Dallas and Coughlin need to have a firm grasp Saturday afternoon as they play in District 2 Class 3A semifinal games.
For Dallas, it’s keeping a grip on the intangibles of confidence and momentum built during a four-game winning streak that catapulted the Mountaineers to a meeting with Scranton Prep at 1 p.m. at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
For Coughlin, it’s the darn football. The Crusaders were mighty careless with it in their first meeting at Berwick two weeks ago. Now they head back to the site of their mistakes when they play the Dawgs at 1 p.m. at Crispin Field.
Dallas’ most important game of the season might have been one of the school’s worst losses in history — a 56-0 thrashing at the hands of undefeated Wyoming Valley West on Oct. 9. The Mountaineers (6-4) fell to 2-4 and could have given up on the rest of the season.
They didn’t.
“We took a horrible beating at Valley West,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said, “and they were in that building until after 11 that night, got it squared away and came back 8:45 the next morning and had their best lift of the season and it’s the been on from then.”
Dallas rebounded by allowing two touchdowns in their next three games. The Mountaineers then knocked off then-unbeaten Lake-Lehman 28-14 last Friday. Coupled with losses by Wallenpaupack and Valley View, they were able to get a meeting with Prep (9-1).
“I know this sounds like coaching talk,” Mannello said, “but you have to have a short memory in this game or it’s going to swallow you whether you win or lose. They bought in. The process is the same every week. We start every Saturday morning the same way, in the weight room and then in the film room. Then we go for there, and they’re executing it.”
Execution was a massive problem for Coughlin in its 20-6 loss to Berwick (8-2) on Oct. 30. The Crusaders turned over the ball five times, with three turnovers leading directly to Berwick scoring drives. They had four tries inside the Berwick 5-yard line, but couldn’t get the ball across the goal line. The only touchdown came on a 95-yard kick return by Vincent Todd.
The five turnovers were the most by Coughlin in a game this season. No rah-rah speech can correct that. It must be derived through performance.
“It’s very rare you get to play a team that beat you during the regular season,” Coughlin coach Ciro Cinti said. “So it’s still fresh in our mind. A lot of our guys are upset about how we played, so we get another shot at it.”
Coughlin is also getting a shot at a district title for the first time since 2008. While Saturday will mark a ninth consecutive trip to the postseason, the Crusaders had to settle for the Eastern Conference playoffs on the other occasions. They are the only new team in the field from 2014, replacing defending champion Crestwood. Crestwood finished 3-7.
Dallas took a 56-0 beating at the hands of Crestwood in last year’s D2-3A semifinals in its last game under coach Bob Zaruta. He was replaced after three years by Mannello, the former King’s College coach who has transformed the Mountaineers from a pass-happy bunch to a more balanced and physical style.
Berwick is seeking its third consecutive trip to the championship game in what could be coach George Curry’s final year at the helm since returning in 2013. He submitted his resignation prior to the season and the school immediately began advertising for a replacement. According to a couple sources, the resumes haven’t been piling up.
Prep came into the year as a slight favorite for the district championship, quite an accolade considering the depth of contenders. Four other teams were nipping at the frontrunners all the way until the final week of the season. The Cavaliers have been eliminated in the semifinals all five times they’ve qualified for districts.