OLD FORGE – An Old Forge defense that allowed at least 90 points fewer than every other football team in District 2 spoiled Susquehanna’s first championship game appearance in 19 years.
The Blue Devils posted their seventh shutout of the season Friday night while repeating their District 2 Class A championship with a 30-0 victory over the visiting Sabers.
Old Forge returns to the state playoffs where it advanced all the way to the state championship game before losing in overtime a year ago.
The Blue Devils arrive in state play coming off shutouts in three of their past four games. The only team to score against Old Forge in that stretch was Susquehanna in a 26-12 Blue Devils win at William Emminger Memorial Field in the regular-season finale.
The Sabers came up with a better defensive effort in the rematch but were unable to move the ball until the game was decided.
Old Forge was ahead, 22-0, before Susquehanna took an offensive snap from across midfield late in the third quarter.
The Sabers had just two first downs and six yards rushing before improving both numbers over the final eight minutes while already behind by 30.
“We just couldn’t find a solution to their blitz,” Susquehanna coach Kyle Cook said. “ … They’re a very good defensive team.”
Susquehanna also hurt itself with penalties, including lining up offsides and illegal procedure in early offensive series.
The Sabers had six possessions in the first half and managed only one first down, that on an Old Forge penalty. Two of the drives produced at least 10 yards of offense, but were short of first downs because of penalties. Two series came up just short, resulting in fourth-and-less than a yard and fourth-and-two situations.
Old Forge forced the first of five straight Susquehanna punts to open the game and took advantage.
Joey Gutowski returned the punt 45 yards to the Sabers 20.
The Blue Devils wound up scoring on drives of 20, 27, 46 and 27 yards because of the distinct field position advantages.
After 1,000-yard rusher Cooper Califano took the first Old Forge play 17 yards to the 3, the Susquehanna defense toughened up.
Michael Vaccaro and Jarred Mills made stops of consecutive plays to bring up third-and-one.
Mills stepped into the hole to make another big stop on third-down, hitting Califano and popping the ball loose. The fumble ricocheted off of Christian Miller’s helmet and shoulder pads over the top of the pile and into the arms of Old Forge lineman Dylan Wilcox for a touchdown.
A.J. Cantarella’s extra point gave Old Forge a 7-0 lead with 7:49 remaining in the first quarter.
The score stayed that way until late in the half.
A 15-yard sack on third down by Mills, a fumble recovery by Miller and tackles for losses by Evan Aldrich and Wes Richardson got the ball back for the Susquehanna offense three more times in that stretch.
“Our defense kept us in several games all year long and this is another,” Cook said. “Without the field position changes, the defense might have been able to keep it closer longer, then you never know what happens.”
Old Forge scored late in the half after driving Susquehanna back to inside its 1 and forcing the Sabers to punt from the end zone.
The Blue Devils took over at the Sabers 27 and two straight running plays went nowhere. Aldrich stopped one and Richardson created the penetration that helped Austin White make the stop on the next.
Old Forge took command, however, when it got off its first pass of the game. Armando Sallavanti went deep down the middle and reached out to pull in a 27-yard touchdown from Gutowski.
The snap then went directly to kicker Canteralla, who threw another pass to Sallavanti for a two-point conversion and a 15-0 lead with 2:52 left in the half.
Old Forge forced another punt from the Susquehanna end zone in the third quarter and converted it into another score.
The Blue Devils, who had been unable to pick up a first down on the opening drive of the second half because of more defensive plays by Mills, put together the game’s longest drive to break things open.
Gutowski ran three yards to convert third-and-two and passed 20 yards to Cantarella on fourth-and-nine.
Califano, who carried 25 times for 89 yards, went two yards for the touchdown to complete the 11-play, 46-yard drive, which took 6:09 off the clock.
With the Blue Devils in front, 22-0, and just 1:46 left in the third quarter, the Sabers put together their first threat.
Mills returned the kickoff 33 yards and White rolled right to find Brett Hepler down the right sideline for 45 yards on second down.
The long pass put the ball at the Old Forge 15 and White ran for three more to reach the 12.
Two straight incompletions set up fourth down where Bobby Rinaldi broke free on a blitz off the right side for a 12-yard sack.
The sack was one of three tackles for losses for Rinaldi, a senior linebacker who also had a fumble recovery and led the Old Forge defense in tackles in the game.
Old Forge added the last touchdown on the first play after Rinaldi’s fourth-quarter fumble recovery.
Gutowski moved to receiver for a play and caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Paul Cariati. Already ahead by 28, the Blue Devils went with a trick play on the conversion with 8:51 remaining and Gutowski passed to Cantarella for two points.
White’s 66-yard run on third-and-10 and a personal foul on Old Forge would have given Susquehanna its first play inside the Old Forge 10, but before officials could step off that penalty, the Sabers were hit with unsportsmanlike conduct, moving the ball back to the 22. Jaret Horn intercepted on the next play to end that threat.
Susquehanna produced first downs on three straight plays – on a White run and consecutive passes to Christian Miller – and ended the game at the Old Forge 21.
Old Forge finished with statistical advantages of 12-6 in first downs, 132-99 in rushing yards, 221-189 in total offense, 3-1 in turnovers forced and 28:24-19:36 in time of possession.
The Sabers defense held Old Forge to less than three yards per carry with 132 on 46 attempts.
White finished with 82 yards on 17 carries and hit four of 16 passes for 90 yards. Miller caught three passes for 45 yards.
Mills, Miller and Zach Conrad had big games defensively.
Mills finished with nine tackles and 11 assists. In addition to his sack, he had another tackle for a loss.
Miller had seven tackles and six assists to go along with his fumble recovery.
Conrad had nine tackles, including two for losses, and four assists.
Aldrich, Vaccaro and White were also among the leaders in tackles.
Aldrich had four tackles, including two for losses, and eight assists.
Vaccaro, had three tackles, including one for a loss, and eight assists.
White had four tackles and six assists.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The other two remaining Lackawanna Football Conference teams split playoff games on their home fields.
Dunmore won its 11th straight, shutting out Northwest, 35-0, in the District 2 Class AA championship game.
Colin Holmes carried 19 times for 164 yards and two touchdowns for Dunmore.
Delaware Valley was eliminated with a 31-7 loss to Parkland in the District 2-4-11 Class AAAA semifinals.
COLLEGE CORNER
California University of Pennsylvania senior Allison Hall was named as a second-team Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference women’s cross country all-star after finishing 29th out of 153 runners Nov. 8 at the PSAC Championships.
Hall, a Blue Ridge graduate, covered the 6-kilometer Mansfield University course in 22:54.
Elk Lake graduate Elizabeth Trowbridge finished 77th, making her the fifth runner and completing the team score for Indiana University of Pa., which finished 10th out of 17 in the team standings.
Hall was California’s second finisher. The team placed 12th.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Two Lackawanna Football Conference teams who were responsible for three of Susquehanna’s five losses are advancing into the state playoffs.
Dunmore (11-1) will meet District 11 champion Northwestern Lehigh (11-1) in Class AA while Old Forge (12-0) plays District 4 champion South Williamsport (11-1) in Class A.
Our high school football predictions were 3-0 for the week, improving our records to 9-2 (81.8 percent) in the playoffs and 98-33 (74.8) overall.
This week’s predictions: Northwestern Lehigh 43, Dunmore 32 … South Williamsport 21, Old Forge 0.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
