Devil dominate Vikings

If he wasn’t emphatic enough about who the best player on the field was the first time Old Forge and Riverside met on the gridiron, Brian “Bubba” Tomasetti put forth a repeat performance as the Blue Devils smashed the Vikings, 42-7, in the opening round of the District 2 Class 1A playoffs on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Tomasetti rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries to become the OFHS single-season rushing and touchdown leader with 1,728 yards and 30 TDs respectively. The senior also picked off two passes and returned a kickoff 70 yards to set up a score.

The game started precariously for the Blue Devils as Mike Vieira injured his ankle on the opening kickoff, but the senior continued to play during the first quarter.

And he made a difference.

After Tomasetti rushed for five yards on first down from the OF 32, Vieira took a speed sweep for nine yards and a first down.

Two plays later hauled in a 29-yard pass from quarterback Brenden Wahl for a touchdown. Matt Mancuso banged the first of his six extra-points on the night and Old Forge (11-0) led, 7-0 with 9:52 showing on the first-quarter clock.

It didn’t take long for the offense to get back on the field as linebacker Jorden Sekol picked off his first pass of the season when he intercepted Riverside quarterback Nick Dranchak at the Vikings 28-yard line.

A 23-yard toss from Wahl to tight end Shane Schuback for a touchdown was nullified by an illegal motion penalty, but a 13-yard scramble by Wahl on third-and-12 set up the Blue Devils in the red zone on the 14-yard line.

Two plays later, Jake Manetti took the speed sweep out of the spread formation nine yards into the end zone for a 14-0 lead with 7:24 left in the opening stanza.

The Vikings picked up its first first down of the game on its next possession, but the Blue Devils forced a punt and took over at the Riverside 43.

Old Forge moved to the Riverside 20 as Tomasetti carried four times for 22 yards and Wahl picked up six on a scramble. But a two holding penalties forced a punt, giving the ball to the Vikings at the 15.

The teams traded the next two possessions, and Riverside caught a break when Manetti fumbled a punt at the Vikings 44 which Jim Tucker recovered for Riverside.

On the next play, tailback Dave Sweetman took a flare pass 37 yards down the visitors sideline to the Old Forge 19. Only a touchdown-saving tackle by Anthony Picoolini kept the senior speedster from getting to the end zone.

The tackle by Piccolini proved to be a huge turning point as the Big Blue Wrecking Crew kept the Vikings off the board when Schuback stepped in front of a Riverside receiver at the goal line for an interception that he returned to the Vikings 15.

A completion from Wahl to Schuback for 17 yards on third-and-8 moved Old Forge across its own 30, and two plays later Tomasetti put the highlight reel in motion.

Tomasetti took a handoff to the right, bounced off right guard Paul Papi before reversing field to the left where he found a hole that he sprinted to. The only 1,700-yard rusher in a season in school history for the Blue Devils then stepped over a defender grasping for his shoestrings and galloped 57 yards to paydirt for a 21-0 Old Forge lead with 4:56 to go before halftime.

Riverside had another chance to get on the board before the end of the first half after Schuback shanked a punt for just eight yards from his own 11. But the junior linebacker atoned for his first bad punt of the season by leading the defense in forcing incompletions on third and fourth down from the 13. Sekol almost had his second INT of the game on fourth down, getting his hands on a pass at the goal line.

The top scoring defense in all of District 2 held the Vikings to just 72 total yards in the first half – 37 of which came on one play. Old Forge forced Dranchak – who had throw for over 2,500 yards coming into the game – into a 4-for-15 first half for just 15 yards with two interceptions.

Riverside did not quit at the half.

The Vikings came out in the third quarter and went 69 yards on five plays for its first – and only – score of the game.

Dranchak hooked up with Nico Munley on third-and-9 down the Old Forge sideline for a 58-yard touchdown with 10:08 showing on the Big Board. Mat Lucas drilled the PAT, and the Vikings were with in 21-7 and built some momentum to start the half.

But Tomasetti would once again impose his will on the Blue Devils arch-rival.

