Dallas running back Parker Bolesta runs past Wyoming Valley West’s Isaiah Cobb in the first quarter Friday night on his way to scoring the first Mountaineers’ first touchdown.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas wide receiver Joe Peters runs along the sideline after catching a pass from Dallas quarterback Brady Zapticky in the first quarter Friday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas running back Dylan Geskey gets the ball close to the goal line in the second quarter Friday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West’s Isaiah Cobb carries the ball during the second quarter against Dallas on Friday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Dallas quarterback Brady Zapoticky runs the ball against Wyoming Valley West in the second quarter Friday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
DALLAS TWP. — No need for dramatics this time. Dallas made sure of that early in Friday night’s game.
The Mountaineers took control quickly behind the running of Parker Bolesta and went on to a 45-14 victory over Wyoming Valley West in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 football game.
Dallas improved to 3-0 in the division and 5-0 overall. Valley West fell to 0-2 in the division and 0-5 overall.
Last year’s matchup saw Dallas winning in overtime on a two-point conversion that required an officiating crew huddle to determine whether the try was successful and whether there was a fumble.
Nothing of the sort was going to happen Friday night. Bolesta ripped off scoring runs of 45 and 32 yards in first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
Bolesta finished with 152 yards on 15 carries — all in the first half. He topped 1,000 yards for the season on a 20-yard run on his 12th rush of the night. He increased his WVC-leading totals to 1,016 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10.1 yards per carry.
“Up front. I got beasts in front of me,” Bolesta said of his offensive line. “They make my job super easy.”
Valley West answered those two scores with a gadget play to cut the deficit to 14-7. Running back Paul Riggs took a handoff on a reverse and threw a short pass to fellow running back Isaiah Cobb, who weaved his way 47 yards into the end zone.
The Spartans’ offense wasn’t heard from again until Riggs scored on a 1-yard run in the closing minutes. Cobb, the WVC leading rusher last season, was injured in the third quarter going up for a pass and didn’t return. He finished with 50 yards on 13 carries.
After the Valley West score, Dallas scored in the first minute of the second quarter when quarterback Brady Zapoticky connected on a 16-yard TD pass to Nick Farrell. The Mountaineers got the ball back with 16 seconds until halftime and Zapoticky connected with Bolesta for 11 yards and Farrell for 16 more, setting up Jace Chopyak’s 35-yard field goal as time expired.
“He’s making really good decisions, he is,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said of Zapoticky, a first-year starter. “Sometimes the ball sails a little bit, but that’s a 10th grader. They have taken as much pressure off of him as they can, but he’s still out there playing under the lights and there’s still pressure.”
Dylan Geskey took over the bulk of the running chores after halftime. He scored twice in the third quarter on a 57-yard shovel pass and a 20-yard run. Mike Lewis finished off the Dallas scoring with a 56-yard run 16 seconds into the fourth quarter.
“(We’re) a young team doing young things,” Valley West coach Jack Baranski said. “We should be growing up by now. We have flashes, we really do. We have flashes of the team we know we can be, but we’re just not there yet right now.”
Dallas, 45, Wyoming Valley West 14
Wyo. Valley West`7`0`0`7 — 14
Dallas`14`10`14`7 — 45
First quarter
DAL — Parker Bolesta 45 run (Jace Chopyak kick), 8:56
DAL — Bolesta 32 run (Chopyak kick), 5:48
WVW — Isaiah Cobb 47 pass from Paul Riggs (Jonathan Cardona kick), 2:23
Second quarter
DAL — Nick Farrell 16 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Chopyak kick), 11:07
DAL — Chopyak 35 FG, 0:00
Third quarter
DAL — Dylan Geskey 57 pass from Zapoticky (Chopyak kick), 9:16
DAL — Geskey 20 run (Chopyak kick), 6:48
Fourth quarter
DAL — Mike Lewis 56 run (Chopyak kick), 11:42
WVW — Riggs 1 run (Cardona kick), 4:35
Team statistics`WVW`DAL
First downs`11`20
Rushes-yards`40-165`33-296
Passing yards`78`134
Total yards`243`430
Passing`4-7-0`8-15-0
Sacked-yards lost`2-20`0-0
Punts-avg.`3-21.3`1-20
Fumbles-lost`2-1`1-1
Penalties-yards`4-30`5-42
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WVW, Cobb 13-50, Lucas Zdancewicz 7-(minus-6), Riggs 10-48, Devon Suda 1-26, Tyler Mattis 7-49, Carson Brown 1-0, team 1-(minus-3). Dallas, Bolesta 15-152, Zapoticky 2-(minus-1), Geskey 7-57, Lewis 3-67, Anthony Vitale 1-1, Sam Kelley 4-21.
PASSING — WVW, Zdancewicz 3-7-0-31, Riggs 1-1-0-47. Dallas, Zapoticky 8-15-0-134.
RECEIVING — WVW, Cobb 2-47, Ty Makarewicz 1-17, Suda 1-14. Dallas, Geskey 3-70, Joe Peters 1-11, Bolesta 2-21, Farrell 2-32.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — none.
