportunity and went to work from their own seven yard line.

The winners then rattled off four first downs in 13 plays to take about five minutes off the clock and leave their opponent with next to nothing left to work with.

In fact, after Tekoah Guedes pushed in from the one and a half-yard line for his third score of the night. The score was 26-7 with 2:20 left, sending the Homecoming crowd into a frenzy.

“One of the messages we had to the kids this week was to keep the chains moving and in the third and fourth quarter, on those drives, especially, the kids came through and kept drives going, kept the ball out of their hands and produced some points,” Walkowiak said.

Guedes opened up the game’s scoring with a pass across the middle to a streaking Jordan Nelson for a 39-yard score. However, the well went dry until midway through the second frame, when the QB found his way in from the seven for the 12-0 lead.

However, Catty responded with a score to make it 12-7 at the intermission, leaving the outcome in serious doubt.

“Credit to the kids for taking what (Catty) gave us, responding out there, making plays, and responding to adversity throughout,” the Blue Bomber coach added. “We are just focused on Salisbury and concentrating on going down there next.”

INTERMISSION ROYALTY... Paige Frantz and Sean Hall were named Homecoming Queen and King, during the halftime presentation.

FIFTY FIFTY ... Palmerton’s offensive attack featured nearly an exact half and half mix of passing and rushing attempts, as they had 31 rushes in the game, while Guedes attempted 32 passes (completing 16).

NICE OUTING ... Tekoah Guedes had the three touchdowns, while rushing 18 times for 137 yards, and connecting on 16 of 32 passes for 164 yards for a total of 301 all-purpose yards.