by Rick Notari

The game was supposed to be a matchup of the well known Dunmore defense against the full-throttle offense of Old Forge.

Except no one told that to the Blue Devils defense.

The Big Blue Wrecking Crew forced four turnovers – three of which resulted in 21 points – as Old Forge dominated Dunmore in a 21-0 victory on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Old Forge.

Forced to punt after picking up a first down on its opening possession, Blue Devils’ punter Shane Schuback’s high punt was muffed by the Bucks returner under heavy pressure and was recovered by Old Forge junior Jake Manetti at the Dunmore 14.

Five plays later, tailback Brian “Bubba” Tomasetti hit paydirt with a two-yard run up the middle behind the bulldozing blocking of guards Tony DeSando and Paul Papi, and center Tyler Clark.

Matt Mancuso’s extra-point was good and the Blue Devils led, 7-0, with 6:06 left in the first quarter.

The Bucks’ Mike Colcharno returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Old Forge 32. But the Blue Devils’ defense stood strong, holding the Bucks on downs.

It would be a sign of things to come as Old Forge (4-0) held Dunmore (3-1) without a first down in the first half despite the Bucks starting its first three offensive drives at the Old Forge 32, on the 50, and at the Blue Devils 26. Dunmore managed just 19 yards on 14 plays during the first 24 minutes of action.

The score remained 7-0 to the half as Old Forge missed two opportunities to add points, missing two field goals after the Dunmore defense twice held the Blue Devils inside the 15 yard line.

The Bucks then opened the second half with a spring in their step, driving to its own 41 yards line. But Tomasetti turned the momentum on the defensive side of the ball when he intercepted Mike Kujawski’s third down pass, and returned it 65 yards for an Old Forge touchdown.

It was Tomasetti’s third interception return for a touchdown this season, and his fifth pick overall.

Mancuso drilled the extra-point, and the Blue Devils let 14-0 with just over nine minutes remaining in the third quarter.

On the very next series, Dunmore lost its third fumble of the game when Jorden Sekol recovered an errant toss to set Old Forge up at the Dunmore 40.

Six straight carries by Tomasetti ended with the senior bursting into the endzone from two yards out to put the Blue Devils ahead 21-0 with 5:37 left in the third.

Tomasetti finished with 145 yards on a career-high 29 carries to give him 707 yards rushing on the season. He also has a total of 14 touchdowns on the year.

The Old Forge defense held the Bucks – who were playing without starting tailback Austin Seamon who was out with an injury – to just 66 yards rushing – most of that coming in the second half when the game was out of reach. Kolcharno let Dunmore with 42 yards on 14 carries.

Sekol finished with 12 tackles for the Blue Devils and Schuback added seven.