Old Forge at Dunmore

Recap

OLD FORGE 46, DUNMORE 43 (OT)

Special teams. Special plays. Special players. 

On Friday night, Old Forge had all three. 

Cael Krushnowski returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and Isiah Rodriguez booted a 25-yard field goal in overtime to give the Blue Devils a wild 46-43 victory over Dunmore at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Bucktown. 

Krushnowski started the fireworks by returning the opening kickoff 92 yards for touchdown to give Old Forge (2-0) a 7-0 lead. Dunmore answered three plays later when Jack McNeff found Izaiah Parker on a crossing pattern for a 67-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7. 

Old Forge took a 10-7 lead when Rodriguez capped a 12-play, 60-yard drive with a 23-yard field goal with 1:07 left in the opening stanza. 

The Bucks went to the ground and McNeff called his own number from seven yards out for a 14-10 lead. The Blue Devils would go three-and-out on its next possession and after a 15-yard loss on third down and a 23-yard punt, the Bucks handed it to sophomore Xavier Burke who went 27 yards to paydirt and. 31-10 lead with 8:47 left in the half. Burke rushed for a game high 161 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. 

Old Forge marched to the Dunmore 20 but the Bucks defense held to force a field goal attempt. But the Blue Devils faked the field goal and holder Chris Rasmus hit Nick Hewitt for a 20-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-16. 

The Bucks were not done. McNeff engineered a seven-play drive with crafty ball fakes as three different runners went 46 yards on six carries to set up first and goal from the 9. With 48 seconds left in the half, McNeff found Burke all alone out of the backfield for the score and a 28-16 lead. 

Old Forge answered once again with a 21-yard kick return by Frankie Pero and two TJ DiMattia completions to the Dunmore 26. After a timeout, DiMattia scrambled out of the pocket and found daylight to the endzone for a 26-yard TD run as time expired in the first half. The PAT failed and Dunmore led 28-23 at the break. 

The Bucks took the second half kickoff and drove to the Blue Devils 10. But the Old Forge defense forced a 27-yard field goal attempt which Dunmore missed. 

DiMattia went back to the air and on first down from his own 34 scrambled to the Dunmore bench before throwing back against his body to Ryan Novak who hauled in the pass and raced 66 yards for the score. Rodriguez’s extra-point gave the Blue Devils a 29-28 lead with 5:58 left in the third. 

It didn’t take Dunmore long to answer. Three and a half minutes later, Burke scored his second touchdown of the night and added the two-point reception from McNeff to retake the lead, 36-29. 

That’s when lightning struck again. Krushnowski picked up a squib kick at his own 22 and weaved in and out of traffic before racing 78 yards for his second kickoff return for a touchdown. Rodriguez’s kick was true and the game was tied at 36. 

Dunmore retook the lead to open the fourth quarter when McNeff hit Jake Costanzo for 36-yard touchdown. Old Forge tied it up with 4:30 to go as DiMattia drove the Blue Devils 76 yards in 11 plays, capping the drive with a 10-yard toss to Rasmus for the score. The senior QB was 7-for-8 for 80 yards on the drive. 

Dunmore (0-2) had one last march in them but Old Forge forced and recovered a fumble with 25 seconds left and the Bucks inside the Blue Devils 20. The lone turnover of the game would force overtime where the Blue Devils defense stood up once again. 

Rasmus had two tackles for loss on the first two plays and before McNeff was forced out of bounds at the 7. Dunmore elected to try the field goal from 29’yards but the kick sailed wide left. 

That set the Blue Devils up for the victory and Rodriguez delivered the second game-winning field goal of his career, setting off a celebration for the visitors. 

DiMattia finished the night with his second straight 200-yard passing game, completing 12-for-17 passes for 221 yards and two scores. Rasmus hauled in a career-high seven pass for 123 yards and a score. 

Gabe Franek gave Dunmore a second 100-yard rusher as the senior carried 15 times for 108 yards. McNeff had an efficient night passing, completing 3-of-4 passes for 112 yards and three scores.  

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter

OF – Cael Krushnowski 92-yd kickoff return (Isaih Rodriguez kick) –  Old Forge 7-0

DUN – Izaiah Parker 67-yd pass from Jeff McNeff (Eric Ressey kick) – Tied 7-7

OF – Rodriguez 23-yard field goal – Old Forge 10-7

2nd Quarter

DUN – McNeff 7-yd run (Reesey kick) – Dunmore 14-10

DUN– Xavier Burke 27-yd run (Reesey kick) – Dunmore 21-10

OF – Nick Hewitt 20-yard reception from Chris Rasmus (Kick failed) – Dunmore 21-16

DUN – Burke 9-yard pass from McNeff (Reesey kick) – Dunmore 28-16

OF –  T.J. DiMattia 27-yard run (Run failed) – Dunmore 28-22

3rd Quarter

OF- Ryan Novak 66-yard reception from DiMattia (Rodriguez kick) – Old Forge 29-28

DUN– Burke 1-yd run (Burke pass from McNeff) – Dunmore 36-29

OF – Krushowski 80-yd kickoff return (Rodriguez kick) – Tied 36-36

4th Quarter

DUN – Jacob Costanzo 36-yard pass from McNeff (Reesey kick) – Dunmore 43-36

OF – Rasmus 10-yd pass from DiMattia (Rodriguez kick) – Tied 43-43

Overtime

OF– Rodriguez 20-yard field goal – Old Forge 46-43