Subbing for Vieira who did not play the final three quarters because of his injury, Tomasetti took the ensuing kickoff on his own 25 and returned in 70 yards to the Riverside 5 to set up his second touchdown of the game. It was the first time this season Tomasetti had been on the field to return a kick.

Two plays later, Tomasetti was in the end zone and Old Forge regained momentum and command with a 28-7 lead with 9:17 left in the third period.

On its next possession, Old Forge opened with two carries by Tomasetti for 20 yards before turning to Manetti.

Manetti carried once for 16 yards then hauled in a short pass from Wahl before turning the dump off into a 29-yard touchdown for a 35-7 lead less than four minutes later.

Riverside tried to answer after Dranchak connected on two passes for 19 yards, and the Blue Devils were flagged twice for personal foulds. The series of events put the Vikings on the Old Forge 30-yard line. But on first down outside linebacker Warren Welsh recovered a Dranchak fumbled to give the ball back to the Blue Devils.

The Riverside defense forced a punting situation on the ensuing series, but on fourth down, Schuback – the punter – saw an opening and audibled to a direct snap to Tomasetti.

Tomasetti – who again was replacing Vieira on a special teams unit – took the snap and went up the middle untouched for a 63-yard touchdown. Kyree Toomey threw a crushing block at about the 30 on the Riverside return man to spring Tomasetti to the end zone.

The PAT was good and the Mercy Rule was invoked as Old Forge led 42-7 with 1:05 left in the third quarter.

Riverside tried to answer by going to the air, and after Dranchak hooked up with tight end Mike Loftus on a 29-yard completion in front of Tomasetti, the senior cornerback got even.

Tomasetti would intercept Dranchak’s next two passes – one in the end zone, and one at the OF 35 – to end two Riverside drives.

Old Forge then ran most of the remaining time off the clock with Brandon Yescavage picking up 35 yards and Toomey running for 33.

Devil Details….

• Old Forge has outscored Riverside, 143-20, in their last three meetings – including two playoff victories - to take a 33-30-4 lead in the all-time series.

• Tomasetti racked up 200 yards for the fourth time this season. His two-game total against the Vikes in 2012 was 50 carries, 422 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions.

• Wahl’s 75 yards passing put him over the 1,500-yard mark for the season at 1,529. The senior became just the third QB in OFHS history to pass for over 1,500 yards. He also added to his school-record for touchdowns in a season with two more to give him 21.

Video evidence the Blue Devils rock!!!

Devils win LFC Division III Crown

It didn’t take long for Old Forge to get on top last Saturday afternoon at Susquehanna Community High School. And it took even less time to put the game away.

The Blue Devils scored on their first play from scrimmage and added two more touchdowns within 26 seconds during the end of the first quarter as they ran away with a 49-6 victory over the Sabers to claim the Lackawanna Football Conference Division III title for the second consecutive season, and the fifth time in seven years.

Anthony Piccolini put Old Forge (10-0) on the board when he took a screen pass from Brenden Wahl and sprinted 29 yards down the visitor’s side line for a touchdown. The two-point run failed but the Blue Devils led 6-0 just 2:46 into the game.

A penalty and an interception on a trick play cost Old Forge a chance to score one possession later. But the Blue Devils again struck quickly on its ensuing possessions when Wahl hit Jake Manetti for a 3-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds remaining in the first stanza.

Wahl hooked up with Piccolini with 14 yards, and Shane Schuback for 41 during the three-play drive. Matt Mancuso took the two-point conversion into the endzone on an option play and Old Forge led 14-0.

Paul Papi recovered a fumble for Old Forge on Susquehanna’s next offensive snap to give the Blue Devils the ball on the Sabers 34.

After scoring twice through the air, the Blue Devils went to the ground and handed the ball to Brian “Bubba” Tomasetti for a 24-yard gain before the senior tailback scored from 10 yards out with 12 seconds left before the second quarter. Mancuso booted the extra-point and Old Forge led, 21-0.

Mike Vieira snatched an interception on Susquehanna’s next possession, and the Blue Devils went back to the air.

Wahl found Schuback for a hookup at the 10, and Old Forge’s junior tight end did work the rest of the way, finding the endzone for a 31-yard touchdown. Mancuso’s PAT was good and the Blue Devils led 28-0 with 9:42 left before halftime.

