By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
DANVILLE – Old Forge ran into big plays late.
Scranton Prep faced an injury problem early.
Both teams suffered losses in Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state football quarterfinals Saturday afternoon, bringing an end to the fall sports season for District 2 teams.
Canton recovered from a 14-point deficit in the final 7:03 of regulation, then defeated Old Forge, 20-14, in overtime in a Class A game at Danville High School.
Wyomissing opened a 14-point lead in the first 5:51 of the Class 3A game at Governor Mifflin High School in Shillington on the way to a 35-14 victory over Scranton Prep.
Both games sent unbeaten teams against each other in games that matched opponents ranked in the top three in the state in their classifications.
Old Forge expanded its lead to two touchdowns 13.7 seconds before halftime, but the seven remaining Blue Devils possessions ended in five turnovers and two blocked punts and the defense eventually could not protect the lead any longer.
In the Class 3A game, London Montgomery, who entered the day with 2,353 yards rushing, carried on the first three plays, but was gone before the second Scranton Prep offensive series with an injury.
James Sobol threw touchdown passes of 16 yards to Casey Holzman in the first quarter and 45 yards to Mario Samony just before halftime. Josh Spindler ran for the two-point conversion after the second touchdown for the 14-0 lead.
Sobol finished with 217 yards passing and a game-high 96 rushing, but was intercepted five times.
Samony caught 8 passes for 104 yards.
Old Forge stopped Canton at the 31 with the game scoreless in the first quarter. The Blue Devils held after the Warriors reached the 3 and 22 with a 6-0 lead in the second quarter. They held again at the 7 following a blocked punt with 1:53 left and the score tied.
Canton tied the game in the fourth quarter when it scored touchdowns on consecutive offensive plays 1:30 apart with the help of the first of two straight blocked punts.
After the second blocked punt put the Warriors at the 11 with a chance to win in regulation, the Blue Devils held and Angelo Fumanti came up with his second fumble recovery of the game on third down.
Old Forge then threatened in the last two minutes of regulation.
Sobol completed five passes in the next six plays, including connecting with Ethan Tallo for 11, 13 and 18 yards and first downs.
After reaching the Canton 41 with a minute left, the threat ended on three straight incompletions and a fourth-down interception by Riley Parker, who scored the two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Old Forge got the ball first in the National Federation 10-Yard Line Overtime Procedure, but Parker broke into the backfield to throw Sobol for a six-yard loss on the first play.
Weston Bellows intercepted a pass in the back of the end zone on third down, leaving Canton needing any score on its possession to win.
On second down from the 8, fullback Hayden Ward seemed to be stopped halfway to the goal line on a run up the middle, before breaking free from the pack and reaching the end zone, ending the game.
Old Forge entered the game ranked No. 1 in the state in Class A by PennLive.com while Canton was No. 2.
The Class 3A game matched No. 2 Wyomissing against No. 3 Scranton Prep.
Thomas Grabowski and Andrew Eisenhower each ran for a touchdown in the first quarter and another later in the game.
The Spartans took a 14-0 lead before Scranton Prep took advantage of Robert Rossi’s 40-yard run from punt formation to score on a 5-yard Liam Barrett run that capped a drive which carried in to the second quarter.
Wyomissing ran for 319 yards without attempting a pass.
After scoring on its first three possessions for a 20-7 halftime lead, Wyomissing dominated the third quarter, adding a touchdown and throwing for a two-point conversion (conversion plays do not count in statistics) to make it 28-7.
The Spartans built the lead to 35-7 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.
Sean Monahan hit Rossi with an 11-yard touchdown pass for Scranton Prep with 2:04 left.
Eisenhower, who scored twice in the first 15:17, finished with 133 yards rushing.
