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OLD FORGE — It is hard not to feel for George May.

The Northwest running back rammed through a stifling Old Forge defensive line all game with minimal success — two yards here, five yards there.

Finally, when the 225-pound junior back began to evoke some wear-and-tear on the Blue Devils’ defense and get a glimpse of the end zone, the inexplicable happened — the football was punched right out of his grasp.

And just like that, Northwest’s chance at knocking off the No. 3 team in the state came and went.

Old Forge held on for a 13-0 victory over a fiery Northwest squad Friday in a pivotal Class A matchup.

With Old Forge clinging to a seven point lead, the Rangers had shown their first signs of offensive success midway through the third quarter. A 28-yard flea flicker from Ryan Wassel to J.T. Brubaker gave the Rangers their longest gain of the game. May followed with a 13-yard run — his longest carry — to put Northwest into the red zone for the first time.

On the succeeding run, May bulldozed through the front line and carried several Blue Devil defenders along with him as he seemed to have enough momentum for what could be a 17-yard score.

With his sights on the end zone, the ball bounced out at the 5 and the Old Forge linebackers pounced on it to end the threat.

“He ran really hard,” Northwest coach Lon Hazlet said, “George is really emotional, and he was down on himself. Nobody, of course, wants to see that fumble. At the same time, that’s our heart and soul. He’s in tears right now because that would have been a momentum change. It’d be 7-7, and that’s a different ball game.

“For every mistake he makes, I remind myself I’d take 10 more of him in a heartbeat.”

After giving up a grueling 96-yard possession on Old Forge’s first possession, the Northwest defense — led by three freshman linebackers — settled down and created a suffocating wall that seemed to give the Blue Devils fits when they approached their end of the field.

Jake Bobersky made a crucial tackle at the 28 on a fourth down pass in the second quarter. Brubaker made an interception to give Northwest one last shot with the ball at midfield in the fourth quarter. Old Forge reached the 25 on its opening drive of the second half and threw three consecutive incompletions, thanks to the Northwest pass rush.

“It’s late in the year,” Hazlet said. “Our staff does a good job with our boys, and our boys work hard. They bought into what we’re doing.”

Old Forge put the game out of reach in the third quarter when quarterback Michael DiGregorio went on a quarterback sneak up the middle. DiGregorio was initially stopped at the line, forcing the Northwest secondary to rush in for the stop. DiGregorio found an open hole and broke away for a 39-yard run.

Old Forge 13, Northwest 0

Northwest`0`0`0`0 — 0

Old Forge`7`0`6`0 — 13

First quarter

OF — Colin Holzman 32 pass from Michael DiGregorio (Nathan Krenitsky kick), 2:44

Third quarter

OF — DiGregorio 39 run (kick fail), 2:18

Team statistics`NW`OF

First downs`7`15

Rushes-yards`37-102`31-212

Passing yards`36`113

Total yards`138`325

Passing`2-10-0`112-23-1

Sacked-yards lost`1-14`0-0

Punts-avg.`2-35`2-28.5

Fumbles-lost`1-0`0-0

Penalties-yards`2-10`6-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — NW, George May 21-75, Landon Hufford 2-8, Ryan Wassel 12-26, JT Brubaker 1-(minus-4), Carter Hontz 1-(minus-3); OF, Kevin Pepsin 7-11, Hezekiah Deitz 13-91, DiGregorio 4-65, CoHolzman 4-34, Ted Chuta 3-11.

PASSING — NW, Wassel 2-9-0-36, Brubaker 0-1-0-0; OF, DiGregorio 10-17-0-111, Dante Lucarelli 2-6-1-2

RECEIVING — NW, Hufford 1-8, Brubaker 1-28; OF, Tyler Carey 3-8, Ethan Tallo 1-15, CoHolzman 1-32, Chuta 1-23, Jackson Lynwood 2-30, Pepsin 1-5, Casey Holzman 2-(minus-6), DiGregorio 1-6

INTERCEPTIONS — NW, Brubaker 1-4

MISSED FGs — OF, Krenitsky 1-26.

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By Jay Monahan

For Times Leader