The defense continued to dominate for Old Forge forcing a punt after Kyree Tomey, Paul Papi and Jorden Sekol sacked Sabers QB Cole Mallory. The Blue Devils then got a piece of the punt, and took over at the Sabers 10.

Two players later, Tomasetti scored from 10-yards out to put Old Forge ahead, 35-0, after Mancuso’s kick.

Tomasetti then got into the act defensively with his seventh interception of the season, and two plays later, the 1,500-yard rusher scored from 11 yards out for  42-0 lead with 4:33 before haltime.

The touchdown also tied Tomasetti with Bob Rinaldi Sr. for the OFHS single-season rushing touchdown record with 27.

Susquehanna tried to get on the board against the Blue Devils second team defense to end the half, but the Sabers had a 71-yard touchdown run by Mallory called back because of an offensive facemask.

At the half, Old Forge had held Susquehanna to minus-23 yards rushing on 18 carries.

The starters took the second half off with the exception of an extra-point after senior Tyler Salerno went 30 yards for this third touchdown of the season with 11:00 left in the game.

Tomsetti finished the day with 78 yards to give him 1,528 for the season – the fourth best single-season mark in school history.

Wahl also moved into fourth position for passing yards in a season after finishing 5-for-7 for 117 yards. His total of 1,453 trails leader Benny Pritchyk by 306 yards for the school record for passing yards in a season. Pritchyk threw for 1,760 in 1996. Wahl’s three TD passes moved him into first place for touchdown tosses in a season with 19 as he surpasses Corey Hodick who had 18 in 2008.

Old Forge creams Crusaders

Another slow start did nothing to impede Old Forge's quest for a ninth victory as the Blue Devils throttled an undermanned Holy Cross squad, 55-8, in the last regular-season home game last Friday night at Old Forge Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Crusaders took a page out of Carbondale's offensive playbook, milking the play clock while keeping the ball on the ground to keep the pigskin away from he Blue Devils offense.

Holy Cross ran six plays before Old Forge stopped them on fourth-and-1 from their own 46. But the Blue Devils gave the ball back after a Brian Tomasetti 13-yard run when Brenden Wahl threw just his fifth interception of the season on first down from the Holy Cross 33.

The Crusaders again took the play clock to close to zero on each snap running four more plays before punting the ball back to Old Forge with almost eight minutes gone in the first quarter on the Big Board.

It didn't take long for the Blue Devils to put a crooked number on the scoreboard though as Tomasetti jaunted 55 yards up the middle for a touchdown. Wahl added the two-point conversion and Old Forge led, 8-0 with 3:55 remaining in the first quarter.

The Big Blue Wrecking Crew got another stop, forcing a three-and-out as Mike Vieira and Brandon Yescavage each registered two tackles. Then on fourth down, the Holy Cross punter dropped the snap and was tackled for a 15-yard loss to give Old Forge the ball at the Crusaders 11.

On the next play, Tomasetti sprinted in from 11 yards out for a touchdown. The two-point pass was incomplete, but the Blue Devils still led, 14-0, with 1:22 left in the opening stanza.

Yescavage continued his assault on the Holy Cross offense, blocking a punt which Vieira recovered on the Crusaders 2. On the next play, Wahl followed center Tyler Clark into the endzone for the score. The PAT was blocked and Old Forge led 20-0 just eight seconds into the second quarter.

Holy Cross completed its only pass of the game on its next series but on second down from the HC 38 Jorden Sekol forced a fumble which Shane Schuback recovered. The Dynamic Duo linebackers totaled 22 tackles on the night with Sekol registering 12 and Schuback 10.

Schuback then got into the act on offense, hauling in a 35-yard scoring strike from Wahl to put the Blue Devils ahead 27-0 after Matt Mancuso banged his first extra-point of the game with 7:52 showing on the second-quarter clock.

Jake Manetti then gave the ball right back to the offense with his first interception of the season on the ensuing play from scrimmage. Two plays later, Tomasetti surpassed the 1,400 yard rushing plateau when he went 24 yards for a touchdown. The two-point pass failed and Old Forge led 33-0 less than one minute later.

