Old Forge made it all the way to zeroes on the clock in the fourth quarter with the lead in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state Class A football quarterfinals.
The Blue Devils, however, were unable to make it off the field with the win that would have put them in this weekend’s semifinals.
District 3 champion Steelton-Highspire scored on an untimed down Nov. 13 at Old Forge to pull out a wild, 39-36 victory.
Old Forge, the Lackawanna Football Conference Division 4 and District 2 Class A champion, had its season end with just one loss, finishing at 5-1.
Mekhi Flowers made a tough catch in the back of the end zone and officials ruled he got a foot down in bounds for the game-winning, 5-yard touchdown pass from Alex Erby.
A penalty on Old Forge on what potentially could have been the game’s final play gave Steelton-Highspire its last chance.
Erby, a freshman, threw two touchdown passes in the final three minutes and four in the game to lift the Rollers.
Flowers also had a 76-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and 27-15 lead before the midway point in the second quarter.
Old Forge answered with the game’s next three touchdowns – one each in the second, third and fourth quarters – for a 36-27 lead before Erby and Flowers provided the late heroics to lead the Steelton-Highspire comeback.
The Old Forge ground attack dominated long stretches of the game.
Colin Holzman rushed 30 times for 207 yards and three touchdowns to lead the way as the team produced 303 yards on 55 carries.
Hezekiah Deitz, who carried 15 times for 57 yards, and James Sobol, who carried eight times for 46 yards, also ran for touchdowns.
Holzman averaged 11.2 yards per carry while leading an offense that scored at least 34 points in every game of the season. He ran for 669 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Both quarterbacks, Sobol and Dante Lucarelli, finished the year with more than 300 yards passing while hitting at least 70 percent of their attempts. The Blue Devils, however, completed just two passes in the loss.
Michael DiGregorio led the team in receiving with 20 catches for 272 yards and four of his five touchdowns.
Holzman was also the team’s leading tackler with 42, including six for losses.
Nick Rasmus was second on the team with 26 tackles and led in tackles for losses with 13. Josh Spindler was the leading tackler in the finale and finished third on the season.
