H.S. Football: Delayed two-point conversion decision give Dallas overtime victory

KINGSTON — Dallas quarterback Jackson Wydra was sure he plowed his way into the end zone. His teammates didn’t exude the same confidence.

Nor was the Wyoming Valley West defense certain it had stopped him. Even the officiating crew couldn’t decide immediately, so it gathered for a impromptu conference.

Then the referee signal that indeed Wydra crossed the goal line on a two-point sneak in overtime, sending the Mountaineers into a frenzied celebration of their 28-27 victory Friday night.

“We couldn’t go 0-2 to start the season,” Wydra said. “I knew I was getting in there. The ball popped out, but half my body was already past (the goal line). The ball popped out, but as long as the ball crossed the plane we’re good. And that’s what happened.”

The whistle blew as the ball squirted out of a pile of players. Two Dallas players flopped on the field trying to retrieve it, but the play had been blown dead with no decision of whether Wydra scored the winning two-point conversion.

Dallas elected to go for the win after a Valley West offside penalty moved the ball just short of the 1-yard line. Otherwise, the Mountaineers would have gone for the tie.

“If you can’t make that, then get on the bus and eat a sandwich,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said.

The victory overshadowed an incredible performance by Valley West sophomore running back Isaiah Cobb. The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder ran the ball 53 times for 293 yards and four touchdowns. His final TD on a 4-yard run in overtime and the ensuing extra point gave the Spartans (1-1) a 27-20 lead.

Dallas, though, needed one play to move within 27-26 as Wydra ran in from 10 yards out.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Mannello said, “but the kids got guts. They got guts and heart, and that’s a good start.”

The Dallas defense also came up big with a goal line stand early in the fourth quarter with Valley West ahead 20-14.

The Spartans had four cracks at the end zone starting with a first-and-goal from the Dallas 7-yard line. They moved the ball to the 1 and tried a sneak with quarterback Luke Buss on fourth down. As Buss looked like he would score, Dallas linebacker Colby Klinetob slanted in to make the stop.

Dallas then went on an eight-play, 99-yard drive to tie the score 20-20. Wydra got the Mountaineers out of the hole with a 41-yard pass to Zach Paczewski. He later connected with running back Rocco Ormando for a 36-yard gain and finished off the drive with a 24-yard TD pass to Joe Peters where Ormando threw a key block down field.

The point-after was blocked and Valley West took over with 7:16 remaining. The Spartans continued to slam Cobb at the Dallas defense to move to the Dallas 10. A field goal attempt sailed wide right as time expired in regulation.

“Isaiah is Isaiah,” Valley West coach Jack Baranski said. “I thought our offensive line really won up front. We moved the ball effectively all game. We had some breakdowns defensively and we need to clean that up. We stopped the run, but we gave up big passes. That needs to be cleaned up and that’s on me.”

Dallas 28, Wyoming Valley West 27 OT

Dallas`0`14`0`6`8 — 28

Wyo. Valley West`7`7`6`0`7 — 27

First quarter

WVW — Isaiah Cobb 2 run (Gwen Langley kick), 0:57

Second quarter

DAL — Rocco Ormando 19 pass from Jackson Wydra (Jace Chopyak kick), 11:51

WVW — Cobb 65 run (Langley kick), 7:13

DAL — Wydra 8 run (Chopyak kick), 2:13

Third quarter

WVW — Cobb 14 run (kick failed), 10:57

Fourth quarter

DAL — Joe Peters 21 pass from Wydra (kick blocked), 7:16

Overtime

WVW — Cobb 4 run (Langley kick)

DAL — Wydra 10 run (Wydra run)

Team statistics`DAL`WVW

First downs`10`23

Rushes-yards`17-55`70-350

Passing yards`245`29

Total yards`300`379

Passing`10-16-0`3-8-1

Sacked-yards lost`1-3`1-2

Punts-avg.`2-33`1-13

Fumbles-lost`0-0`1-0

Penalties-yards`3-24`3-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Dallas, Jake DelGaudio 1-2, Ormando 6-9, Wydra 10-44. WVW, Cobb 53-293, Luke Buss 6-9, Paul Riggs 10-40, Conner Olisewski 1-8.

PASSING — Dallas, Wydra 10-16-0-245. WVW, Buss 3-6-1-29, team 0-2-0-0.

RECEIVING — Dallas, Peters 4-66, Zach Paczewski 3-70, Ormando 3-109. WVW, Olisewski 3-29.

INTERCEPTIONS — Dallas, Paczewski 1-21.

MISSED FGs — WVW, 24WR.