Holy Cross got on the board when Connor Callejas returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. Eric Gatto hit Dan Barmes for the two-point conversion and the Crusaders were within 33-8.

Old Forge came right back when Wahl hit Anthony Piccolini on in stride over the middle for a 53-yard touchdown toss with 5:21 left before halftime. Mancuso's kick was good and the Blue Devils went ahead, 40-8.

Tomasetti had a 43-yard touchdown run called back to open the third quarter, but on he next play Yescavage went 35 yards untouched to paydirt behind new right tackle Sekol. The kick was good by Mancuso and the Mercy Rule went into effect with the 47-8 lead.

The Crusaders put together a 12-play drive that travelled just 21 yards from the HC 6 to the HC 27 after a botched punt gave Old Forge the ball back.

The Blue Devils had a 27-yard touchdown run by Matt Trotta nullified by a penalty on its next possession, but Tyler Salerno would get in from the same distance one possession later with Trotta adding the two-point conversion to finalize the scoring at 55-8.

Tomasetti ran for 156 yards and three TDs on just nine carries to put him over the 1,400-yard mark for the season. The Blue Devils gained 248 yards on the ground on just 18 carries while Holy Cross rushed for 75 yards on 54 carries. The Crusaders ran 57 offensive plays to Old Forge's 21.

Sekol led the Big Blue Wrecking Crew with 12 tackles and a forced fumble, while Schuback racked up 10 tackles and forced a fumble. Tony DeSando added a season-high seven stops, as did Mike Vieira who had six tackles.

B&G Blog Player of the Game: Brian Tomasetti. All Bubba did this week was average over 17 yards per carry on his way to three touchdowns and 156 yards rushing. He would have went over 200 for the third time this season but a 43-yard TD run was called back after a holding penalty occurred after the senior had picked up 17 yards.

B&G Blog Player who is not Bubba Player of the Game: Shane Schuback. Suga Shane caught one pass for a 35-yard touchdown, recovered a fumble and registered 10 tackles in a do-it-all performance for the Blue Devils.

B&G Blog Defensive Player of the Game: Jorden Sekol. Sekol totaled a team-high and season-high 12 tackles and also forced a fumble to lead the Old Forge defense in limiting Holy Cross to only 90 yards of total offense, including just 75 yards on 54 carries.

B&G Blog Play of the Game: The opening kickoff. When Jorden Sekol leveled Holy Cross kick returner Connor Callejas on the opening kickoff it sent the message early that the Blue Devils were not there to fool around. The Crusaders were able to run more than twice as many plays, but Old Forge scored on 8 of its 21 offensive plays and delivered more hits on defense that normal. And it all started with Sekol setting the tone.

B&G Blog Coaching Move of the Game: No offense to Coach Schuback and his staff, but there was not much coaching needed to be done once the whistle blew to begin the game. The game plan on both sides of the ball was flawless so the CMotG goes to the preparation part of the Week 9 game. Kudos to the staff for its work during practice.

Wahl, Piccolini charge offense in victory

Carbondale came into Friday night’s game on the rain-soaked turf at Old Forge Veterans Memorial Stadium with a solid game plan.

Milk the play-clock on offense to keep the ball away from the Blue Devils high-octane offense, and prevent Old Forge tailback Brian “Bubba” Tomasetti from running wild as he had all season.

However the Chargers did not count on one thing – the play of quarterback Brenden Wahl and his stable of play-making receivers.

Wahl and his six receivers peeled the Carbondale secondary for 267 yards and four touchdowns as the Blue Devils pulled away from the Chargers in a 35-8 victory to remain undefeated and in control of the Lackawanna Football Conference Division III and District 2 Class 1A race.

The game started with a squib kick by Carbondale that was recovered by the Blue Devils, but on the first play from scrimmage, Tomasetti lost the slick pigskin to give the ball back to the Chargers.

Carbondale couldn’t move the ball it is first possession, nor on any other possession in the first half, as the Big Blue Wrecking Crew – led by middle linebackers Shane Schuback and Jorden Sekol – held the Chargers to minus-4 yards on 23 snaps in the first 24 minutes.

