DALLAS TWP. — The opportunities were there in the first half for Pittston Area to perhaps reverse the regular-season outcome with Dallas.
Once they evaporated Friday night, so did any chance of an upset.
Dallas stopped Pittston Area twice in the red zone in the first half and then scored two touchdowns 34 seconds apart in the third quarter, turning a close game into a 35-12 victory in a District 2 Class 4A quarterfinal.
“We did a great job,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said of the red zone stops. “We seem to be playing pretty fast on defense, which is good.”
Dallas (8-2) will host North Pocono (9-2) at 7 p.m. this coming Friday in the semifinals. North Pocono defeated Honesdale 27-0 in its quarterfinal game.
The Mountaineers opened the game with a nine-play, 59-yard drive capped by a 2-yard TD run by running back Parker Bolesta, who went over 1,000 yards rushing during the possession.
After two empty possessions, Dallas struck quickly on a third-and-5 from its 11-yard line. Quarterback Jackson Wydra hit receiver Zach Paczewski in stride near midfield. Paczewski slipped out of a last-ditch tackle attempt to score and put the Mountaineers up 14-0 at 5:53 of the second quarter.
Pittston Area (3-8) didn’t fold. The Patriots simply didn’t capitalize on two chances to tighten up the score.
Down 14-0, Pittston Area moved to the Dallas 15-yard line, with quarterback Drew DeLucca hitting tight end Adam Shovlin for 15 yards and running back Drew Menendez for 13 more on the possession. Three passes from the 15 were incomplete and the Patriots turned over the ball on downs.
The Patriots, though, forced a punt and regain possession with 53 seconds left until halftime. They moved to the Dallas 11 with DeLucca hitting on two more passes, and a spike stopped the clock with 10 ticks remaining.
After an illegal shift penalty pushed the ball back to the 16, DeLucca’s run ended up a a yard short as time expired.
“That’s the game right there,” Mannello said. “It’s 14-7, (they have) momentum and get the ball in the second half.”
Pittston Area put together a couple long scoring drives later in the game, but by that time Dallas was in control.
“We were down there twice,” Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri said, “but we gave up too many big plays tonight. I thought we controlled the run until the end. Then it kind of got away from us. We controlled the run well in the first half, but gave up big plays.”
The game turned quickly in Dallas’ favor in the third quarter. Wydra threw into traffic over the middle to wideout Joe Peters, who ran right past a few defenders to complete a 60-yard touchdown reception at 6:20. Paczewski intercepted a halfback option pass on Pittston Area next play from scrimmage, leading to a 20-yard blast up the middle to the end zone by Bolesta at 5:46.
District 2 Class 4A Quarterfinals
Pittston Area`0`0`0`12 — 12
Dallas`7`7`14`7 — 35
First quarter
DAL — Parker Bolesta 2 run (Jace Chopyak kick), 7:12
Second quarter
DAL — Zach Paczewski 89 pass from Jackson Wydra (Chopyak kick), 5:53
Third quarter
DAL — Joe Peters 60 pass from Wydra (Chopyak kick), 6:20
DAL — Bolesta 20 run (Chopyak kick), 5:46
Fourth quarter
PA — Drew DeLucca 1 run (kick blocked), 11:24
DAL — Bolesta 24 run (Chopyak kick), 8:08
PA — Adam Lazar 1 run (pass failed), 2:31
Team statistics`PA`DAL
First downs`15`13
Rushes-yards`35-148`31-119
Passing yards`121`261
Total yards`269`380
Passing`14-26-1`10-15-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-3`2-15
Punts-avg.`4-33.8`2-29
Fumbles-lost`0-0`0-0
Penalties-yards`4-30`9-65
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Pittston Area, Harry Pugliese 16-71, DeLucca 6-23, Drew Menendez 2-3, Alex Hoban 4-21, Lazar 7-30. Dallas, Bolesta 21-102, Wydra 2-(minus-15), Dylan Geskey 3-16, Jarratt Webb 2-4, Lucas Tirpak 1-14, team 2-(minus-2).
PASSING — Pittston Area, DeLucca 14-22-0-121, Pugliese 0-1-1-0, team 0-3-0-0. Dallas, Wydra 10-15-0-261.
RECEIVING — Pittston Area, Adam Shovlin 2-18, Robby Barbieri 5-53, Menendez 2-16, Pugliese 4-20, Kevin Lockett 1-14. Dallas, Rocco Ormando 4-51, Paczewski 4-132, Peters 2-78.
INTERCEPTIONS — Dallas, Paczewski 1-9.
MISSED FGs — none.