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On the heels of its first perfect regula

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

On the heels of its first perfect regular-season in 22 years, the Old Forge football team will open the District 2 Class 1A playoffs with a familiar foe.

Arch-rival Riverside will be the opponent on Friday night when the Blue Devils host a first-round playoff game at Old Forge Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“We get to play them at our place again,” said senior co-captain AJ Grasso. “This is what we want.”

The defending district champs are coming off a disappointing regular-season in which they won just three games. But Old Forge knows that the post-season is a new season, and the rivalry has produced some unexpected results.

“You can’t go into the game overconfident,” said Head Coach Mike Schuback after Friday’s win over Susquehanna “The slate is clean. Both teams are 0-0. There will be a lot of pressure on us, but our kids are confident.

“We are playing well but it’s going to be a tough game. The first game wasn’t easy. With the added rivalry there is pressure on everybody.”

In the first game, Riverside (3-7) led 12-6 before Old Forge exploded for 37 unanswered points as the Blue Devils unveiled its spread-offense featuring Malkolm Blackshear on its way to a 43-12 win.

The Vikings made two big plays in the passing game in the first half as freshman quarterback Nick Dranchak found Nick Rossi for two long scoring tosses.

But Blackshear sparked the comeback by throwing for 75 yards and a score, and rushing for 71 yards and a touchdown.

Dranchak has thrown for 993 yards on the season on 64-of-151 passing. The freshman has nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. Rossi has caught 24 passes for 304 yards on the season but his two touchdowns against Old Forge are his only scores of the season. The junior did miss a few games with a leg injury during the season.

Missing for Riverside in the opening game was junior tailback Corey Talerico who was serving a PIAA suspension. In the nine games since, Talerico has rushed for 1,070 yards on 122 carries. He also has eight touchdowns.

He gives the Vikings another offensive threat for the Blue Devils to worry about.

“Being that we are rivals and we already played once, they are going to come hungry,” said co-captain Brian Morris. “It’s going to be a good test for the start of the playoffs, and if we can get by them in that atmosphere it will have us playoff tested and ready to go.

“But we wouldn’t be satisfied with just that. We want to do more than that. We want to keep advancing and keep adding on to our record.”

Morris is the bread-and-butter to the Old Forge offense having rushed for 1,242 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. The senior tailback is also tied for the team-lead in pass receptions with Connor Fultz with 15.

Fultz leads the team with 209 yards receiving. Eight different receivers have caught touchdown passes this season for the Blue Devils.

Blackshear is the top passer for Old Forge with 681 yards and seven touchdowns on 42-of-64 passing, but combined with junior starter Mike Mancuso, the duo has thrown for 1,021 yards and 10 touchdowns on 75-of-114 passing. The Blue Devils have thrown just one interception this season.

The numbers point to another Old Forge victory but they have more on their mind than just beating their rivals. The Blue Devils remember last year’s loss to Riverside in the District 2 championship game and are using it as motivation.

“Because of what happened last year, and in the district championship game, revenge is definitely still on our minds,” said Mark Zambetti of the two crushing defeats to Riverside last season. “Playing them is definitely going to help us refocus and get ready for the post-season. Riverside is a good team despite their record.

“We just want a second shot at them to prove again what we got.”