History in the making

Pittston Dispatch // Sports // Old Forge Sports

November 8

FOLLOWING THE FORGE

Friday night’s victory over Susquehanna was a historic one for the Old Forge football team.

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Brian Morris (21) tries to break a tackle against Susquehanna on Friday night. Morris is within 133 yards of joining an exclusive club at Old Forge High School.

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Brian Morris (21) tries to break a tackle against Susquehanna on Friday night. Morris is within 133 yards of joining an exclusive club at Old Forge High School.

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The Blue Devils 10th victory on the season put it in elite company among gridiron teams in the school’s history. This year’s version of the Blue and Gold has become just one of 11 teams that have won 10 games in a season. The last Old Forge team to win 10 games in a season was the 1989 team that went 10-2 and won Suburban Conference and Eastern Conference titles. Current Head Coach Mike Schuback was a senior on that team.

Other teams to win ten games in a season include the squads in 1948 (10-1); 1949 (11-1); 1952 (11-0-1); 1954 (10-0); 1957 (10-1); 1958 (10-1-1); 1961 (10-0-1); 1975 (10-2); and 1987 (10-1).

The Blue Devils have also become just the 14th team in the 94-year history of Old Forge football to go unbeaten during the regular-season. The last team to accomplish that fete was the 1987 team which won the Suburban Conference with a 10-0 record.

The other teams to finish the regular-season without a loss include the squads in 1916 (1-0-1); 1917 (2-0); 1933 (3-0-4); 1949 (9-0); 1952 (8-0); 1954 (9-0); 1955 (8-0); 1956 (6-0-2); 1958 (6-0-1); 1960 (6-0-1); 1961 (7-0); and 1962 (7-0-1). All of those teams from 1949 on, participated in the Lackawanna League. Six of those teams captured the Lackawanna League title and three of them finished second.

The 1952, 1958 and 1961 teams all won Eastern Conference crown, and the 1949 team lost in the EC final to Minersville.

Ironically the only team in school history to finish a season with 10 wins and without a loss or tie – the 1954 team – did not win the EC title. Those Blue Devils were beaten out for the EC North spot by West Scranton who earned more points during its 9-0-1 regular-season. The Invaders lost to Mt. Carmel in the EC title game.

The win over Susquehanna also gives Old Forge 43 wins over the past five seasons. That amount ranks tied for second in school history over a five-year stretch. The Blue Devils won 46 games from 1954-1958 and 43 games from 1948-1952.

Old Forge’s overall mark during this five-year stretch is 43-14 giving them a .754 winning percentage. That winning percentage ranks tied for fifth in school history with the teams from 1947-1951 which went 39-11-5. The top winning percentage in school history was .896 from 1954-1958 when the Blue Devils went 46-4-3.

Other top winning percentages include, 1958-1962 (42-3-8, .867); 1952-1956 (43-7-3, .839); and 1948-1952 (43-8-6, 807).

The Blue Devils could make more history the next two weeks should they win the District 2 Class 1A title. An 11th victory would put this team in the company of just two others who won 11 games in a season, the 1949 and 1952 teams.

And a 12th win would put the 2009 Old Forge football team in a class by itself. No team in school history has ever won 12 games in a season.

Schubie wins 60

Last week’s win over Mid Valley was Old Forge football coach Mike Schuback’s 60th career victory. He is the second all-time winningest coach in school history with 61 wins behind the legendary Elio Ghigiarelli who won 202 games.

More history

Old Forge tailback Brian Morris is within 133 yards of reaching the 3,000-yard mark. Should he reach it, he would become just the fifth player in school history to run for 3,000 career yards.

Ryan “Chico” Marsico rushed for 3,424 from 1999-2001 and leads the way.

Dom Uhrin (3,343), Jim Tricarico (3,128) and Paul Iacavazzi (3,009) are the other backs that have rushed for over 3,000 yards.

Morris is also within range of the single-season mark for rushing yards. But the Blue Devils would need to win at least one game and probably two for the senior to accomplish the fete.

Marsico holds the record of 1,684 in a season. Morris is currently at 1,241 yards this season.

Pace Setter seeking players

The Pacer Setter Athletic Club basketball organization of Northeastern PA will sponsor and operate a Winter Youth Basketball League this coming season at Weston Field in Scranton. The league will offer both boys and girls divisions and include 5/6 grade and 7/8 grade leagues. Games will be played every Monday and Wednesday evenings. Each participating team is guaranteed 10 games.

For more info, call 347-7018 or email pacesetterbasketball@verizon.net.

CageFight 2

Mixed Martial Arts return to Northeastern PA on Black Friday, Nov. 27 at the Scranton CYC when Northeast MMA presents CageFight 2. CageFight 2 is the second MMA event to take place in the Scranton area after Pennsylvania’s first-ever card was a huge success this past June.

The card is headlined by “The Destroyer” Spencer Paige, a lightweight from Cortland, NY. It also features local fighters including Guy Salano from Pittston, Rich Gates from Exeter, Jay Colarusso from Moosic, and Corey Cavalieri from Old Forge. All four local fighters will be part of the amateur card which will feature 10 bouts.

There will be four professional bouts on the card.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.pacagefight.com, or locally at Dooley’s Pub in Old Forge and TALCOM Nextel in Taylor.

The Rick’s D2 Top 10

The regular-season has come to a close and Dunmore is the No. 1 team.

The Bucks finished out the perfect season with a 48-14 shellacking of Riverside. Dunmore opened the pre-season ranked fifth and have steadily moved up the poll.

North Pocono remains at No. 2 this week after it shutout West, and Abington Heights is No. 3 after its win over Honesdale.

Hazleton jumped three spots to No. 4 with its win over previous No. 5 Berwick. The Bulldogs fell to No. 6.

Wallenpaupack returned to the top five at No. 5 with an impressive win over Delaware Valley Friday night which pushed Dallas down a spot to No. 7 despite its big win over Lake Lehman in the Old Shoe Game.

Old Forge remained at No. 8 by closing out the only other unblemished mark in District 2 with its win over Susquehanna.

GAR moved up a spot to No. 8 after its win over Meyers and Lakeland moved into the Top 10 this week at No. 10 after its win over Montrose.

Here is the Top 10….

1. Dunmore…10-0(1)

2. North Pocono…9-1(2)

3. Abington Heights…9-1(3)

4. Hazleton…7-3(7)

5. Wallenpaupack…7-3(9)

6. Berwick…7-3(5)

7. Dallas…9-1(6)

8. Old Forge…10-0(8)

9. GAR…8-2(10)