BY SHANE HENNIGAN
Times-Shamrock Writer

For the past 11 weeks, Old Forge has ridden the strength of its tenacious defense to once again find itself playing for a District 2 championship.

Week 12 proved to be no different.

The Blue Devils forced three turnovers and pitched their seventh shutout of the season, a dominant 30-0 victory over Susquehanna for their second consecutive District 2 Class A title.

It’s the third district title in four years for Old Forge, and it’s the first time in school history it has a 12-0 record.

Old Forge advances to the first round of the PIAA playoffs next Friday and will face District 4 champion South Williamsport, which rolled North Penn, 54-14.

“It feels awesome,” said junior Joey Gutowski, who finished with 89 total yards, two touchdowns and an

interception. “That’s what Old Forge football is, we rely on our defense and our offense just puts up points. (But) really, our defense is the main part of our team and we really count on that.

“It just feels great.”

The Blue Devils allowed 181 total yards, 110 of which came in the fourth quarter with the game well out of reach.

Gutowski quickly set the stage for Old Forge to grab an early lead. After the defense forced a three-and-out on the game’s opening possession, he fielded a punt at the Blue Devils 35 and returned it 45 yards to the Sabers 20.

A 17-yard run by Cooper Califano set Old Forge up with a first-and-goal. Two plays later from the 1, Califano took a handoff to the left side and dove for the goal line. But the ball was punched out and ricocheted into the end zone to sophomore right tackle Dylan Wilcox, who caught it before falling to the ground to give the Blue Devils a 7-0 lead.

“I actually had a gut feeling that something was going to happen and I just kept my head on swivel,” Wilcox said. “It was unreal when I caught the ball. I was laying on the ball looking for the official’s call. I stood up and was asking all my teammates if I scored because I didn’t realize I was in the end zone when I fell.

“It was just a great moment.”

The Blue Devils defense continued to dominate the line of scrimmage, forcing Susquehanna (7-5) to go three-and-out on its next four possessions, all resulting in punts, the last of which was partially blocked to set Old Forge up with the ball on the Sabers 27.

Three plays later, Gutowski went to the air for the first time, faking a handoff before finding tight end Armando Sallavanti over the middle for a 27-yard touchdown pass.

Lining up for the extra point, kicker A.J. Cantarella took a direct snap and connected with Sallavanti in the left flats to give Old Forge a 15-0 lead.

“We took a shot toward the end zone,” Gutowski said. “It was a decent pass but Armando really made a great play on it. It was the biggest motivation for us, going into halftime with a two-touchdown lead.”
Susquehanna finally picked up its first first down of the game on the next play, thanks to an Old Forge personal foul. Three plays later, though, Gutowski intercepted quarterback Austin White.

Both teams exchanged three-and-outs to start the second half and the Blue Devils started their second drive on Susquehanna’s 46.

Old Forge then stuck to the ground game, moving the ball to the 23 before facing a fourth-and-9 and going back to the air.

Gutowski hit a wide open Cantarella over the middle for a 20-yard gain. Two plays later, Califano, who finished with 74 yards rushing, scored from two yards out to give Old Forge a commanding 22-0 lead.

The Sabers finally got a big play on the next drive, as White hit Brett Hepler for a 40-yard gain deep into Blue Devil territory. But on fourth down, linebacker Bobby Rinaldi came off the edge unblocked and sacked White to end the drive.

Rinaldi came through again on the first play of Susquehanna’s next drive, recovering a fumble on the Sabers 27.

“Defense, we just play it differently here at Old Forge,” Rinaldi said. “Defense wins championships, that’s our motto. We just go out and play hard.”

Following Rinaldi’s fumble recovery, Gutowski moved out to wide receiver — the position he played during last season’s run to the PIAA final — and capped the scoring, hauling in a 27-yard touchdown from Paul Cariati.

“We practice that during the week,” Gutowski said. “It just felt great to get back out there (to receiver) and make a play.”

Susquehanna tried to break the shutout, driving into Old Forge territory on the game’s final possession but to no avail.

“I give the kids all the credit in the world for being in this position,” coach Mike Schuback said. “At the end of the day, I’d like to believe that they worked harder and got more mature as the weeks went on. They stuck with it.

“I love our kids.”