The Old Forge Blue Devils have ended many seasons deep in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A football playoffs.
In 2013, they reached Hershey and officially finished second in the state.
Now, early in this season, two of the three most-recognized state rankings have the Blue Devils listed as number-one in the state in Class A.
Upsets to the original higher-ranked teams and an overwhelming start by the Blue Devils combined to get Old Forge to the top spot in the class.
Going into Friday night’s game, Old Forge was ranked first by PennLive.com and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PaFootballNews.com listed the Blue Devils fourth behind three western teams – Laurel, Maplewood and Portage.
The Blue Devils again lived up to the ranking Friday night when they took a 49-0 lead over visiting Holy Redeemer with 4:43 left in the first half, completing all of the game’s scoring early.
Old Forge has beaten its first four opponents by a combined 190-20.
It has done so without piling on. The Blue Devils have scored at least 46 points in each game.
While starting the season with wins of 46-0 over Carbondale, 48-6 over Hanover Area and 47-14 over Susquehanna, Old Forge was ahead at halftime by 33-0 counts each time.
After Friday night’s scoreless second half, the Blue Devils are averaging 37 points in the first half and just 10.5 during second halves.
They have been able to strike quickly.
In the Sept. 7 game at Susquehanna, Old Forge had four touchdowns in its first eight offensive plays even though that included fumbling away one possession.
Dante Lucarelli, already the school’s career leader in passing yards, went 6-for-6 for 107 yards and three touchdowns.
Hezekiah Deitz led the way Friday night with 136 yards and two touchdowns, including the team’s first, on eight carries.
Michael DiGregorio also scored twice, returning a punt 63 yards and an interception 26 yards for touchdowns.
Lucarelli again made the most of limited chances, going 5-for-6 for 97 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown to Tyler Carey.
The defense limited Holy Redeemer to 15 yards total offense in the first half and did not yield a first down until the third quarter.
Deitz has 34 carries for 366 yards to lead a ground game that averages 9.3 yards per carry on the season.
Lucarelli is completing more than 70 percent of his passes, going 28-for-39 for 598 yards with 10 touchdowns and just one interception.
Carey has 12 catches for 354 yards with half of them going for touchdowns.
Colin Holzman leads the defense in both total tackles and tackles for losses.
The Blue Devils will take a week off before hitting the toughest part of their schedule, facing defending District 2 champions Dunmore and Lackawanna Trail, followed by rival Riverside and potential district Class A playoff opponents Northwest.
