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Dunmore drops Riverside, wins District 2 Class 2A crown

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 11, 2023

There was a lot of chatter heading into the latest edition of the Vikings/Bucks showdown. In talking to Dunmore earlier this year, I found that they welcomed the idea of playing Riverside again. After last weeks big win over Mid Valley, Riverside said they wanted Dunmore. And after a big showdown earlier this season where the Bucks won it with under a minute to play, this version of the Dunmore/Riverside chronicles was a highly anticipated one with something even bigger on the line: a District Championship.

This game couldn’t have been more hyped.

Dunmore scored twice in the 1st half as they defeated Riverside 13-7 to capture the District 2 Class 2A title. Riverside got into the red zone 4 times but could only come up with 1 score as the Bucks defense stood tall when it mattered in a big win at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Dunmore won the coin toss and deferred to the 2nd half, so Riverside took the opening kickoff and returned it to their own 35. QB Chase Taddonio was active on the initial drive and started things off in a big way as he threw it to RB Jacob Cottle for a huge 47 yard gain down to the Dunmore 18 yard line on the Vikings first play from scrimmage. After Taddonnio tried the keeper for only 2 yards and a pass to TE Richie Kostoff went for no gain, it was WR Reese Gaughan who got involved with a short gain on the ground. On a 4th and 6 from the Dunmore 14, Taddonio was sacked by a herd of Bucks for an 11 yard loss and turned the ball over on downs.

Dunmore started on their own 25 and a fumbled snap followed by a false start penalty had the Bucks going the wrong way. QB Thomas Bowen then broke free on a big 25-yard scramble down to the 45. The Bucks then continued their ground game with runs by WR Danny Pigga, RB Jacob Hickey and RB Nicholas DonVito and gained yardage down to the Viking 29 yard line. After Bowen hit WR Domenick DeSando for a nice 17 yard gain down to the Viking 12, it was DonVito on the stretch play and the 12-yard TD run that made it 7-0 Dunmore with 4:14 to go in the 1st quarter.

Riverside got a nice kick return from WR JJ Rogers to the Viking 47. Unfortunately, the drive was a penalty-filled one for Riverside. An illegal block penalty followed by a false start pushed Riverside back to their own 34. Taddonio then was sacked for a loss back to the 28, and with the yardage to gain too much to overcome the Vikings inevitably punted it away.

Dunmore started their 2nd drive at their own 21. Runs by Bowen, Hickey and DonVito got the Bucks out to their own 44 as the 1st quarter ended and play continued into the 2nd quarter. On a 2nd and 6 from their own 48, Bowen threw it to DonVito who broke a few tackles and ran it down to the Riverside 36. More runs by Pigga and Hickey got the Bucks down to the 5 yard line, and then it was Bowen who called his own number and used a nice counter run to reach paydirt for the touchdown. The PAT was blocked, and with 5:03 to go in the 1st half Dunmore increased their lead to 13-0.

The Vikings started their next drive at their own 31 and were determined to get on the board before halftime. After a penalty pushed Riverside back to the 26, it was Gaughan who gained 15 yards on 2 carries to the 41. Kostoff then had a nice 8-yard run, and Taddonio had 2 straight 12-yard throws to Gaughan down to the Dunmore 26. After a holding penalty pushed the Vikings back to the 36, Taddonio lateralled it to WR Casey O’Brien who then threw it to Rogers for a wild 36-yard touchdown play. With only 1:16 to go in the half, Riverside cut into the lead to make it 13-7 for Dunmore.

Dunmore took the ensuing kickoff out to their own 35. Pigga started things out with a nice 7-yard run but on 2nd and 3 from the 42, Bowen’s pass was intercepted at the Riverside 31 and the Vikings had it right back. With little time on the clock, Riverside gained only 9 yards before time expired in the 1st half.

Dunmore started the 2nd half at their own 14. Nice runs by Pigga, Hickey and Bowen gained yards out to Riverside 49. After Hickey ran it for 3 yards, a bad snap caused a loss of 4 yards. Facing a 3rd and 11 from midfield, Bowen’s pass intended for Hickey was broken up on a nice play by Taddonio to force a punt.

The Vikings took possession at their own 45 after another nice return by Rogers. Gaughan then started rolling on the ground, gaining 25 yards on 4 straight runs. Taddonio had a nice run for 10 yards down to the 20 but then was stopped for a loss of 2 on the next play. Kostoff was stopped for no gain on 2nd and 12 from the 22 and an incomplete pass forced a 4th down. Riverside went for it and as Taddonio scrambled under pressure he threw a nice pass towards Kostoff, but DeSando made a great play on the ball and knocked it down forcing a turnover on downs. Starting at their own 22, Dunmore tried to gain momentum on the ground, but a holding penalty hurt their effort and the Bucks gained yardage only out to their own 33 and were forced to punt it away as the 3rd quarter ended.

Receiving the punt to start the 4th quarter, Rogers had yet another nice return into Dunmore territory at the Bucks 44. Unfortunately, they only gained 5 yards on 3 plays. On 4th and 5 from the Dunmore 39, Taddonio threw a center screen pass to FB Robbie Garvey but it gained only 2 yards and Riverside turned it over on downs yet again. Dunmore only gained 3 yards on their next drive and immediately punted it back to Riverside.

The Vikings knew that time was starting become an issue and made a concerted effort to get into scoring range on their next drive. After an incomplete pass, Taddonio hit Gaughan for a nice 9-yard gain and then called his own number on the next play as he ran it for 22 yards and a big 1st down at the Dunmore 33. Gaughan and Taddonio then used alternating runs to get down to the Dunmore 20. The Bucks defense then made a stand, forcing an incomplete pass on 1st down and a short gain by Gaughan on 2nd down. On 3rd and 6 from the 16, DeSando again made a nice play to break up a pass intended for Rogers. On 4th down, it was DonVito who defended a pass intended for Kostoff and forced another turnover on downs.

Dunmore took over with under 4 minutes remaining, and looked to their ground game to grind out the clock. 2 runs by Pigga gained 11 yards and a 1st down, but a holding penalty then pushed Dunmore back to their own 17. Hickey was stopped for no gain and Riverside called their first timeout with 3:03 to go. On the next play Pigga ripped off an 11-yard run and then Bowen ran it for another 9 yards and a 1st down. After a Dunmore penalty made it 1st and 15 from the 32, Hickey ran it for a short gain but a facemask penalty on the Vikings gave the Bucks another 1st down. Riverside was forced to use another timeout to stop the clock at 2:09, and on the next play Bowen ran it for 5 and Riverside used their final timeout at 2:04. Bowen then sealed the deal as he ran it for 5 more yards to midfield, gaining another 1st down and allowing the Bucks to kneel it out for the win.

After the game I talked to Bowen about another tough win against Riverside: “They’re a great team, they worked hard just like we did and they knew it was going to be a dogfight. They gave us everything we got and just at the end of the game we made the bigger plays and the better plays and we came out on top.” Dunmore advances in the PIAA Class 2A playoffs and will now face the winner of the Schuylkill Haven/Williams Valley game.

Be sure to check out photos from the game here:  https://pafootballnews.com/pfn/riverside-at-dunmore-photo-gallery/

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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