YATESVILLE — Pittston Area was down but not out, only trailing by seven going into the fourth quarter. But Dallas fended off any form of a comeback to win the game 41-21.
Dallas (4-0) moved the ball effectively up and down the field on offense, scoring six total touchdowns with three coming from junior running back Leonard Kelly and three more on the ground from junior quarterback Michael Starbuck.
Kelly had over 220 yards rushing on the day.
“You see how much yardage after contact he has,” said Mountaineers head coach Rich Mannello. “The quarterback was tremendous again tonight. He just makes plays when they’re not there.”
With the Mountaineers up 28-6 with under one minute to play in the fourth quarter, the Patriots (2-2) scored 14 unanswered points to pull within seven.
Head coach Nick Barbieri felt the team was on the verge of pulling off the comeback.
“Down 21-6 I felt better than we did last week when we were up 20-7,” he said. “I thought we played better, we made some mistakes and we gave up a couple of big plays. But, I thought we had a chance to get back in it. We got back to 28-21 and I thought we had a shot. But, then they just did what they do and (push) us down the field with their big linemen, big back as and we didn’t really have an answer for that.”
Their comeback would not happen as Dallas would put the game away with Starbuck with a little over six minutes to play before Kelly put the nail in the coffin with a 66-yard touchdown run with under two minutes to go.
“Hats off to Pittston,” Mannello said. “They did a tremendous job, they took it to us, they regained the momentum and I just told them kids, you’ve got to drop the hammer and start running the ball again, and we did it.”
Despite the outcome, Pittston Area’s offense moved the ball efficiently as junior quarterback Mike Nocito passed for over 282 yards and two touchdowns.
However, the offense failed to convert two fourth down attempts and turned the ball over twice on interceptions, which head coach Nick Barbieri said was the difference in the game.
“Offensively, I thought that was our best game but we do have to clean up those mistakes,” he said. “They converted on fourth down on two drives, and that’s the difference in the game; we didn’t convert. So, we match them with converting on fourth downs I think we’re in the game right until the end.”
Barbieri said the Patriots will learn from their mistakes, and move on to next week.
“I’m proud of our kids,” he said. “It didn’t come out in the scoreboard in the end that we played well, but I thought we fought the whole game. As we move forward in the tougher part of our schedule, if we keep getting better we’ll be alright.”
Dallas 41, Pittston Area 21
Dallas`7`14`7`13 — 41
Pittston Area`0`6`8`7 — 21
First quarter
DAL — Leonard Kelly 2 run (Ryan Fisher kick), 7:05
Second quarter
PA — Bryan Giambra 10 pass from Mike Nocito (Luchia Carabetta kick no good), 11:13
DAL — Kelly 2 run (Fisher kick), 10:47
DAL —Michael Starbuck 1 run (Fisher kick), 3:58
Third quarter
DAL — Starbuck 4 run (Fisher kick), 3:59
PA — Jordan O’Boyle 20 pass from Nocito (2-point Tony Gorey pass from Nocito), :55
Fourth quarter
PA — Andrew Krawczyk 6 pass from Nocito (Carabetta kick), 10:41
DAL — Starbuck 1 run (Fisher kick no good) 6:16
DAL — Kelly 66 run (Fisher kick good), 1:58
Team statistics`DAL`PA
First downs`25`20
Rushes-yards`37-265`28-75
Passing yards`176`294
Total yards`441`369
Passing`10-15-0`20-32-2
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-18
Punts-avg.`0-0`2-38
Fumbles-lost`1-1`0-0
Penalties-yards`1-5`6-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — DAL, Leonard Kelly 25-223, Michael Starbuck 11-48. Matthew Ferrara, 1-minus 1. PA, Mike Nocito 6-20, Dylan Lukachko 9-31, Jordan O’Boyle 10-42.
PASSING — DAL, Michael Starbuck 10-15-0-176. PA, Mike Nocito 19-32-2-282, Bryan Giambra 1-1-0-12.
RECEIVING — DAL, Luke DelGuadio 5-127, Leonard Kelly 2-20, Jack Farrell 1-18, Christian Motley 1-6, Matthew Ferrara 2-11. PA, Bryan Giambra 8-104, Mike Coe, 4-62, Andrew Krawczyk 4-69, John DeLuca 1-17, Jordan O’Boyle 1-20, Tannon Kaklio, 1-12, Alex Haas 2-16.
MISSED FGs — DAL, Ryan Fisher 1-18
