Dallas City News

PECKVILLE — There couldn’t have been a better time for Valley View to play the best second half of their season.

Dallas, in a good spot coming out of halftime, simply had no answers for the Cougars.

Valley View outscored the Mountaineers 35-0 in the second half, making plays on both sides of the ball in a 41-14 victory to win the District 2 Class 4A championship on Friday night.

Cougars quarterback Zach Cwalinski did some serious damage with his legs: 147 yards and four rushing touchdowns for the senior, three of those touchdowns coming in Valley View’s dominant second-half performance.

“I can’t thank my coach and my line any more, those touchdowns aren’t possible without them,” Cwalinski said. “To get a rematch with Dallas, on our home field…it was awesome.”

This was the second straight year that Dallas and Valley View clashed for the Class 4A district title, with the Mountaineers winning last year on their way to a berth in the state title game.

Through one half, the Mountaineers looked in fine form to make a return to states: Dallas led 14-6 at the half, and went to the locker room having just forced a turnover on downs inside their own red zone.

With all the firepower Valley View’s offense produced in the second half, it may not have been possible without one huge defensive stop to kick things off.

The Cougars fumbled the ball away on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, giving Dallas the ball deep in Valley View territory.

The Mountaineers worked inside the 5-yard line, but a fourth-down run from Zapoticky needing a yard to move the sticks was marked short.

The Dallas fans voiced their displeasure with the spot, but the Cougars took over on downs on their own 4-yard line. After working the ball out close to midfield, Cwalinski broke free for a 54-yard touchdown run, then converted the two-point conversion to tie the game.

The stop may very well have been a season-saver for the Cougars, and took the wind right out of Dallas’s sails.

“Getting stopped on fourth down, and them driving the field, that changed the football game,” Dallas head coach Rich Mannello said. “Hat’s off to them, they took it to us in the second half.”

Cwalinski scored on a 27-yard run to put the Cougars ahead in early in the fourth quarter, then scored his fourth touchdown of the night on a four-yard keeper to make it 28-14.

Nick Kucharski, who picked off a pass to get Valley View the ball back before Cwalinski’s fourth touchdown run, took his second interception back to the house for 30 yards and another Cougar touchdown.

The Cougars lit off one final firework as the clock hit zeroes: a Dallas fumble was scooped up by Ben Evans and taken 85 yards for one final touchdown, the exclamation point on the district title victory.

Valley View will take on Pope John Paul II in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A state tournament next weekend.

District 2 Class 4A Championship

Valley View 41, Dallas 14

Dallas`7`7`0`0 — 0

Valley View`6`0`8`27 — 41

First Quarter

VV — Zach Cwalinski 4 run (kick blocked), 6:43

DAL — Gavin Lewis 11 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Rowan Laubach kick), 2:50

Second quarter

DAL — Zapoticky 12 run (Laubach kick), 11:44

Third quarter

VV — Cwalinski 54 run (Cwalinski run), 3:30

Fourth quarter

VV — Cwalinski 27 run (Braden Loff kick), 10:17

VV — Cwalinski 4 run (Loff kick), 7:29

VV — Nick Kucharski 30 interception return (Loff kick), 35.1

VV — Ben Evans 85 fumble return, 0:00

Team statistics`DAL`VV

First downs`8`15

Rushes-yards`26-116`48-336

Passing yards`12`69

Total yards`128`405

Passing`4-14-2`6-11-0

Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-9

Punts-avg.`3-21`2-17.5

Fumbles-lost`2-1`2-1

Penalties-yards`6-50`11-107

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — DAL, Zapoticky 18-86, Dylan Geskey 7-37, Nate Malarkey 1-(minus-7). VV, Cwalinski 23-147, Kucharski 11-47, Preston Reed 14-142.

PASSING — DAL, Zapoticky 4-14-2-12. VV, Cwalinski 6-11-0-69.

RECEIVING — DAL, Lewis 3-7, Geskey 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS —DAL, none. VV, Kucharski 2-30.

MISSED FGs — none.