Dallas quarterback Brady Zapoticky carries the ball against Wilkes-Barre Area in the second quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas defensive back Logan Geskey takes down Wilkes-Barre Area tight end Nick Saracino after he caught a pass in the first quarter.
Dallas defensive back Nate Malarkey breaks up a pass intended for Wilkes-Barre Area wide receiver Treyvon Gembitski in the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas defensive backs Logan Geskey (24) and Sam Kelley bring down Wilkes-Barre Area running back Devon Underwood in the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas running back Dylan Geskey, who finished with four rushing touchdowns, carries the ball against Wilkes-Barre Area in the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
DALLAS TWP. — The team the Dallas Mountaineers were seeking emerged Friday night.
Quarterback Brady Zapoticky and running back Dylan Geskey each rushed for over 100 yards, with Geskey scoring four touchdowns on the ground in a 41-33 victory over Wilkes-Barre Area in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game.
Dallas (1-0 Div. 1, 1-3 overall) avoided its worst start since the 2014 season as the running game finally produced behind a rebuilt offensive line.
“We have five new ones up front,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “We said this through the summer there’s no fast way through the process. We had two of our top skills guys out and we got them back. I don’t talk about injuries in the paper. It’s nobody’s business, but that what these kids had to overcome. They stayed with it.”
Zapoticky finished with 135 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown. Geskey, a 1,000-yard rusher on last season’s Class 4A state runner-up team, equally his season total from the previous three games with 119 yards on 22 rushes.
The running game allowed Dallas to control most of the second half, starting with a 59-yard drive where Zapoticky carried the ball five times and Geskey four times. A diving catch by tight end Cole Rigol at the WBA 1-yard line set up Geskey’s second rushing TD of the game.
WBA (0-1 Div. 1, 1-3) tied the score 21-21 with 5:55 left in the third quarter on a 2-yard run by Davon Underwood, who also went over 100 yards rushing. Dallas, though, answered with two touchdowns to take the lead for good.
Aided by a late hit penalty on a run by Zapoticky, the Mountaineers moved to the WBA 1 where Geskey scored again at 3:27 of the third quarter.
Another WBA miscue set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Zapoticky at 9:11 of the fourth quarter. A bad snap on a punt resulted in a 23-yard loss and gave the Mountaineers the ball at the WBA 11. Zapoticky scored four plays later to make it 34-21.
An incredible 26-yard TD catch by Underwood, where he caught the ball coming directly over his head and landed in a seated position, moved the Wolfpack within 34-27 with 7:37 to play.
Geskey, though, broke off a 38-yard TD run, starting right and angling left for a 41-27 lead with 3:05 to play.
WBA moved withing 41-33 on a 5-yard TD pass by Jake Howe to Treyvon Gembitski with 13 seconds remaining. Dallas recovered the onside kick to preserve the win.
“You score 33 points you should win the game,” WBA coach Ciro Cinti said. “I give them all the credit. We knew they were going to run. You can’t stop the run, you can’t win the game. Simply put. It’s not a hard thing to figure out.”
Howe threw a career-high 48 passes and completed 25 for 239 yards and two touchdowns. However, Dallas created steady pressure and recorded four sacks. Underwood rushed 19 times for 103 yards, including opening the game with a 64-yard touchdown dash up the middle.
Dallas 41, Wilkes-Barre 33
Wilkes-Barre Area`7`7`7`12 — 33
Dallas`0`14`14`13 — 41
First Quarter
WBA — Devon Underwood 64 run (Miguel Galano kick), 1:18
Second quarter
DAL — Nate Malarkey 36 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Rowan Labauch kick), 11:07
WBA — Treyvon Gembitski 12 pass from Jake Howe (Galano kick), 7:31
DAL — Dylan Geskey 8 run (Laubach kick), 4:48
Third quarter
DAL — D.Geskey 1 run (Laubach kick), 9:35
WBA — Underwood 2 run (Galano kick), 5:55
DAL — D.Geskey 2 run (Laubach kick), 3:27
Fourth quarter
DAL — Zapoticky 2 run (kick failed), 9:11
WBA — Underwood 26 pass from Howe (kick failed), 7:37
DAL — D.Geskey 38 run (Laubach kick), 3:05
WBA — Gembitski 5 pass from Howe (kick blocked), 0:13
Team statistics`WBA`DAL
First downs`23`25
Rushes-yards`30-88`54-289
Passing yards`239`108
Total yards`327`397
Passing`25-49-0`7-18-0
Sacked-yards lost`4-20`0-0
Punts-avg.`5-28.4`2-48.5
Fumbles-lost`2-0`0-0
Penalties-yards`4-49`6-53
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WBA, Underwood 19-103, Gene Ardo 1-0, Howe 6-(minus-8), Gembitski 2-15, Brody Reh 1-1, team 1-(minus-23). Dallas, D.Geskey 22-119, Zapoticky 27-135, Malarkey 4-36.
PASSING — WBA, H0we 25-48-0-239, team 0-1-0-0. Dallas, Zapoticky 7-18-0-108.
RECEIVING — WBA, Gembitski 8-73, Underwood 3-36, Nick Seracino 2-16, Jordan Kieselowsky 7-78, Rajon Watson 3019, Kevon Creech 1-17, Ardo 1-0. Dallas, G.Lewis 4-41, Malarkey 1 -36, Cole Rigol 2-31.
INTERCEPTIONS — none
MISSED FGs — Dallas, 24WR
