Rocco DeCesare is not thrilled about playing on Pen Argyl’s offense and head coach Brady Mutton is not about making players play positions they are not comfortable with.
But, there is one particular formation where DeCesare is comfortable.
Mutton called it on the first play of the fourth quarter in the midst of Saturday afternoon’s tie game with Palmerton at Alumni Stadium.
DeCesare, lined up just behind Green Knights center Xavier Ragusa and and left guard Nathan Thomas and in front of a full-house backfield, took the direct snap from Ragusa and scored the go-ahead touchdown.
The senior’s 1-yard TD, the first of his career, allowed Pen Argyl to rally from an early, 14-point deficit to take the lead for good in a 27-20 victory.
“I take the snap, run forward and hold the ball as tight as I can,” DeCesare said. “Last year, we ran it one time kind of by accident. We only got about four yards against Palisades, and they knew exactly what we were doing.
“It didn’t work too well that time, but today is worked out perfectly.”
After Palmerton (0-2) took advantage of a muffed punt to take a 14-0 lead and recover the ensuing onside kick, coach Chris Walkowiak’s club seemed to have all the momentum.
But Pen Argyl (2-0) turned the tide by stopping Palmerton after on the onside kick, scoring on the last offensive play of the first half then getting touchdowns on all three second-half possessions.
A year after it struggled to finish off games in which they led or were close, the Green Knights have won consecutive games for the first time since the first two games of the 2023 season and did so by scoring late in those contests.
“The intensity going into the second half was insane,” two-way lineman Jakob Pietraszkiewicz said. “Everybody picked each other up.
“Last week definitely helped. It showed we could play for four quarters. That’s something we definitely lacked last year.”
The little things
Palmerton hurt itself with penalties, missed tackles and an inability to get its defense off the field in the second half.
Pen Argyl tied the game at 14 at the 8:22 mark of the third quarter when Mason Soos hit Terrell Estes on a short out pattern. Estes broke the tackle and completed a 52-yard touchdown reception for his first varsity touchdown in what has been an injury-riddled career.
“That’s a fundamental play, making the tackle there,” Blue Bombers coach Chris Walkowiak said. “Estes is a stud. He’s a big back. We had good coverage. Can’t blame that. We just have to bring him down or hang on until we can get more people there.
“It was big plays at inopportune times.”
Estes’ TD reception came on third down. The Green Knights were 0 for 6 on third down in the first half. They converted their first four such attempts in the second half, two on each of their first two drives.
Soos hit Caiden Faust on a short screen pass that turned into a 51-yard gain. That set up DeCesare’s go-ahead score with 11:56 left. A pass interference call on that series and the one that got Pen Argyl on the board in the first half also were key.
Palmerton committed seven penalties for 69 yards.
Pen Argyl also converted both times on third down on the go-ahead drive.
“Defensively, we have to stop the bleeding when we have the opportunity to,” Walkowiak said. “The key to the game without watching film was that we had opportunities to get off the field and we didn’t.”
Pen Argyl also was 6 for 6 on fourth down, converting three times in each half. The last time came on Faust’s 8-yard TD run with 37 seconds left to finish a drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock.
Palmerton did have a chance to tie the game when Vince Taglieri went untouched for a 27-yard touchdown run, but the extra point was wide left to keep Pen Argyl ahead 21-20.
“We live for the long drive,” Mutton said. “When there was nine minutes left and they scored, we all looked at each other on the sidelines and said, ‘Perfect. Game over because we’re going to run nine minutes off the clock.
“The kids are really good at it. They keep grinding and grinding. It’s something we practice. We want to run the ball. We don’t care if it’s three yards at a time. If the kids don’t embrace, it usually doesn’t work but the kids love it.”
Slow start
Each team punted twice to start the game before Palmerton took advantage of a short field for its first score of the first half. Caleb Sagastume had the first of his two 1-yard touchdown runs with 37 seconds left in the first quarter. T.J. Weller’s 31-yard pass to Ben Negley set up the score.
Taglieri’s fumble recovery on a punt gave the Blue Bombers another short field, this time at the Green Knights’ 40. Sagastume scored from the 1-yard line six plays later for a 14-0 cushion with 5:50 left in the first half.
Alex Keiper recovered the ensuing onside kick, but Palmerton couldn’t take advantage. Pen Argyl forced a 3-and-out and got the ball back with 4:51 left in the half.
The Green Knights drove 81 yards in 14 plays to get on the board thanks to Faust’s 2-yard TD run on fourth down with one second left to get within 14-6. A pass interference and a fourth-down conversion near midfield kept the series going.
“The score right before halftime they got a little bit of momentum,” Walkowiak said. “Then third downs in the second half. We got them in third and long right away and then third down again and they converted both. They made the plays that gave them the momentum.”
Game notes
Logan Anthony had a sack and one tackle for loss for Palmerton even though Pen Argyl ran almost every play away from the senior lineman. Michael Gary also had a sack and tackle for loss. Keiper added two tackles for loss. … Chris Crespo’s interception with 24 seconds left sealed the Green Knights victory.
Up next
Pen Argyl (2-0) visits Northern Lehigh (1-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Green Knights lost a fourth-quarter lead at home in last year’s regular-season meeting before beating the host Bulldogs in the District 11 Class 2A playoffs. Palmerton (0-2) hosts Saucon Valley (1-1), also Friday at 7.
PEN ARGYL 27, PALMERTON 20
Palmerton: 7; 7; 0; 6 — 20
Pen Argyl: 0; 6; 8; 13 — 21
ORDER OF SCORING
First quarter
Palm: Caleb Sagastume 1 run (Dillon Anthony kick), 0:37
Second quarter
Palm: Sagastume 1 run (Dillon Anthony kick), 5:50
PA: Caiden Faust 2 run (kick failed), 0:01
Third quarter
PA: Mason Soos 52 pass to Terrell Estes (Soos run), 8:22
Fourth quarter
PA: Rocco DeCesare 1 run (Reid Kotulka kick), 11:56
Palm: Vince Taglieri 27 run (kick failed), 8:11
PA: Faust 8 run (run failed), 0:37
TEAM STATISTICSPal; PAFirst downs; 9; 17Rushes-yards; 19-106; 46-112Passing yards; 85; 154Comp-Att-INTs; 10-19-1; 8-13-0Punts-avg.; 5-36.4; 3-30.0Fumbles-lost; 0-0; 2-2Penalties-yards; 7-69; 1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushing: (Palmerton) T.J. Weller 2-4; Caleb Sagastume 14-68, 2 TDs; Vincent Taglieri 2-28, TD; Connor Lawless 1-6; (Pen Argyl) Mason Soos 22-39; Terrell Estes 2-3; Caiden Faust 16-74, 2 TDs; Zach Metzgar 1-4; Rocco DeCesare 1-1, TD; team 4-(-9).
Passing: (Palmerton) Weller 10-19-1, 85 yards; (Pen Argyl) Soos 8-13-0, 154 yards, TD.
Receiving: (Palmerton) Taglieri 3-17; Ben Negley 3-51; Lawless 3-16; Sagastume 1-1 (Pen Argyl) Estes 2-62, TD; Faust 1-51; Anthony Beltran 3-17; Chris Crespo 2-24.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
https://www.mcall.com/2025/08/30/pen-argyl-football-does-little-things-right-rallies-past-palmerton/
