OLD FORGE — Pizza was being served at the concession stand, but on the field, Old Forge’s defense was serving up turnovers.
The Blue Devils forced a seven turnovers — four fumbles and three interceptions — as they picked up their first win of the season, 36-6, over Tunkhannock Area in a nonconference football game Friday night at Old Forge Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Elio Castaldi intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. Rylan Gutowski had an interception and recovered a fumble, and Dante Gonzalez and Aaron Mohammed recovered fumbles to lead a dominant night for the Blue Devils.
“We’ve been working hard all week, we haven’t played as well as we think we could have,” Old Forge head coach Michael Schuback said. “We moved some guys around and made some changes to the starting lineup, and it was able to come together tonight.”
The issues for Tunkhannock’s offense started right out of the gate when an errant snap sailed over the punter’s head and out of the end zone for a safety and the first points of the game. The Blue Devils then took the free kick right down the field as quarterback Parker Harte hit Ayden Aversa for a 27-yard touchdown pass and an 8-0 lead.
The second quarter is when the turnovers really started to pile up as Castaldi recovered a fumble in the end zone for a Blue Devils touchdown, and Gonzalez recovered a fumble that led to a Cristopher Nino 20-yard field goal.
Old Forge’s offense got its share, too, as Harte threw a 21-yard touchdown to Joey Dominick, and Aversa scored his second touchdown on a reverse with 29 seconds to go in the second quarter, giving the Blue Devils a 29-6 halftime lead.
Tunkhannock’s last ditch try to score before halftime ended with an interception by Castaldi.
Old Forge wasted little time at the start of the third quarter as Mohammed forced and recover a fumble on Tunkhannock’s opening drive, and Gutowski capitalized with a 15-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring.
Gutowski finished with 106 yards on the ground, and Harte passed for 107 yards and two scores. Aversa had five receptions and Dominick four for the Blue Devils.
Tunkhannock’s only score came on an 80-yard touchdown run from Lucas Ciprich in the second quarter. Ciprich finished with a game-high 152 yards rushing on 15 carries.
A celebratory night would turn into a somber one as Old Forge freshman Carlo Pisano suffered a gruesome leg injury with one minute to go in the game. Both teams agreed to let the clock run down as Pisano was taken from the field in an ambulance and both teams met at the 50-yard line for a postgame prayer.
“He (Pisano) didn’t even shed a tear, he’s a warrior, such a tough kid,” Schuback said as several members of his team were fighting back tears. “Our ninth grade class is a tough bunch of kids. They’re really playing hard for us.”