The football season had an all-too-familiar ending for the Old Forge Blue Devils.
State-ranked throughout the season and ranked as high as first in Class A for much of it, the Blue Devils fell short of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state playoffs when they lost at home Friday night, 22-19, on a last-minute touchdown by visiting Lackawanna Trail.
Old Forge won a Lackawanna Football Conference Division 4 title for the second straight season by beating Lackawanna Trail in the regular season. Both times, however, the Lions, who went all the way to the 2018 state final, came back to win the rematch in the District 2 championship game.
The Blue Devils moved ahead for the first time in the second half when Dante Lucarelli hit Tyler Carey just as he was arriving at the goal line for a 31-yard touchdown with 7:25 remaining.
Facing a 19-14 deficit, Lackawanna Trail put the game in the hands of junior fullback Ray Melnikoff.
Melnikoff handled the ball 10 times on the game-winning, 15-play, 87-yard drive. He carried nine times for 44 yards, including runs that converted a pair of third-and-four situations and a third-and-three. He also caught a 17-yard pass from Nico Berrios.
Berrios turned to the air for only the second time in the drive on third-and-five from the 10 with 56 seconds left. Miguel Ella took hits from two Old Forge defenders as he caught the ball and landed just across the goal line on a slant pattern to the left side for the game-winning touchdown.
Melnikoff then ran for the two-pointer.
Carey returned the kickoff 34 yards to the Lackawanna Trail 45, but the Blue Devils never got closer than the 40 and they gave up the ball on downs with three seconds left.
Melnikoff finished with 118 yards on 23 carries. His 43-yard run off right tackle broke a 7-7 halftime tie.
Old Forge scored in the final minute of the third quarter. Lucarelli went deep to Carey for 23 yards to the 2 and Kevin Pepsin scored from the 1 on second down.
Lackawanna Trail (7-3) blocked the extra point and carried a 14-13 lead into the fourth quarter.
Berrios went 5-for-7 for 90 yards, carried 14 times for 40 yards and a touchdown and recovered a fumble for the Lions.
Lucarelli, who missed most of the last month for health reasons, came off the bench early in the game and went 13-for-24 for 191 yards passing on a night when Old Forge struggled to move the ball on the ground.
Old Forge rushed for just 65 yards on 27 carries.
Carey had seven catches for 120 yards and Michael DiGregorio had four for 47 yards.
Hezekiah Deitz was Old Forge’s leading rusher with 42 yards on 13 carries. He opened the scoring on a 1-yard run and Nate Krenitsky added the extra point for a 7-0 lead with 10:33 left in the half.
Berrios ran 8 yards for a score and Melnikoff kicked the extra point with 1:03 remaining in the second quarter.
Lackawanna Trail (8-2) advances to face either Jenkintown (6-3) or Morrisville (5-5) in a District 1-2 Subregional game. The winner continues in the state tournament.
