DALLAS — Fueled by two interceptions, Dallas totaled 35 points in the second quarter en route to their 42-14 Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 victory over Hazleton Area on Friday night.
Dallas extended its win streak to six games to start their season while the Cougars dropped their fifth consecutive game.
The Mountaineers took a risk early in the second quarter when they sent their offense back out for a fourth-and-6 play at their opponent’s 8-yard line. The gamble not only paid off, with Brady Zapoticky connecting with Cole Rigol for the touchdown, but opened the floodgates as Dallas began clicking on all cylinders.
With his team holding onto a one-score advantage, Mike Lewis took advantage of Austin Wilson’s misread and intercepted the ball to regain possession for the Mounts. Two plays later, Dallas would give itself breathing room and Zapoticky found a streaking Lucas Tirpak for a 34-yard score.
Dylan Geskey would keep the momentum going as he intercepted a Wilson pass and returned it for his second touchdown of the night.
“We’re playing fast. Defensively, we’re flying out there,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said.
Geskey played a huge factor in the first half as he scored on a 23-yard rushing play and a 28-yard interception return.
The Cougars hung with the talented Dallas team early in the contest by taking advantage of their opponent’s mistakes. Following a penalty and a sack, Hazleton Area sent out its punt team. But Dallas couldn’t haul it in and the Cougars would retake possession at the Mounts’ 37-yard line. Wilson completed two passes and picked up 10 yards on a run en route to his team’s first score, a pass to Yohansel Moran.
Hazleton Area coach Dennis Buchman spoke to his team’s mentality entering the game.
“We were going to come out swinging,” Buchman said. “To beat a team like this, you can’t sit there and run the ball three times then punt.”
Special teams played a key role for the Mounts on Friday night as nearly half of the Cougars’ possessions began within their own 20-yard line while Dallas never began a drive within 30 yards of their own end zone.
“The shorter fields for the other side was apparent,” Buchman said.
Zapoticky would throw for two more touchdowns in the quarter, a 38-yard pass to Zach Paczewski and a 10-yard completion to Gavin Lewis to invoke the mercy rule throughout the second half.
Zapoticky made sure his passes counted on the night as four of his five completions went for scores.
Dallas 42, Hazleton Area 14
Hazleton Area`6`0`0`8 — 14
Dallas`7`35`0`0 — 42
First quarter
DAL — Dylan Geskey 23 run (Rowan Laubach kick), 9:26
HAZ — Yohansel Moran 8 pass from Austin Wilson (pass failed), 4:40
Second quarter
DAL — Cole Rigol 6 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 11:09
DAL — Lucas Tirpak 34 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 8:48
DAL — Geskey 28 interception return (Laubach kick), 7:51
DAL — Zach Paczewski 38 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 4:08
DAL — Gavin Lewis 10 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 0:38
Fourth quarter
HAZ — Johncarlos Peralta 70 run (Logan Gennaro pass from Freddy Corrado), 8:25
Team statistics`HAZ`DAL
First downs`8`14
Rushes-yards`23-92`38-212
Passing yards`85`118
Total yards`177`330
Passing`5-12-2`5-10-0
Sacked-yards lost`2-17`0-0
Punts-avg.`6-30`1-35
Fumbles-lost`1-0`2-2
Penalties-yards`5-40`5-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — HAZ, Johncarlos Peralta 1-70, Austin Wilson 9-28, Brady Mizenko 9-4, Freddy Corrado 1-3, Sam Miller 2-2. DAL, Mike Lewis 11-86, Dylan Geskey 7-54, Hunter Picavage 4-38, Logan Geskey 4-22, Sam Kelley 4-10, Zach Paczewski 1-5, Nate Malarkey 1-3, Travis Cheskiewitz 1-3, Jarratt Webb 1-2, Kenny Martin 1-1, Brady McCann 1-(-5).
PASSING — HAZ, Freddy Corrado 2-2-0-49, Austin Wilson 3-10-2-36. DAL, Brady Zapoticky 5-10-0-118.
RECEIVING — HAZ, Logan Gennaro 2-49, Yohansel Moran 2-27, Brady Mizenko 1-9. DAL, Zach Paczewski 2-68, Lucas Tirpak 1-34, Gavin Lewis 1-10, Cole Rigol 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS — DAL, Dylan Geskey 1-28, Mike Lewis 1-0.
MISSED FGs — None.
