TimesLeader.com

old forge football

Devil Machine keeps on rolling

Old Forge pummels winless Lackawanna Trail, 53-6

By Rick Notari rnotari@psdispatch.com
Pittston Sunday Dispatch Staff Writer

Playing without its top two tailbacks to start the game, the Old Forge football machine just kept on rolling along Friday night as the Blue Devils dismantled winless Lackawanna Trail, 53-6, at Lions Pride Stadium in Tunnel Hill.

click image to enlarge

Pictured above, Old Forge fullback Klaus Woodeshick (44) is brought down after a nine-yard run. Woodeshick scored two touchdowns for the Blue Devils on Friday night. Below left, Mike Tagliaferri (11) looks for some running room against the Lions, and Kyle Holland (63) throws a Trail blocker to the ground. Below right, Malkolm Blackshear (7) sprints through the hole on his way to a touchdown.

photos by rick notari

click image to enlarge

Pictured above, Old Forge fullback Klaus Woodeshick (44) is brought down after a nine-yard run. Woodeshick scored two touchdowns for the Blue Devils on Friday night. Below left, Mike Tagliaferri (11) looks for some running room against the Lions, and Kyle Holland (63) throws a Trail blocker to the ground. Below right, Malkolm Blackshear (7) sprints through the hole on his way to a touchdown.

photos by rick notari

Select images available for purchase in the
Times Leader Photo Store

And they did it the old fashioned way. They ran the ball.

Even without senior starter Brian Morris Old Forge (8-0) ran the ball 39 times for 357 yards with six different running backs behind the blocking of linemen Kyle Holland, Mark Zambetti, Joe Mascaro, Brandon Souryavong and AJ Grasso.

Junior Mike Tagliaferri got the start at tailback and didn’t disappoint, carrying the rock 16 times for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

Tagliaferri rushed four straight times for 24 yards on the Blue Devils opening possession before fullback Klaus Woodeshick ripped off a career-best 33-yard run to paydirt as Old Forge took a 6-0 lead with 7:53 left in the first quarter.

The Blue Devils held and took over at the Trail 29 after a punt of just 14 yards set Old Forge up in Lions territory.

Three plays later, quarterback Mike Mancuso found Woodeshick in the flats and the senior rumbled 18 yards into the endzone for another Blue Devils touchdown. Tagliaferri carried for the two-point conversion, and Old Forge led, 14-0 with 2:35 remaining in the opening stanza.

Two straight three-and-out series for the Lions gave the Blue Devils the ball at its own 26 to open the second quarter.

Lou Febbo carried three straight times for 18 yards to open the series before Woodeshick carried once for nine and Mancuso hit Connor Fultz with a pass for an eight-yard gain to move the ball inside the Trail 40.

Then after two runs move the ball to the Lions 35, Malcolm Blackshear took his turn at tailback and sprinted down the left sideline for a 35-yard touchdown. Kevin Conze drilled the extra-point and the Blue Devils led, 21-0, with 7:20 remaining in the first half.

Old Forge would score less than 75 seconds later after Alex Enciso recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to give the Blue Devils the ball at the Trail 20.

Three rushes by Blackshear resulted in a five-yard touchdown run with 6:03 left before halftime. Conze’s PAT was true, and Old Forge led, 28-0.

The Blue Devils almost scored on the kickoff as Cory Stuart picked up another fumble and ran into the endzone. But an inadvertent whistle on the play nullified the fumble recovery at the 10 yard line, resulting in a replay of the kickoff.

The teams played scoreless the rest of the first half, but Old Forge kept rolling to open the second half.

Tagliaferri rushed seven times for 98 yards over the Blue Devils next two drives, finished both series off with long touchdown runs.

In the first series of the second half, Tagliaferri capped a 56-yard drive with a 33-yard touchdown run. He then put the game into the mercy rule on Old Forge’s next series with a 28-yard run to give the Blue Devils a 40-0 lead with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter.

Lackawanna Trail got on the board when they returned the ensuing kickoff 66 yards for a touchdown, to trim the Old Forge lead to 40-6.

But the Blue Devils came right back as Blackshear took the kickoff back 69 yards to the Lions three-yard line before punching it in himself from one-yard out with 20 seconds left in the third quarter. Mark Zambetti booted the extra-point for the 47-6 lead.

The Old Forge reserves got into the act in the fourth quarter when sophomore tailback Ryan Cadwalder took his first carry of the night 63 yards for the Blue Devils final touchdown of the night. Cadwalder broke several tacklers before sprinting down the right sidelines to paydirt for the 53-6 lead.

Devil Details

Tagliaferri doubled his rushing total on the season when he set career highs in carries and rushing yards…. Blackshear finished with 58 yards rushing on six carries and three touchdowns. The junior also caught two passes for 18 yards and completed one pass for eight…. Mancuso finished the night 4-of-6 passing for 42 yards and one interception. The INT was the first by Old Forge quarterbacks on the season…. Woodeshick rushed for 42 yards and caught two passes for 26 yards. He also led the defense with six tackles, including three for loss…. Mark Rutkowski and Anthony Trotta also racked up five tackles each for the Blue Devils, and Souryavong and Grasso had four each…. Cadwalder set a career-high with 76 yards rushing…. Febbo rushed for 45 yards on 11 carries…. The Blue Devils are 8-0 for the first time since 1987…. Old Forge travels to Throop on Friday to take on Mid Valley. The Spartans lost 13-0 to Carbondale on Friday night.