Dallas City News

DALLAS TWP. — Dallas football may have never had a seven-minute span in the program’s history like it did in the second quarter Friday night.

The Mountaineers crammed 42 points in that window on the way to a 48-12 victory over Hazleton Area in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game.

Dallas (5-0 Div. 1, 6-3 overall) clinched the Division 1 championship with the win. Moreover, the victory coupled with Crestwood’s loss to Wilkes-Barre Area all but assures a home game in the District 2 Class 4A playoffs in two weeks.

The Mountaineers scored on offense three times, special teams twice and defense once from 8:10 of the second quarter to the 1:42 mark.

“I’ve never seen (a quarter) like that,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “Again, special teams. We’ve talked about it. If I’m correct, we had a long pass in there, and then we blocked a punt. The special teams really made that happen.”

Mannello’s recollection was off slightly, but everything happened so rapidly that it was difficult to keep track.

Dallas’ first touchdown came at 8:10 when quarterback Brady Zapoticky hit receiver Logan Geskey across the middle. He broke a tackle near the Hazleton Area 30-yard line to finish off the 46-yard score.

Dallas’ Nate Malarkey then recovered a Hazleton Area fumble on its first play after the kickoff. Gavin Lewis scored on a 10-yard run at 7:57 for a 14-0 lead.

Then came the blocked punt, the first of two by Dylan Geskey. Lewis recovered the ball in the end zone, and Dallas was up 21-0 at 5:42. Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, Sam Kelley picked off a Hazleton Area pass, angled across the field and returned the interception 57 yards for a score at 4:04.

Dallas’ oddest touchdown came on the ensuing kickoff when Hazleton Area failed to field the ball inside the 5-yard line. Hunter Pitcavage tried to jump on the ball, but knocked it into the end zone where Kenny Martin fell on it for another score without any time coming off the clock.

A 29-yard TD pass from Zapoticky to Lewis completed the 42-point outburst with 1:42 until halftime.

Dylan Geskey scored Dallas’ final touchdown in the third quarter by blocking a punt and returning it 2 yards for a score.

“Our coaches do a great job with film and giving us keys,” Dylan Geskey said. “We just stuck to the keys, and we’re a special group and got it done.”

Hazleton Area (3-2 Div. 1, 5-4) scored its touchdowns on run of 69 and 53 yards by Xavier Heck. Starting running back Ashton Karlick was having a strong game, rushing six times for 48 yards in the first quarter before leaving with an injury.

“It shouldn’t be easy to put it behind us,” Hazleton Area coach Dennis Buchman said, “because in order to get where we have dreams and aspirations and goals to get to, you have to know where you’ve been.

“Certainly, we have to be much better to win any football game against any team.”

Dallas 48, Hazleton Area 12

Hazleton Area`0`6`6`0 — 12

Dallas`0`42`6`0 — 48

Second quarter

DAL — Logan Geskey 46 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Rowan Laubach kick), 8:10

DAL — Gavin Lewis 10 run (Laubach kick), 7:57

DAL — G.Lewis block punt recovery in end zone (Laubach kick), 5:42

DAL — Sam Kelley 57 interception return (Laubach kick), 4:04

DAL — Kenny Martin kickoff fumble recovery in end zone (Laubach kick), 4:04

DAL — G.Lewis 29 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 1:42

HA — Xavier Heck 69 run (kick failed), 0:15

Third quarter

DAL — Dylan Geskey 2 block punt return (kick blocked), 9:35

HA — Heck 53 run (run failed), 8:39

Team statistics`HA`DAL

First downs`9`8

Rushes-yards`40-217`26-76

Passing yards`52`99

Total yards`269`175

Passing`4-11-1`5-8-0

Sacked-yards lost`2-16`0-0

Punts-avg.`2-20.5`3-34.3

Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-1

Penalties-yards`6-50`3-16

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Hazleton Area, Ashton Karlick 6-48, Freddy Carrado 4-1, Austin Wilson 4-7, Hunter Johnson 10-19, Heck 10-140, Johncarlos Peralta 3-6, Preston Teter 1-(minus-5), Jeffrey Lantigua 2-1. Dallas, D.Geskey 13-44, Zapoticky 5-424, G.Lewis 1-10, Brady McCann 1-0, Trevor Slavinski 3-1, team 3-(minus-3).

PASSING — Hazleton Area, Carrado 3-10-1-50, Lantigua 1-1-0-2. Dallas, Zapoticky 5-8-0-99.

RECEIVING — Karlick 1-20, Jack Mariano 1-21, Carlos Gonzalez 1-9, Dante Tate 1-2. Dallas, Colt Van Orden 1-6, G.Lewis 3-47, L.Geskey 1-46.

INTERCEPTIONS — Sam Kelley 1-57.

MISSED FGs — none.