DALLAS TWP. — The first four weeks have been so easy for the Dallas football team that coach Rich Mannello is making sure the Mountaineers are testing themselves even when others are not.
When Mannello thought his team did not improve from its second to third game, he added another line to the list of weekly goals – “Did we get better?”
As he prepared to head to the locker room after Friday’s 56-15 Wyoming Valley Conference Class 4A Division romp over visiting Pittston Area, Mannello thought he probably had the answer.
“My gut is telling me, ‘yes,’ ” Mannello said. “We’ll watch the film tonight and we’ll see.
“But, they were laser-focused all week. We had a tremendous week of practice. They’re always dialed in, but there’s always another level. A week ago, we did not push that level and I think we did this week.”
What level are the Mountaineers on?
Well, that subpar performance by the state’s fifth-ranked Class 4A team last week came in a 41-13 romp over Hazleton Area, a Class 6A team. The other three wins, while picking on schools their own size, have come by a total of 147-28.
Dallas dominated everything but special teams and turnovers in its latest rout.
The Mountaineers clearly won up front. They won on offense, on defense and whether the ground game or the passing game was in play.
“We try to control the game in all aspects,” senior two-way lineman Taylor Bolesta said.
From his right tackle position, Bolesta blocked for a ground game that piled up 354 yards and averaged more than 11 yards per carry and did not allow a sack in 13 pass attempts.
“We really pride ourselves on our guys up front,” Bolesta said. “We just do our jobs. We trust our steps and we get done what has to get done.”
The only time the Mountaineers lost yardage was in the fourth quarter when a fumble in the backfield threw off the timing of a running play by the reserves and on the game’s final play when they took a knee.
Losses were plentiful on the other side of the ball.
Bolesta moves around the defensive line. He was responsible for a sack (officially, by forcing intentional grounding), two more tackles for losses and an assist on another loss during the first 20 minutes alone.
The defense helped create the field position that made it easier for Dallas to score two touchdowns in every quarter.
The offense scored on three straight possessions to end the half with a 28-7 lead, then the first four of the second half to make it 56-7 before Pittston Area scored in the final minute.
“The blocking’s amazing,” said Lenny Kelley, who carried 12 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns in the first three quarters. “All five guys up there, the tight end, the fullback; everybody’s on a guy,”
Danny Meuser did much of the work at fullback, but also found time to run for 99 of his 101 yards on just four first-half carries and catch two passes.
Michael Starbuck threw touchdown passes to Luke DelGaudio and Matt Maransky.
Nikolus Gashi and Jackson Wydra ran for the fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Andrew Krawczyk’s 66-yard interception return set up his 4-yard touchdown pass from Mike Nocito to lift Pittston Area into a 7-7 tie midway through the fourth quarter.
The Patriots (1-3) then were held to minus-4 yards in four second-half possessions before moving 65 yards for a touchdown on their last drive. Bryheem Patterson broke a 49-yard touchdown run.
Dallas 56, Pittston Area 15
Pittston Area`7`0`0`8`—`15
Tunkhannock`14`14`14`14`—`56
First quarter
D – Luke DelGaudio 22 pass from Michael Starbuck (Ryan Fisher kick), 10:29
PA – Andrew Krawczyk 4 pass from Mike Nocito (Matt Soy kick), 5:48
D – Danny Meuser 61 run (Fisher kick), 0:13
Second quarter
PA – Lenny Kelley 18 run (Fisher kick), 10:49
PA – Kelley 3 run (Fisher kick), 5:47
Third quarter
D – Kelley 22 run (Fisher kick), 6:58
D – Matt Maransky 25 pass from Starbuck (Fisher kick) 4:07
Fourth quarter
D – Nikolus Gashi 12 run (Fisher kick), 11:09
D – Jackson Wydra 16 run (Fisher kick), 3:55
PA – Bryheem Patterson 49 run (Patterson run), 0:56
Team statistics`PA`D
First downs`8`23
Rushes-yards`29-86`32-354
Passing yards`55`105
Total yards`141`459
Passing`8-26-1`9-13-1
Sacked-yards lost`3-19`0-0
Punts-avg.`6-28.0`1-38.0
Fumbles-lost`0-0`3-1
Penalties-yards`6-47`6-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — PA, Bryheem Patterson 5-69, Dylan Lukachko 17-30, Franny George 1-0, P.J. Pisano 1-minus 5, Mike Nocito 5-minus 9. DAL, Lenny Kelley 12-150, Danny Meuser 5-101, Nikolus Gashi 4-41, Jackson Wydra 5-30, Jake DelGaudio 2-24, Michael Starbuck 2-5, Matt Maransky 1-4, Team 1-minus 1.
PASSING — PA, Nocito 8-25-1-55; Pisano 0-1-0-0. DAL, Starbuck 8-12-1-95; Wydra 1-1-0-10.
RECEIVING — PA, Andrew Krawczyk 3-16, Brennan Higgins 2-20, Alex Anastasi 1-12, George 1-6, Lukachko 1-1. DAL, Luke DelGaudio 2-26, Jack Farrell 2-22, Meuser 2-13, Maransky 1-25, Michael Lukasavage 1-10, Kelley 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS — PA, Krawcyzk 1-66. DAL, Dylan Schuster 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – PA, None. TUNK, Jaxson Montross 43.
