Northwestern pulls away, beats Palmerton 57-28

Written by: Tyler Trumbauer on Saturday, October 10th, 2020. Follow Tyler Trumbauer on Twitter.

PALMERTON, Pa. – Following a back-and-forth first half, Northwestern took off in the second half and cruised to a 57-28 win over Palmerton in a Colonial League football game on Friday night at Bomber Stadium. The win improved the Tigers to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in league play while the loss dropped the Blue Bombers to 1-2 this season.

The hosts jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter, but Northwestern responded a few minutes later to tie it at 7. Northwestern grabbed the 14-7 lead before the end of the opening quarter and never gave it back. Palmerton cut the deficit to 36-21 midway through the third quarter, but Northwestern outscored the Bombers 21-7 the rest of the way to secure the victory.

The Tigers’ offensive attack was led by quarterback Justin Holmes who finished with 400 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns. He recorded four scores on the ground and three through the passing game.

Holmes spread the wealth to the plethora of weapons Northwestern’s offense features this season. Justin Rodda compiled 149 receiving yards on five catches. He finished with one receiving touchdown and one rushing touchdown.

Sophomore wide receiver Cade Christopher had two catches for 89 yards, both of which went for touchdowns, which has been the norm for the underclassmen this fall. He has six receptions this season and all have been touchdowns.

Christopher went in to play quarterback in the final stages of the game as well to help tack on more yards for the Northwestern offense, which finished with 530 total yards in the road victory.

The Blue Bombers were led by Cole Serfass, who amassed 156 rushing yards on 27 carries. Additionally, he had two rushing scores. He also threw for 61 yards as well.

Palmerton’s final score of the game came via a 63-yard breakaway run from Matthew Machalik. Lucas Heydt also had a physical eight-yard rushing touchdown in the contest.

The biggest swing in the game came in the second quarter. After the Bombers cut the deficit to 22-14 midway through the second period, the Tigers responded by scoring before halftime via a two-yard rushing touchdown by Holmes. Northwestern received the opening kick of the second half and cashed in with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Holmes to Rodda. Northwestern went on to score two more touchdowns in the third quarter.

Northwestern hits the road again to face Salisbury on Friday while Palmerton travels to battle Saucon Valley. Both games are set for 7 p.m. starts.

Northwestern 57, Palmerton 28
Northwestern 14 15 21 7 – 57
Palmerton 7 7 7 7 – 28

1st quarter
P – Serfass 7 run (Perloni kick)
NW – Rodda 40 run (Garrido kick)
NW – Holmes 8 run (Garrido kick)

2nd quarter
NW – Holmes 36 run (Henry run)
P – Serfass 3 run (Perloni kick)
NW – Holmes 2 run (Garrido kick)

3rd quarter
NW Rodda 75 pass from Holmes (Garrido kick)
P – Heydt 8 run (Perloni kick)
NW – Christopher 13 pass from Holmes (Garrido kick)
NW – Christopher 76 pass from Holmes (Garrido kick)

4th quarter
NW – Holmes 38 run (Garido kick)
P – Machalik 63 run (Perloni kick)

STATISTICS
NW P
First Downs 21 15
Rushing yds. 36-258 37-321
Passing yds 272 61
Total Offense 530 382
Passing 10-15-0 5-16-0
Punts 2-29 3-30
Fumbles (lost) 0-0 3-0
Penalties (yards) 4-40 3-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Northwestern: Holmes 16-127, Clymer 7-43, Rodda 3-33, Schaffhouser 2-25, Henry 4-22, Miller 2-7, Hildebrand 1-6, Sosnovik 1-(-5). Palmerton: Serfass 27-156, Heydt 8-89, Machali 1-63, Recker 1-13.
Passing: Northwestern – Holmes 6-15-0-272. Serfass 5-16-0-61.
Receiving: Northwestern – Rodda 5-149,Christopher 2-89, Wikert 2-24, Rader 1-10. Palmerton 3-57, Bartholomew 1-3, DeRossi 1-1.