Old Forge mustered only five yards on its second possession, but the Blue Devils got going with 6:31 showing on the Big Board in the first quarter with a nine-play, 51-yard drive. The trip into the Carbondale red zone was capped by a 26-yard field goal from Matt Mancuso to give OF a 3-0 lead with 2:27 remaining in the quarter.

The drive was highlighted by a 17-yard run by Tomasetti – his longest of the game – and a 28-yard completion from Wahl to Anthony Piccolini on a slant to put the ball at the CA 3-yard line.

Defensive ends Kyree Toomey and Brandon Yescavage sacked Chargers QB Joey Gigliotti for a 15-yard loss on third down and an errant snap on fourth down forced the Chargers punter to run out of the end zone before being tackled by Michael Vieira to turn the ball back over to Old Forge at the CA 7.

Wahl and Piccolini hooked up on a slant on the very next play for a 7-yard touchdown to give the Blue Devils a 9-0 lead with 49 seconds left in the first.

Carbondale picked up its first two first downs on its next drive, but Schuback and Sekol put a stop to the drive by combining on tackles on second and third down to force a punt.

Old Forge came up short on a fourth-and-4 from the Carbondale 48, but Schuback and Joey Bruno sacked Gigliotti for a 12-yard loss on third down, forcing another punt.

Starting on its own 35 with less than three minutes remaining in the second quarter, Old Forge handed the ball to Tomasetti three straight times for 17 yards before going to the air.

Wahl hit Vieira on a quick five-yard out on first down from the CA 49, then after an incompletion found Jake Manetti in the middle of the field where the junior wide out made an outstanding grab for a 22-yard completion and a first down with less than 1:20 left in the game.

On the next play, Wahl hit Tomasetti in the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown and a 16-0 lead that the Blue Devils took into halftime.

Carbondale opened the second half with a simple four-yard gain on a dive, but the Chargers then went into their bag of tricks and on a perfectly executed flea flicker, Gigliotti connected with Jason Martin for a 42-yard touchdown. A halfback option from Brandon Sales to Mike Scotch worked for the two-point conversion and Carbondale was within 16-8 with 11:01 left in the third quarter.

Old Forge responded two possessions later.

After Wahl converted a fourth-and-1 by calling his own number on a sneak from the CA 49, the senior signal-caller hit Piccolini on the home sideline and the senior wideout ran past two defenders – one who was crushed on a block by Manetti – to the end zone for his second touchdown of the game, a 46-yard scoring play. Mancuso nailed the extra-point and the Blue Devils led 23-8 with 6:30 left in the third stanza.

The play of the defense forced yet another punt, and after an illegal man downfield penalty pushed Old Forge back to its own 49, Wahl went back to work.

Wahl completed two passes to Schuback for 20 yards, then hit Warren Welsh across the middle for a 39-yard gain to the Carbondale 1. The first-year starter then called his own number and crossed the goal line for a touchdown, giving the Blue Devils a 29-8 lead with 3:19 left in the third.

A 12-yard kickoff return by the Chargers, and a 15-yard personal foul penalty by the Blue Devils, set Carbondale up at the Old Forge 39. But the defense forced an incompletion on fourth down to give Wahl one more shot.

The 1,000-yard quarterback was sacked on second down for a seven-yard loss but connected with Piccolini for 22 yards on third-and-12 before hooking up again with his favorite receiver for a 55-yard scoring strike and a 35-8 ld with 10:06 left in the game.

Wahl – who had never taken a varsity snap before this season – went over the 1,000-yard mark passing during the game, finishing, 12-for-19 for 267 yards and four TDs in the air.

Piccolini caught five balls for 158 yards and three touchdowns, and Manetti and Schuback each made two catches each.

Tomasetti was held to a season-low 73 yards on 20 carries and was kept out of the end zone on the ground for the first time this season.

The defense, led by Schuback’s 15 tackles, held Carbondale to 40 yards rushing on 34 carries and just 91 yards passing on 18 attempts.

