HERSHEY — Through temperatures near freezing, tears flowed and hugs were exchanged.
Dallas’ season of 15 consecutive victories came to a crashing conclusion at the hands of Thomas Jefferson on Thursday night at Hersheypark Stadium.
Jefferson had an offense too powerful, a defense too quick — both unlike Dallas had seen all year. The end result was the District 7 champions rolling D2 champion Dallas 46-7 for the PIAA Classs 4A state championship.
“They brought a community together and we’re all really proud of them,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “As much as this hurt — it’s got to hurt — but when all the smoke clears, you’ll be able to sit back and see what these young men accomplished. Because they willed a program forward when nobody was watching.”
Dallas was playing for a state championship for the first time since winning the Class 2A title in 1993.
“We were really excited for tonight,” Dallas lineman Taylor Bolesta said. “The whole community coming together was amazing. I never saw Dallas lit up like that. I just wish we could have taken it home for the community.”
But everything that put Dallas (15-1) into the championship game never came to fruition Friday night. Everything Jefferson (16-0) did all season continued to work.
The Dallas offense stalled numerous times. Running back Lenny Kelley came into the game with over 2,600 yards rushing. He finished with 14 carries for 35 yards. His longest run was for 5 yards.
“It was amazing. The best four years of my life,” Kelley said. “This year everything finally paid off, but it wasn’t the way we wanted to end it.”
Quarterback Michael Starbuck’s usual pinpoint passing had to battle fierce end-to-end wind. Plus a fierce Jefferson secondary that picked off three passes, including a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ian Hansen on Dallas’ third play after receiving the second-half kickoff.
Jefferson’s defense didn’t allow Dallas to cross midfield until 9:20 of the fourth quarter. An 8-yard pass from Starbuck to receiver Luke DelGaudio put the ball at the Jefferson 45-yard line.
“This team never gave up and they never will give up,” Dallas fullback Danny Meuser said.
The Mountaineers demonstrated that in their final possession despite the 46-point hole. Starbuck hit on passes of 10 yards to receiver Matt Maransky and 7 yards to Kelley as they kept the possession going.
Meuser finally capped the 10-play, 58-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown run.
Jefferson flexed its running game on its first possession, driving from its 20-yard line to Dallas 18 only to fumble away the ball. It was one of only a few miscues by the Jaguars.
Jefferson needed just one play on its third possession — a 29-yard pass to Dan Deabner from Shane Stump — to start a 20-point avalanche in the second quarter.
Stump darted up the middle for a 14-yard score the next time Jefferson had the ball. He engineered another scoring drive with a mixture of passing and running as the Jaguars took a 20-0 lead into halftime on a 2-yard run by running back Dylan Mallozzi.
Mallozzi, who inherited the starting role early in the season when starter DeRon VanBibber was injured, made the most of his final game. The senior rushed 24 times for 217 yards, often banging through tackles late in the game when Dallas defense was on the field much too long.
Stump added three more scoring runs — two to close the third quarter and another early in the fourth — as Jefferson piled up 401 yards of offense.
“They’re good. That’s a good football team,” Mannello said. “From top to bottom, they are stout. You see it as soon as you turn the film on.
“They deserve it. They beat us.”
PIAA Class 4A Championship
Thomas Jefferson 46, Dallas 7
Thomas Jefferson`0`20`19`7 — 46
Dallas`0`0`0`7 — 7
Second quarter
TJ — Dan Deabner 29 pass from Shane Stump (Dylan Sullivan kick), 8:53
TJ — Stump 14 run (kick blocked), 6:12
TJ — Dylan Mallozzi 2 run (Sullivan kick), 0:33
Third quarter
TJ — Ian Hansen 39 interception return (kick failed), 10:23
TJ — Stump 6 run (Sullivan kick), 7:41
TJ — Stump 1 (kick failed), 3:29
Fourth quarter
TJ — Stump 1 run (Sullivan kick), 11:18
DAL — Danny Meuser 26 run (Ryan Fisher), 4:21
Team statistics`TJ`DAL
First downs`18`7
Rushes-yards`38-297`25-71
Passing yards`104`58
Total yards`401`129
Passing`7-8-0`7-18-3
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-9
Punts-avg.`1-28`6-33.8
Fumbles-lost`2-1`0-0
Penalties-yards`3-25`3-39
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Jefferson, Mallozzi 24-217, Stump 11-89, Nate Werderber 2-11, team 3-(minus-9). Dallas, Lenny Kelley 14-35, Meuser 6-42, Starbuck 4-(minus-8), Matt Maransky 1-(minus-8).
PASSING — Jefferson, Stump 7-8-0-104. Dallas, Starbuck 7-18-3-58..
RECEIVING — Jefferson, Deabner 2-50, Hansen 4-49, Preston Zandier 1-5. Dallas, Luke DelGaudio 3-31, Maransky 2-14, Kelley 2-13.
INTERCEPTIONS — TJ, Bowen Dame 1-2, Ian Hansen 2-57.
MISSED FGs — none.
