YATESVILLE — Dallas scored in the closing seconds of the first half and the opening seconds of the second half Friday night to take control of its Wyoming Valley Conference Class 4A Division football game.

Zach Paczewski’s 22-yard pass from Jackson Wydra and Joe Peters’ 32-yard interception return sent the Mountaineers on their way to a 28-6 victory over Pittston Area at Charley Trippi Stadium.

“We had some picks at real opportunistic times,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “Obviously, the Pick Six to start the second half was a real big help.”

Although nearly a half hour may have passed on the clock with halftime included, Dallas went from a 7-0 lead to a 21-0 advantage in just 48 seconds of football time.

Pittston Area, which struggled with long snaps and protecting the punter all game, was unable to get a punt away with 43 seconds left in the half.

Dallas took over at the 22 and scored on second-and-10 when Zach Paczewski got a foot down inside the left sideline in the end zone on a pass from Jackson Wydra.

Pittston Area received the second-half kickoff, but Dallas added to the lead on the first play when Peters intercepted and worked his way the width of the field while covering the 32 yards for the touchdown.

“We were killed with penalties, bad snaps and turnovers, which we haven’t done in the last few weeks,” Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri said. “That’s what’s kept us in games the last few weeks; not having penalties and not having turnovers.”

Prior to the quick turnaround, Pittston Area had stopped Dallas on downs inside the 5 twice to remain within a touchdown.

Dallas had an 89-yard drive that did not produce a score, but it scored the 28 points off of drives that covered a combined 88 yards. Its four touchdowns came on drives of 31, 22 and 35 yards and the defensive score.

Pittston Area never got out of the hole after its first defensive stand and Dallas converted with Parker Bolesta carrying four times for 30 yards, then Rocco Ormando scoring from the 6 with 3:15 left in the first quarter.

Pittston Area converted two third-down situations and a fourth down during a six-minute, fourth-quarter drive for its only touchdown, a 2-yard David Sudo run.

Dallas recovered the onside kick, gained field position on a personal foul by Pittston Area and scored on five straight Bolesta runs.

Bolesta, who finished with 150 yards on 23 carries, scored from the 21 with 1:44 left.

“I think we’re really starting to recognize our running game,” Bolesta said. “In the beginning of the season, we’d hit those two- and three-yard runs, but now we can drive the entire field with the run game.”

Dallas 28, Pittston Area 6

Dallas`7`7`7`7 — 28

Pittston Area`0`0`0`6 — 6

First quarter

DAL – Rocco Ormando 6 run (Jace Chopyak kick), 3:15

Second quarter

DAL – Zach Paczewski 22 pass from Jackson Wydra (Chopyak kick), 0:31

Third quarter

DAL – Joe Peters 32 interception return (Chopyak kick), 11:43

Fourth quarter

PA – David Sudo 2 run (kick failed), 4:23

DAL – Parker Bolesta 21 run (Chopyak kick), 1:44

Team statistics`DAL`PA

First downs`15`14

Rushes-yards`32-181`37-72

Passing yards`79`83

Total yards`260`155

Passing`8-10-0`11-20-3

Sacked-yards lost`1-7`1-8

Punts-avg.`1-27.0`2-33.5

Fumbles-lost`1-1`5-0

Penalties-yards`5-35`7-71

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — DAL, Bolesta 23-150, Ormando 3-19, Wydra 5-8, Dylan Geskey 1-4. PA, Harry Pugliese 16-68, Sudo 6-19, Drew DeLucca 8-5, Adam Lazar 1-3, Alex Hoban 2-2, John Barchi-Circh 2-minus 3, Kevin Lockett 1-minus 6, Team 1-minus 16.

PASSING — DAL, Wydra 8-10-0-79. PA, DeLucca 11-20-3-83.

RECEIVING – DAL, Ormando 4-16, Paczewski 3-42, Peters 1-21. PA, Lockett 5-47, Adam Shovlin 1-13, Robby Barbieri 1-10, Gino Triboski 1-9, Barchi-Circh 1-8, Pugliese 2-minus 4.

INTERCEPTIONS — DAL, Mark Karcutskie 2-19, Peters 1-32. PA, None.

MISSED FGs – None.