The B&G Blog Player of the Week: Brenden Wahl. Wahl was fabulous against the Chargers, often throwing under pressure or from outside the pocket and CONNECTING on those throws. Wahl has over 1,200 yards passing this season and has been a perfect compliment to the dominating Old Forge running game.

The B&G Blog Defensive Player of the Week: Shane Schuback. Suga Shane has steadily become a wrecking ball in the middle of the Old Forge defense. Schuback made a career-high 15 tackles against Carbondale and seemed to be in on every play let the charge (pun intended) of forcing the Chargers QB into 11 incompletions.

The B&G Blog Play of the Week: Wahl’s pass to Piccolini where the latter split two defenders before racing to the end zone for a 46-yard scoring play gave the Blue Devils a two-touchdown cushion after the Chargers closed to within one score to begin the second half. It was the first time since Week 1 that a team was within a touchdown of the Blue Devils in the second half.

The B&G Blog Coaching Move of the Game: Unlike myself who would have panicked by putting tight end Shane Schuback at right offensive tackle this week to replace stud two-way tackle Ryan Paulish who went down with an injury, late in last week’s game against Trail, Coach Mike Schuback went all Mike Tomlin on us and employed the “Next Man Up” Theory by placing sophomore Corey Souryavong into the starting lineup on Friday night. All Souryavong did was provide a solid replacement for the Blue Devils and a look to the future in being another good offensive lineman for Old Forge.

Old Forge express rolls through Tunnel Hill

In what was hyped to be a clash of the top teams Lackawanna Football Conference Division III, turn out to be just another walk in the park for Old Forge has the Blue Devils steamrolled Lackawanna Trail, 35-14, at Lions Pride Stadium on Friday night in Tunnel Hill.

The game started with the promise of a defensive battle as the Lions held Old Forge twice on its first two possessions, allowing just one yard on its first seven plays.

But the Blue Devils defense turned the tide as Anthony Piccolini picked off a  Zach Goodrich pass and returned it 13 yards to the Trail 32.

Two plays later Brian “Bubba” Tomasetti scampered untouched up the middle for a 28-yard touchdowns for a 6-0 lead with 4:57 left in the opening period.

The Big Blue Wrecking Crew continued its dominance as Shane Schuback recorded two tackles for no gain around a Jorden Sekol tackle after two yards to force a Lions punt.

It took Tomasetti only two plays again to score, this time going 47 yards after a nifty move past a linebacker before racing to the pylon for a touchdown. The two-point run failed, and Old Forge (7-0) led 12-0 with 1:45 remaining in the first quarter.

Liam Dougherty returned the ensuing kickoff for Trail to the Old Forge 39. But after moving to the 13, the Lions self-destructed with an offsides penalty before three straight incompletions turned the ball back over the the Blue Devils.

On the next play, Tomasetti followed tackle Ryan Paulish, over the left side and sprinted 83 yards to paydirt with just 2:19 gone in the second stanza. Matt Mancuso drilled the extra-point and Old Forge led 19-0.

The Lions answered with a 10-play drive to the Blue Devils 35, but Schuback broke through the line untouched and sacked Goodrich for a 13-yard loss on fourth-and-6 to put the explosive Old Forge offense back on the field.

Again, it did not take long for the Blue Devils to find the endzone.

On the ensuing play, quarterback Brenden Wahl rolled to the home sideline and lofted a perfect pass the Anthony Piccolini on a backside post for a 52-yard scoring strike. Mancuso was true again on the PAT to give Old Forge a 26-0 lead with 4:10 left before halftime.

The Blue Devils were not finished scoring.

Despite starting at its own 5-yard line after forcing a Trail punt, Old Forge moved to the Trail 21. Wahl found Jake Manetti twice on 35-yard and 25-yard completions, and scrambled for a 23-yard gain to get the Blue Devils within field goal range.

After an offsides penalty on the Lions, Mancuso tucked a 33-yard kick inside the right upright to give Old Forge a 29-0 cushion at intermission.

Trail finally responded out of the locker room with a 15-play scoring drive, aided by a fake punt on fourth-and-4 and a questionable spot on a fourth-and-4 play on the Old Forge 35. The Lions cashed in on the 66-yard drive when Jeremy Greenley scored from 1-yard out to cut the deficit to 29-7 with only 3:41.

