NW’s Bollinger, Palmerton’s Nelson named all-state

Northwestern head coach Josh Snyder asked a lot of Deven Bollinger.

Palmerton mentor Chris Walkowiak did the same with Jordan Nelson.

Each time, the duo delivered when called upon.

Bollinger rewrote the Tigers’ record books at the quarterback position, putting up passing and rushing statistics that seemed like they were pulled from a video game.

Nelson was a factor in all three phases of the game for the Blue Bombers, but he flourished on defense. His ability to change the course of a game on that side of the ball was evident throughout his career.

Their efforts were recognized on Saturday with the release of the Pa. Football Writers’ All-State teams. Bollinger was selected at the quarterback position in Class 4A for the second year in a row, while Nelson was picked for the first time, earning a nod at the linebacker spot in Class 2A.

For their coaches, it was further validation of what their dedication has meant to the program over the past four years.

“It’s a great accomplishment for him, but he would be the first one to tell you that it takes a team effort to make it happen,” said Snyder. “For the linemen to block and give him time and the receivers to make the catches. But I think where he separated himself this year especially was gaining 1,000 yards rushing and really becoming a complete athlete in that regard.”

Bollinger earned his second all-state honor during a record-setting season at Northwestern. After passing for 1,998 yards and 30 touchdowns and rushing for 881 yards and 16 scores as a junior, he built on those numbers this past fall, completing 131 of 221 pass attempts for 2,105 yards and 35 touchdowns while also carrying the ball 181 times for 1,005 yards and eight touchdowns to lead the team to a Colonial League title and the semifinals of the District 11 Class 4A playoffs for the second year in a row.

He is the first area player to throw for over 2,000 yards and top 1,000 on the ground in a single season.

Nelson found his niche wherever he was needed for Palmerton, starring on offense, defense and special teams.

But his impact on the defensive side of the ball was unmatched. He finished with 427 tackles during his career, a school record.

“Over his entire career, the big thing for me that stands out is his understanding of the game,” said Walkowiak. “He understands the game plan, he understands what the opponents are doing, but then, more importantly, his ability to cover ground from sideline to sideline and fill the holes. At linebacker, you definitely need to be a downhill player, and he did that for us, and was able to make the right reads, fill the gaps and setting the school record for tackles definitely is proof that he could make tackles and play all over the field.

“And being able to move him around, not only from the linebacker spot but to safety, outside the box and have him rush the corner, he just proved to be more valuable to us having him in those positions to make plays.”

With Bollinger, who is headed to the University of Delaware next fall, at the controls, the Tigers averaged 37.5 points per game in 2018 and 38.6 ppg. this past season.

“He’s worked his tail off over the last four years to get where he is at this particular point and time,” said Snyder. “An award like this just goes to show what hard work and persistence and dedication does for a kid of his caliber.”

Nelson, who will continue his football career at Villanova University, led the Blue Bombers with 106 total tackles (68 solo), 13 tackles for a loss, five sacks and had one interception this season.

In addition to his stellar play on defense, Nelson also finished the season as the team’s top passer with 674 yards and seven touchdowns. He was second on the squad in rushing and receiving, carrying the ball 82 times for 531 yards and four touchdowns, while also hauling in 16 passes for 247 yards and one score.

“His understanding of the game from a defensive perspective helped him at quarterback,” said Walkowiak. “And he already had a solid background at wide receiver, but knowing what the defenses were doing and knowing our coverages and what teams were doing helped him make that transition to quarterback little bit easier, knowing where the receivers were going to be and what the defenses were going to be doing.

“He is definitely a student of the game in that regard. He knew where others were going to be, and where he had to be, which was instrumental in his success.”

As knowledgeable as they are skilled, both proved to extensions of the coaching staff on the field.

“Jordan, along with Andrew Sabo on the inside, allowed us to do things defensively that I could communicate with them in a certain way, or do things with the game plan where they knew what I wanted to be doing or what we needed to be doing,” said Walkowiak. “They could come off the field and give valuable feedback, and having their understanding of what was going on scheme-wise; there were times we would draw things up in the sand so to speak, and say, ‘OK, we need to do this now.’

“And they were able to do it, just because of their knowledge.”

While Bollinger led the offense, he also was an adept defender, finishing second on the team with three interceptions and recording 35 total tackles.

“He didn’t come off the field much because he was playing defense, and he would sort of look over to me and just sort of give me a signal of an idea that he thought would work and I would run with it,” said Snyder. “That just goes to show you have a kid that really gets it. When he can foresee a play that’s going to work, based off of what we’ve been doing during a series, or a drive that was going on, especially late in the season, he did that quite a bit, and we were successful with those things that he was asking for.”

Bollinger and Nelson join Tamaqua’s Nate Boyle, Brayden Knoblauch, Matt Kistler and Bronson Strouse, and Jim Thorpe’s Cobe Frycklund, who were selected to the Class 3A team on Friday.