Palmerton football QB Trainer does it all, including win, at Wilson

It's been a long wait for Palmerton senior Jameson Trainer to experience victory as a starting quarterback.

Trainer waited in the wings behind incredible Matthew Machalik, who now suits up for Lehigh University.

And this season has been a struggle for the Blue Bombers, who opened the season with five consecutive losses.

But on Saturday afternoon, Trainer was able to finally celebrate a victory as a starting quarterback as he led Palmerton to a 32-28 road victory over Wilson .

The senior quarterback ran for 202 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and completed 15 of 23 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

"It was nice getting our first win, finally," Trainer said. "We didn't really hang our heads the first half of the season. We just started focusing on the second half of the season, going 1-0 each week and just keep getting better at practice weekly."

"Jameson is a very good athlete," Palmerton coach Chris Walkowiak said. "His route running last year as receiver has helped him as a quarterback because he knows where people are going to be, where people are going to be open. (Quarterback/receiver) coach Mark Versuk does a great job with him and getting play calls to suit his strength there. Jameson does a great job of managing the game and taking what the defense gives us. Spreading the ball out to our receivers."

"I can't say enough about him," the Blue Bombers coach continued about the quarterback. "Great leader. Does what we ask him to do. Plays hurt, plays banged up. Just an awesome overall kid."

Trainer found junior Alex Keiper for a 16-yard touchdown with 5:35 left in the first quarter for the first score of the game. It was then Trainer to freshman Ben Negley to make it an 8-0 lead for the Blue Bombers.

The senior quarterback then showed off his running ability, taking off for an 85-yard touchdown scamper with 8:51 left in the second quarter. Trainer then completed a two-point conversion pass to Keiper to increase the lead to 16-0.

Trainer connected with junior wide receiver Vincent Taglieri for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 2:19 left in the second quarter. He found Keiper again for two points to make it a 24-6 advantage.

The signal caller threw his third touchdown of the game with 31 seconds left in the third quarter, a 75-yard touchdown pass to Taglieri. Trainer then completed the two-point conversion pass to sophomore Connor Lawless to push the Blue Bombers' advantage to 32-12.

The Warriors, who have lost 27 consecutive games, didn't stop fighting. They cut the deficit to 32-20 with 9:45 remaining in the fourth quarter on a 32-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jeramy Cressman to sophomore wide receiver Christian Samayoa and then a two-point conversion run by Cressman.

Wison trimmed Palmerton's advantage to 32-28 with 1:18 remaining in the fourth quarter. Cressman connected with junior wide receiver Leonard Davis for a 29-yard touchdown pass and then Cressman ran for the two-point conversion.

The Blue Bombers were able to hold off the Warriors when Taglieri recovered an onside kick. Then, Trainer closed out the game with an 8-yard run on a third-and-6, allowing Palmerton to run out the clock.

With 3:13 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Warriors trailing by 12 points, Palmerton sophomore cornerback Cale Young recovered a Wilson fumble at the Blue Bombers' 6-yard line.

"Playing with a tough mental state," Trainer said about the keys down the stretch. "Staying high, not getting so down. If you make a bad mistake, just brush it off and go to the next play."

"I feel like our team was just a little bit tired," Young said. "But we were talking, we were talking, getting each other hyped up and everything. We just stuck together and won the game."

"We had to stick together," Taglieri said. "We got the big turnover going near the end zone. Jameson had a nice run, we got a first down and we finished the game from there."

Late in the third quarter, Wilson was successful recovering an onside kick when senior Cameron Thatcher jumped on the ball. But the Blue Bombers kept the 24-12 advantage when they stopped the Warriors on a fourth-and-11 at the road team's 26-yard line.

Taglieri recorded four receptions for 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Young hauled in eight catches for 66 yards for the Blue Bombers, who improved to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the Colonial/Schuylkill League White Division this season.

"I trust them and rely on them to catch the ball," Trainer said of Taglieri and Young. "They run good routes and they're good at finding the open space."

Cressman completed 10 of 20 passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior Zeandros Johnson rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown on eight carries for Wilson, which fell to 0-6 overall and 0-5 in the league's White Division.

Davis had two catches for 96 yards with both receptions going for touchdowns. Junior Nickenson Louis-Jeune had eight catches for 70 yards for the Warriors, who will play at Northern Lehigh on Friday night.

Palmerton will be looking for a winning streak on Friday night when it hosts Palisades.

"They were resilient, without a doubt there," Walkowiak said of team's performance down the stretch against Wilson. "I'm proud they stuck together at the end. Getting a turnover and then having to convert a key first down to the end the game. Those are situations we haven't been in and we responded well in them. We definitely have got to clean up some other mistakes to not allow them to make it so close there."

"But overall, we'll take the win this week," the Blue Bombers coach added. "We talked about getting into the 1-0 mentality, practicing hard, doing fundamentals and letting the scoreboard take care of itself. We'll look at the film tonight and get ready for Palisades next week."