PECKVILLE — Dallas looked anything but a team that started the season with just one win through six games.
Five consecutive wins later, the Mountaineers advanced to the District 2 Class 4A championship game with a shutout on the road. Dallas blanked Valley Valley 17-0 on Friday night.
The Mountaineers will face top-seeded North Pocono next week.
“They never wavered,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “You have to have unbelievable kids for this to happen. And the seniors have to be bought in.
“To be 1-5, they never curled their lips, they never wavered.”
Dallas (6-5) scored all 17 points in the second half. The Mountaineers came within 10 yards of the goal line twice in the first half, coming up short on both occasions. Valley View caused a turnover on downs on Dallas’ opening drive when a short run was stopped at the 3. After recovering a fumble at the 5, the Mountaineers opted for a fake field goal attempt that fell incomplete to end the first half.
Nico Wilk scored both Dallas touchdowns in less than a four-minute span. He also had an interception that led to a field goal.
With both teams’ offenses stagnant through two-and-a-half quarters of play, Dallas finally caught a break with the windy weather and penalties. Kicking into the heavy winds, Valley View had its third punt that sailed fewer than 20 yards. Dallas benefited from back-to-back Cougar personal fouls on extracurricular shenanigans after the whistle was blown on short-yardage runs.
Wilk’s number was called on a 3-yard touchdown run to break the scoreless draw with 5:01 remaining in the third quarter. His offensive linemen needed to pull Wilk for the final 2 yards across the goal line.
After a quick defensive stand and another short punt, quarterback Talan Geskey had a 24-yard quarterback sneak to bring the Mountaineers inside the red zone. Geskey found an open Wilk for a 9-yard touchdown pass up the middle with 92 seconds left in the third quarter.
On the next Valley View possession, Wilk picked off a pass at midfield.
“He’s been running around with us since he was 8 and 9 years old with his dad,” Mannello said. “He’s an example of that entire senior class. Those kids, there’s not a kink in them character-wise. They’re as stone-solid as you can be, and that’s why we’re standing here.”
Dallas earned his second shutout of the season. The Mountaineers kept Valley View to just 125 yards of total offense.
“Defensive coordinator (Matt) Austin puts these kids in a great position to allow them to play fast,” Mannello said. “They’re bought into the system and what we do. We’re not big enough yet, but we’re strong and we’re in condition.”
Brandon Miller hit a 27-yard field goal into the wind that pinged over the crossbar late in the fourth quarter.
District 2 Class 4A semifinals
Dallas 17, Valley View 0
Dallas`0`0`14`3 — 17
Valley View`0`0`0`0 — 0
Third quarter
DAL — Nico Wilk 3 run (Brandon Miller kick), 5:01
DAL — Wilk 9 pass from Talan Geskey (Miller kick), 1:32
Fourth quarter
DAL —Miller 27 field goal, 5:59
Team statistics`DAL`VV
First downs`11`8
Rushes-yards`45-166`31-93
Passing yards`44`31
Total yards`210`124
Passing`3-13-0`5-18-1
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-1
Punts-avg.`4-39.5`6-25
Fumbles-lost`3-0`2-1
Penalties-yards`7-50`9-85
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — DAL, Sam Kelley 27-105, Logan Geskey 3-7, TGeskey 7-53, Marc Saracinaj 1-12, Wilk 3-11, TEAM 4-(minus-22). VV, Jeffrey Wasilchak 5-21, Tyler Muchal 13-70, Brady Bachman 5-7, Brady Cunningham 2-0, Marco Ruby 1-(minus-9), Gabe Davis 1-2, Caleb Brown 3-3, TEAM 1-(minus-1).
PASSING — DAL, TGeskey 3-11-44-0, Jim Youngblood 0-1-0-0, LGeskey 0-1-0-0. VV, Brown 5-18-31-1.
RECEIVING — DAL, LGeskey 1-28, Saracinaj 1-7, Wilk 1-9. VV, Washilchak 1-(minus-3), Tristan Smith 1-(minus-5), Muchal 1-17, Ben Evans 2-22
INTERCEPTIONS — DAL, Wilk 1-10