The Blue Devils came right back as Wahl connected with Warren Welsh for seven yards on second-and-6 before scrambling for eight yards on two carries to set the stage for yet another big play.

On third-and-2, Wahl hit Schuback on a quick out to the home sideline. Schuback evaded one would-be tackler, then ran through two more before sprinting past the goalline for a 47-yard touchdown play and a 35-7 lead with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

Welsh ended the following Trail drive with an interception but Wahl gave it right back to set up the Lions second score of the game, a 3-yard run by Greenley with 4:47 left in the game.

Tomasetti made sure that Trail got no closer, busting through for a 24-yard gain on fourth-and-1 to salt the game away.

The senior tailback finished with 205 yards on 14 carries to push him over the 1,200-yard rushing mark for the season. Tomasetti also added three touchdowns to his totals, giving him 21 rushing scores on the season.

Wahl went over the 800-yard passing mark for the year, connecting on 7-of-12 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. The first-year senior signal-caller connected with five different receivers.

B&G Blog Player of the Game: Bubba Tomasetti. Bubba has been unstoppable this season between the tackles and on Friday night he showed he has some jets to go with his brute strength. Tomasetti had scoring runs of 83, 57 and 28 yards to go with another 24-yard run as he totalled 205 yards on just 14 carries. He also recorded six tackles on defense.

B&G Blog Player who is not Bubba Player of the Game: This award recognizes that I have probably slighted Bubba too much the past few weeks in order to get some recognition for some of the other members of the Blue Devils. Well, that all stops today with the creation of a new award, the PWINBPOTG!!! The first PWINBPOTG is Anthony Piccolini. Picc started his big night defensively with an interception to push momentum in the Blue Devils favor. He also added four tackles from his outside linebacker position. On offense, Picc reeled in a 52-yard scoring strike from Brenden Wahl to put Old Forge ahead 26-0.

B&G Blog Defensive Player of the Game: Warren Welsh. Welsh Welker had his best defensive game of the season with eight tackles and an interception. This Buckeye Booster also made two catches for 11 yards - both picking up first downs for Old Forge.

B&G Blog Play of the Game: The Wahl to Piccolini connection for a touchdown really put the nail in the coffin for the Lions. With Wahl on a designed rollout to the short side of the field, Piccolini ran his back side post pattern to perfection. Wahl’s pass was perfectly lofted to the middle of the field where Picc simply ran under the football and into the endzone after the catch.

B&G Blog Coaching Move of the Game: Backed up to his own 5-yard line with just 1:40 left in the first half, Old Forge Head Coach Mike Schuback decided he had nothing to lose. So after handing the ball to Tomasetti on first down, Schuback called for a play-action pass which Wahl delivered to Jake Manetti for a 35-yard gain to set the Blue Devils up at their own 43. The move set up Matt Mancuso’s 33-yard field goal at the buzzer.

Blue Devils shower Meteors

It didn’t take long for the Old Forge football team to take control of Friday night’s matchup with Montrose.

One minute to be exact.

Shane Schuback recovered a fumble on the Meteors second play from scrimmage, and on the next play quarterback Brenden Wahl scampered 18 yards for a touchdown to ignite a 21-point outburst during the first 5:16 as the Blue Devils made easy work of Montrose in a 49-7 win at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Senior Parents Night.

After the first of Matt Mancuso’s seven extra-points put Old Forge ahead, 7-0, with 11 minutes left in the first quarter, the Big Blue Wrecking Crew continued its domination this season holding Montrose to four yards on its next possession.

Brian “Bubba” Tomasetti then went to work, rushing for 24 yards on his first three carries. But after a holding penalty and a loss on a completion from Wahl to Jake Manetti, Old Forge hit pay dirt again when Wahl hit Mike Vieira for a 42-yard touchdown strike with 7:24 in the first period showing on the Big Board.

Warren Welsh and Brandon Yescavage then caused a fumble on the ensuing kickoff which the Blue Devils recovered, and two plays and 40 seconds later Tomasetti went 10 yards into the end zone for a 21-0 lead.

