Dunmore, PA — After Thomas Bowen gained five yards on a quarterback keeper, the Dunmore sideline yelled, “Two more yards and it’s ours!” Two more yards for one last first down. Two more yards to capture the District 2 Class 2A championship. Two more yards to erase the heartbreak of falling short in the last two title games. The Bucks got five. Bowen took the snap, put his head down and rumbled behind his offensive line like the Bucks did all night for the game-sealing first down in Dunmore’s 13-7 win over Riverside on Friday at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium. “It’s a good feeling,” Bowen said. “The last two years were tough losses, but this is great. I broke down in tears as soon as we won.” The offensive line paved the way for 230 yards rushing on 42 carries, an average of 5.5 yards per carry. “The line is amazing,” said Bowen, who rushed for 84 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries. “They do everything. It all starts from the line up. Defensive line, offensive line. They get those tough yards. I just run and they get those tough yards sometimes, so I love them. They’re great.” After a Chase Taddonio 47-yard screen pass to Jacob Cottle put Riverside in the red zone on the first play of the game, the Dunmore defense made a stand. The Bucks forced a fourth down and Nick Donvito bolted into the backfield for a sack and turnover on downs. “I’ve been studying film all week and I saw that their guards switch up when they pull,” Donvito said. “I knew he was going to pull. As soon as he pulled, I shot the gap. Tommy Drewes always says, when you see the guard pulling, shoot your gap if you know you’re going to make the play and I knew I was going to make the play.” Then the offensive line went to work, as the Bucks, the Class 2A No. 1 seed, ran the ball on of eight of nine plays. The drive ate up half of the first quarter, and Donvito capped it with a 12-yard touchdown run where he was barely touched. “We’ve got Nathan Reuther, Anthony Anelli, Nick Tullio, Rogan Dougherty, Bryce Talutto, Chris Conte — all of them are beasts,” Donvito said. “They love to cause havoc, and that’s exactly what they did.” Dunmore (10-2) forced a punt on the ensuing possession and put together an even more time-consuming touchdown drive, where it went 3 for 3 on third-down conversions. The Bucks faced a 3rd-and-6 on their 48, and Bowen hit Donvito in the middle of the field for a first down. “We’ve been working on that play all week,” Donvito said. “Thomas hit me with a great ball, and I just couldn’t drop it. It was a great ball.” On 3rd-and-4 at the Riverside 30, Bowen found Danny Pigga on the sideline, and the wide receiver stretched for the first down. Facing a 3rd-and-1 at the Riverside 4, Bowen powered into the end zone behind his offensive line to give the Bucks a 13-0 lead. The 15-play touchdown drive started in the first quarter and ended with 5:03 in the second quarter. “We knew we had to come out fast,” Bowen said. “The defense was playing great. We knew we had to run the ball right down their throat and that’s what we ended up doing.” No. 3 seed Riverside (8-4) answered before the end of the half on a double pass. Taddonio threw to Casey O’Brien who launched the ball down the sideline to JJ Rogers for a 36-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 13-7. Two plays later, Reese Gaughan leaped for an interception and landed on his back to end any chance of a Dunmore score before the end of the half. In the second half, the defenses took center stage. Riverside forced three punts and didn’t allow Dunmore to get past the Vikings 46. Riverside drove to the Bucks 22, 37 and 16 in the last three quarters, but the Bucks forced three turnovers on downs. “(The defense) was awesome,” Bowen said. “They’ve been great all year. They never give up. They’re always making tough plays when we need them and they got too many stops on fourth down for us to count today.” Gaughan led the Vikings with 71 yards rushing on 12 carries and three catches for 33 yards. “I think in the second half our defense stepped it up,” Riverside coach Harry Armstrong said. “That was a big difference for us there because they really got a lot of stops and we had quite a few possessions there. Offensively, we weren’t able to capitalize on it today and a credit to Dunmore’s defense.” Danny Pigga had 77 yards on 13 carries and one catch for five yards, while Jake Hickey added 50 yards on 10 carries and one catch for seven yards for the Bucks. They advance to the first round of the state playoffs where they will face the winner of Saturday’s District 11 championship game between Schuylkill Haven and Williams Valley. “The past two years losing, I don’t even know how I felt,” Donvito said. “It was terrible. Coming into this game, there was a different type of mentality. It was win or go home, and we weren’t going home.” (SOURCE: Joe Baress, The Scranton Times-Tribune)