DALLAS TWP. – Pittston Area gave itself a shot to remain in the game at the beginning of the second half.
Trailing by three touchdowns and kicking off off to start the third quarter, the Patriots executed an on-side kick.
Andrew Krawczyk, whose interception had set himself up for the only first-half Pittston Area score, won the race to recover the free ball.
The Patriots, however, never moved an inch.
Dallas held strong after the potential momentum-turning play and scored the first four touchdowns of the second half to complete a streak of 49 straight points that carried the unbeaten Mountaineers to a 56-15, home-field rout in the Wyoming Valley Conference Class 4A Division game.
The Mountaineers, ranked fifth in the state in the classification, outgained the Patriots, 208-minus 4, in the first four possessions of the second half for each team while gaining all 13 of the game’s first downs during that time.
Bryheem Patterson then broke a 49-yard touchdown run and added the two-point conversion run for the Patriots with less than a minute to play.
Krawczyk’s interception came after Dallas scored on its second play and was threatening to add to its lead on the second possession. He picked off the pass and raced 66 yards down the left sideline to the 10.
Three plays later, Mike Nocito hit Krawczyk with a 4-yard touchdown for a 7-7 tie with 5:48 left in the first quarter.
Dallas dominated the remainder of the game, scoring twice in each quarter.
The Mountaineers packed three touchdowns into 6:26 to break the tie and build a 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
Danny Meuser broke a 61-yard run with 13 seconds left in the second quarter.
Lenny Kelley, who carried 12 times for 150 yards, scored the next three touchdowns. He ran 18 and 3 yards for second-quarter scores. He scored from the 22 after Pittston Area threw three incompletions and ran for no gain following the recovered on-side kick to open the third.
“When I get the handoff and see the holes I’m running into, it’s, ‘wow’,” Kelley said.
Meuser joined Kelley in surpassing 100 yards on the ground. He did so in just five carries for 101.
