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Welcome to the 21st century

FOLLOWING THE FORGE

by RICK NOTARI - rnotari@psdispatch.com

As Old Forge quarterback Malkolm Blackshear made play after play after play out of the Blue Devils new spread offense on Friday night, I couldn’t help but wonder if the more than 6,500 fans at Old Forge Veterans Memorial Stadium realized what was exactly happening.

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Old Forge Head Coach Mike Schuback was all smiles after his "Gator" offense put up 43 points against arch-rival Riverside Friday night.

photo by rick notari

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One year after Riverside coach Harry Armstrong’s Vikings had mastered his version of the spread offense, Old Forge coach Mike Schuback had his 11 doing the exact same thing. Schuback installed his version of the spread offense – which he calls the Gator – to give his athletes an opportunity to succeed and entertain the Blue Devils fandom with an exciting brand of football.

Welcome to the 21st century of football Old Forge.

Gone are the days of three-yards and a cloud of dust. Gone are the days of two tight-end sets. Gone are boring games.

The Blue Devils had fans on the edge of their seats for the entire game. And it wasn’t just the Blue and Gold crowd waiting for Blackshear to juke another Viking defender or rifle a pass to an open receiver.

They were waiting for Brian Morris to run through defenders and into the open field where he would make a quick move to avoid a tackler before running over another.

They were waiting for quarterback/wide receiver Mike Mancuso to either line up under center and run the ball behind his massive offensive line or split out and get open down the field where he caught three passes from Blackshear – including a momentum-defining touchdown as the horn sounded to end the first half.

And they were having fun watching this Blue Devils team. Maybe almost as much fun as Schuback was having.

The eight-year veteran coach was all smiles as his charges ran the Gator to big play after big play against their biggest rival.

All of a sudden, this Old Forge team looks to have some weapons to go along with the veteran linemen that were to spur a powerful, punishing rushing attack.

Isn’t that a scary thought?

One big happy family

The scene at Old Forge Veterans Memorial Stadium – on the home side anyway – was one of family.

Expecting a huge victory over its arch-rival after the Vikings lost 20 seniors to graduation – combined with the Labor Day weekend - fans came out in droves to witness what they hoped would be a blow out win.

They were not disappointed.

Included in the crowd were many of Schuback’s teammates, including Anthony Terruso.

Terruso was a wide receiver on the 1989 Eastern Conference team that featured Jim Tricarico, John Telesz, and Joe Zabielski on offense, and Schuback, Tom Colburn, Dan Churla and Brian DelVecchio on defense.

The Labor Day weekend scheduled game allowed Terruso to return home from North Carolina with his wife and daughter to catch the Devils and Vikes and enjoy a big win.

Also in attendance were teammates of mine from the 1988 team which Schuback was a junior on.

Wide receiver Joe McCormack made the trip from Harleysville to catch the game but wasn’t the only member of the 1988 team to make a long trip.

Brian Schmidt took the holiday opportunity to come home from Michigan with his wife and son to catch the game.

Others 1988 alumni spotted at the fence were Dan Zaykowski and Matt Kuckla.

The Rick’s Top 10

This year’s District 2 The Rick’s Top 10 football poll debuts this week with Abington Heights on top. The Comets dismantled No. 5 Hazleton yesterday at The Pit in Clarks Summit.

Here is the poll:

1. Abington Heights…(1-0)

2. Berwick…(1-0)

3. Scranton…(1-0)

4. Valley West…(0-1)

5. Hazleton…(0-1)

6. Wallenpaupack…(1-0)

7. Delaware Valley…(1-0)

8. Dunmore…(1-0)

9. Wyoming Area…(1-0)

10. West Scranton…(1-0)

Teams to watch: North Pocono (1-0), Pittston Area (1-0), Old Forge (1-0), Coughlin (1-0)

Softball winners

The Old Forge Teachers team took the annual Memorial Day/Labor Day softball tournament held at the Miles Street Community Park yesterday. Team members included Ambrose and Gracie Verespy, Craig Grochowski, Vaughn Carpenter, Shawn and Vanessa Nee, Bobby Giacometti, Pat McLane, Joe DeStefano and Dan Mozeleski.