HS FOOTBALL: Spartans season ends with heartbreaker at Palmerton, 32-24
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - North Schuylkill's #4 Collin Stanakis catches a touchdown pass.
PALMERTON – The two halves of Friday’s District XI 3A semifinal were played almost like two different games.
North Schuylkill entered the game 9-2 and sought to avenge a regular season loss to an undefeated Blue Bomber squad on their home turf to knock Palmerton out of the playoffs, just like last year.
Through the first quarter, the ball seemingly lived in Palmerton territory.
North Schuylkill knocked on the door several times, but could only muster a field goal by Junior kicker Gavin Mentzer, while Palmerton couldn’t get out of the shadow of their own goalposts, pinned there by Mentzer punts and a stout Spartan defensive performance.
With a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter, the Spartans quickly found themselves trailing 8-3, thanks to a 57-yard touchdown run by Palmerton Senior running back Ty Sander.
The Spartans retook the lead later in the quarter on a pass from Senior quarterback Trevor Minalda to Senior wideout Collin Stanakis.
They would take a 10-8 lead into the locker room at the half.
While the first half was a defensive battle, the second half turned into an offensive shootout with Minalda passing to Senior receiver Joey Flail for a long touchdown pass, immediately answered by a pass from Palmerton’s Matthew Machalik to Emilio Gonzalez.
Minalda would find Flail again later in the third quarter to take a 24-16 lead into the fourth.
With under four minutes left to play, Palmerton knotted the game up at 24-apiece thanks to a Machalik pass to Sander.
On the ensuing Spartan drive, Stanakis lost the football, which was recovered by Palmerton, setting up the go-ahead drive for the Blue Bombers.
Machalik would find paydirt on the ground to give his team a 32-24 advantage with under a minute to play, and an interception on the next Spartan drive would seal the deal for the Blue Bombers.
North Schuylkill’s season ends with a 9-3 record, while Palmerton improves to 12-0 and moves on to the District XI 3A title game.
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