For the second consecutive season, Catasauqua will enter the District 11 Class 2A playoffs when they travel to Palmerton Friday night.

Last season, the Rough Riders made their first appearance since the 2013 season when they rattled host Minersville, 31-12, in the opening round and then were shutout, 36-0, by eventual district champion Palisades. Catty finished last year’s abbreviated season with an overall 2-6 record.

The third-seeded Roughies (7-3) earlier dropped a 42-8 decision to the second-seeded Blue Bombers (8-2) on Sept. 24.

In that game, Palmerton racked up 455 yards to total offense behind quarterback Matt Machalik, who threw for 143 yards with a pair of touchdowns and ran for 109 yards with a score.

Palmerton jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead and added a pair of scores in the final quarter.

Catasauqua quarterback Christian Fye and lineman Gabe Toth both didn’t start the game due to school suspensions. Fye completed three of 11 passes for 28 yards in the second half. Freshman Aiden Hess started the game and completed five of nine passes for 54 yards with an interception.

Anthonie Hunsicker was the Roughies’ leading rusher with 90 yards on eight carries with a touchdown, and Elijah Soler added 49 yards on 15 carries. Wyatt Younes had four receptions for 47 yards.

This time around, the Roughies are coming off a 36-2 loss to Northwestern, while Palmerton dropped a 43-14 decision to Northern Lehigh. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Blue Bombers.

Hunsicker hurt his knee against Pine Grove a few games back, and he could possibly return on Thanksgiving Day. Lineman Miles Melendez left the Northwestern game with an arm injury, and his status is questionable.

“We didn’t want to see Northern Lehigh in the first round,” said Catty head coach Travis Brett. “We believe Palmerton can be a good matchup for us. Not having Hunsicker healthy hurts us and we’ll see about Melendez.”

PREDICTION: Roughies have some dings, but they are relatively healthy ... Brett doesn’t expect to see too many different looks from Palmerton since they last met, but he plans to give them a couple different wrinkles ... Their key will be to contain Machalik, who is one of the better duel threats in the greater Lehigh Valley ... The last time the Roughies won at Palmerton was in 2012 by a 48-7 score, and they defeated them at home the following year, 38-7. Since then, Catty has been on the wrong side of deficits of 35 or more points aside from a 26-7 loss in 2017 ... Saturday night, the Roughies will need to run the ball and play keep-away. They have allowed an average of 121.7 yards rushing and 133.9 yards passing per game ... Fye will be a key and Roughies‘ defense has to make some plays ... It’s a tough spot especially not having Hunsicker, who was a playmaker on defense ... Coach Snyder, I’ll get the hot dogs next time ... PALMERTON, 35-21.