Old Forge, winners of 11 straight regular-season games, again stopped the Meteors, this time after the visitors from the Northern Tier returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards to the Montrose 46.

But again, Schuback and Jorden Sekol led the defense in holding Montrose to just four yards on four downs, and the undefeated Blue Devils went on the attack again.

Tomasetti carried four yards before an incompletion and a Wahl to Schuback connection for eight yards. Then on first-and-10 from the 38, Tomasetti continued his break-neck season with a 38-yard run to the end zone for a 28-0 lead with 3:28 left in the opening stanza.

On Old Forge’s next possession, Tomasetti carried three times for 33 yards and Wahl hit Schuback for a 22-yard strike to set up a 1-yard sneak by the Blue Devils senior signal-caller to push the lead to 35-0 to start the second quarter.

Schuback then got into the act defensively, stepping in front of a pass for an interception before returning the pick 40 yards for a touchdown to put Old Forge ahead 42-0 with 7:37 remaining before halftime.

Another defensive stand almost saw the Blue Devils score their first special-teams touchdown of the season, but Anthony Piccolini’s 50-yard punt return for a score was nullified by a holding penalty to hold Old Forge to a six-touchdown lead at the half.

The Blue Devils opened the third quarter by handing the ball to Tomasetti until the senior went over the 1,000-yard mark on his 18th carry of the night - an 8-yard gain - to give Old Forge a first down. 

From there, Yescavage carried once for 17 yards and Bobby Rinaldi rushed twice for 15 yards before Coach Mike Schuback fed the pigskin to senior Tyler Salerno five straight times for 10 yards before the first-year running back found paradise with a 2-yard run to paydirt to put the Blue Devils a 49-0 lead.

The Meteors finally got on the board after a 12-play, 40-yard drive against the reserves for the final, 49-7.

Tomasetti finished with 175 yards and two touchdowns to push his season totals on the ground to 1,009 yards and 18 TDs.

Wahl ended 5-for-8 for 95 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

B&G Blog Player of the Game: Brenden Wahl. Stop the online presses!!!! Two weeks in a row and the POG is not Bubba??? Well as I am sure Bubba would acknowledge, its time to start spreading some of the credit around. And where no better a place to start then the quarterback. Wahl rushed for two touchdowns, including, an 18-yard scamper on the Blue Devils first play from scrimmage, an threw for another as he eclipsed 800 yards passing for the season with 95 yards on 5-for-8 passing.

(Editor’s Note: The B&G Blog wishes to acknowledge to Bubba, that this is all truly done in satire, and that he truly could have been named the offensive player of the week the past two weeks. But if you are indeed offended Bubs, then USE THIS FOR MOTIVATION!!!)

B&G Blog Defensive Player of the Game: Shane Schuback. With under eight minutes left in the second quarter, Schuback dropped into his curl zone from his linebacker position on a pass play on third-and-8. The junior then was hit right in the breadbasket with the pass from the Montrose quarterback, and returned the pigskin 40 yards to the endzone for a touchdown - the Blue Devils fifth score from the defensive side of the ball on the season. 

(Editor’s Note: I must say, Shane looked much better running down the sidelines to the endzone than his father did 23 years ago in Pottsville during the Eastern Conference Title victory in 1989.)

B&G Blog Play of the Game: It was the second play from scrimmage when a host of Blue Devils tackled the ball literally, and ripped it from the Montrose ball carrier for Shane Schuback to recover and give the explosive offense the ball jut one minute into the contest. Wahl scored on the next play as Old Forge released the hounds from that point on.

B&G Blog Coaching Move of the Game: Two moves stand out in Friday night’s blowout win, and none had to do with X and Os. First, leading 42-0 with 5:51 to go in the  first half, Coach Mike Schuback called a pass play. The reason, Schuback wanted to get senior backup tight end Phil Vahey - who has battled a knee injury all season - a reception on Senior Night. Vahey hauled in a quick out and took off for a 14-yard gain. Then to finish off the first drive of the second half, Schuback called first-year senior running back Tyler Salerno’s number five straight times to allow the player known as T-Sal to experience the warmth of scoring a touchdown. Kudos to Coach Schubie!!!