KINGSTON — Dallas quarterback Michael Starbuck was in eighth grade during the 56-point loss to Wyoming Valley West. He was on the sideline during the 29-point loss last year.
The sophomore, though, had one of the best views of revenge Friday night.
Starbuck threw two fourth-quarter touchdowns and backup running back Danny Meuser rushed for 141 yards and two TDs as the Mountaineers defeated Valley West 31-18 in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivisional game.
Dallas improved to 3-2 in snapping a five-game losing streak to the Spartans (1-4). Those last two meetings, though, were still gnawing at the Mountaineers.
“It was on our minds. We were thinking about that completely,” said Starbuck, who became the starting quarterback as a freshman after last year’s 29-0 loss. “We wanted to come in here and dominate and I think we did that.”
Valley West certainly helped Dallas. The Spartans were flagged nine times for 110 yards, including six personal foul penalties, and had two bad snaps result in 44 yards of losses.
“I wasn’t expecting the demeanor we played with,” Valley West coach Pat Keating said. “I really don’t have a lot of words. We were flat, and the way we conducted ourselves on the field at times with the penalties and things of that nature, it’s uncalled for.
“Dallas deserved to win tonight. They played a good physical football game. They played clean.”
Dallas scored on its second possession on a 45-yard field goal by soccer player Nate Maransky, whose kick was the longest in the WVC this season. Meuser busted up the middle on the next drive for a 40-yard touchdown and a 10-0 first-quarter lead.
Valley West cut the deficit to 10-6 with 33 seconds left in the third quarter on a 6-yard run by Zach Davies. Dallas, though, didn’t waver, something coach Rich Mannello was concerned about entering the game. He felt his team was a little “wide-eyed” a few weeks back at Berwick where the Mountaineers lost 23-7.
Dallas answered the Valley West score with a 18-yard TD pass from Starbuck to fullback Bradley Adams. Then after Valley West’s Darrian Tyson ran 73 yards for a score on the first play after the kickoff, the Mountaineers answered again.
Another Valley West 15-yard penalty — this one for a late hit — and a 20-yard catch by Bradley helped move the ball to the Valley West 33-yard line. From there, Starbuck threw to wideout Christian Motley, who made an adjustment on the slightly underthown pass for a touchdown.
Dallas’ final score, a 16-yard up-the-gut run by Meuser, was set up by defensive lineman Mike Anderson’s interception. Matt Maransky also had a pick.
“This is all kids. They just played their hearts out,” said Mannello, whose team finished 2-9 in 2016 with many of the same guys. “You’re proud of kids all the time in football. Sometimes you say that you’ve never been prouder, but I’m saying it right now. I don’t know if I’ve ever been prouder.
“These kids and their effort, I mean, they’ve been stepped on. They took a lot of crap in the last year and they stayed with it and bought into the process.”
Dallas 31, Wyo. Valley West 18
Dallas`10`0`0`21`—`31
Wyo. Val. West`0`0`6`12`—`18
First quarter
DAL — Nate Maransky 45 FG, 4:38
DAL — Danny Meuser 40 run (N.Maransky kick), 0:29
Third quarter
WVW — Zach Davies 6 run (run failed), 0:33
Fourth quarter
DAL — Brady Adams 18 pass from Mike Starbuck (N.Maransky kick), 10:17
WVW — Darrian Tyson 73 run (run failed), 9:57
DAL — Christian Motley 33 pass from Starbuck (N.Maransky kick), 7:43
DAL — Meuser 18 run (N.Maransky kick), 5:55
WVW — Davies 1 run (run failed), 3:44
Team statistics`DAL`WVW
First downs`17`16
Rushes-yards`43-190`37-209
Passing yards`97`88
Total yards`287`297
Passing`7-10-0`5-21-2
Sacked-yards lost`1-2`2-19
Punts-avg.`4-30.3`4-41.8
Fumbles-lost`0-0`3-0
Penalties-yards`4-40`9-110
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Dallas, Starbuck 4-(minus-2), Meuser 27-141, Adams 1-1, David Schuster 9-13, Matt Maransky 2-37. WVW, Robbie Dwyer 19-88, Sean Mikovitch 8-54, Tyson 5-106, Davis 2-7, team 3-(minus-46).
PASSING — Dallas, Starbuck 7-10-0-97. WVW, Dwyer 3-10-0-53, Jake Shusta 2-9-2-35.
RECEIVING — Dallas, Adams 3-44, M.Maransky 2-22, Jack Farrell 1-9, Motley 1-33. WVW, Jake Blaski 2-49, Tyson 3-39.
INTERCEPTIONS — Dallas, Motley 1-28, Mike Anderson 1-9.
MISSED FGs — Dallas 41WL.