Wilkes-Barre Area’s Howie Shiner gets past a pair of Dallas defenders during Friday night’s Wyoming Valley Confernce Division 1 game.
Joe Soprano | Times Leader
Dallas’ Parker Bolesta looks to turn the corner against Wilkes-Barre Area on Friday.
Joe Soprano | Times Leader
Dallas quarterback Brady Zapoticky throws a pass downfield against Wilkes-Barre Area Friday night. .
Joe Soprano | Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Howie Shiner picks up some yardage against Dallas on Friday night. Shiner finished with a career-high 207 yards rushing.
Joe Soprano | Times Leader
Wilkes-Barrea Area’s Mekhi Nelson turns up field against Dallas on Friday night.
Joe Soprano | Times Leader
Dallas’ Dylan Geskey scores the first touchdown of the game against Wilkes-Barre Area on Friday night.
Joe Soprano | Times Leader
PLAINS TWP. — In a game that seemed destined to be a defensive showdown, a goal line interception and an ensuing full-length-of-the-field scoring drive had all of the makings of taking the life out of a hungry Wilkes-Barre Area squad.
It only seemed to wake up the big, bad wolves.
Wilkes-Barre Area captured its biggest headline-grabbing victory on its new turf. The Wolfpack scored five unanswered touchdowns to deliver a 35-7 upset victory over Dallas on Friday.
The Wolfpack relied on their two-headed rushing attack and an offensive line that seemed to overpower the 7-2 Mountaineers team. Howie Shiner had a 200-plus rushing game, and Mekhi Nelson found the end zone three times.
“Our line showed it again,” WBA coach Ciro Cinto said. “They really came to play. They let Mekhi and Howie do what they do. They were very determined to run the ball today.”
Shiner carried the ball 25 times for a career-high 207 yards with a touchdown. Nelson garnered 151 yards on 13 carries. The Wolfpack counted 418 total yards on the ground.
“We complement each other really well,” Shiner said. “He shows me his moves. I show him some of my moves – I bury my head and run right through them.”
Both teams played a defensive, scoreless battle for the opening 18 minutes. WBA’s first chance at scoring resulted in a Joe Peters interception in the end zone.
The Mountaineers marched 89 yards and seemed to have figured out the WBA defense in the first scoring drive of the game. Quarterback Brady Zapoticky converted a fourth-down play with a 6-yard run to continue the possession. Dylan Geskey gave Dallas an early 7-0 lead with less than five minutes left in the first quarter.
WBA responded punch-for-punch with a touchdown before halftime. Nelson had his first score of the game to go into halftime with a 7-6 deficit.
The Wolfpack outscored the Mountaineers 28-0 in the second half.
WBA took the lead on the first possession of the third quarter. On third-and-long, Naquan Johnson caught a 41-yard pass from quarterback Jake Howe that jump-started the comeback. The Wolfpack took the lead on a 13-yard run by Shiner at the 10:14 mark.
Nelson scored a 46-yard touchdown on the Wolfpack’s next possession. Nelson cut the corner and found a hole through the defense to give Wilkes-Barre a 21-7 advantage.
Dallas coach Rich Mannello was complimentary of the Wolfpack’s second-half performance.
“They mauled us up front on both sides of the ball,” Mannello said. “They were just tremendous. Hats off to them. Not for the loss but I’m happy for their program to see those kids here playing in this stadium and everything that staff has been through the last bunch of years, never knowing where they are going to be week to week.
“They whooped us, and they deserve to win the way they did tonight.”
WBA sacked the Mountaineers’ quarterback five times for 38 yards. Naquan Johnson finished with two sacks and a forced fumble.
“We knew they were going to come out with a play-action pass against us,” Cinti said. “Our coaches did a good job of preparing our guys, offense and defense.”
Dallas received 188 yards on 22 carries from Parker Bolesta.
Wilkes-Barre Area 35, Dallas 7
Dallas`0`7`0`0 — 7
Wilkes-Barre Area`0`6`15`14 — 35
Second quarter
DAL — Dylan Geskey 14 run (Jace Chopyak kick), 4:56
WBA — Mekhi Nelson 2 run (kick failed), 1:41
Third quarter
WBA — Howie Shiner 13 run (Gannon Redding pass from Jake Howe), 10:14
WBA — Nelson 46 run (Evan Corcoran kick), 4:20
Fourth quarter
WBA — Nelson 13 run (Corcoran kick), 11:17
WBA — Jace John 4 run (Shelby Ardo-Boyko kick), 6:23
Team statistics`DAL`WBA
First downs`16`23
Rushes-yards`43-205`48-418
Passing yards`73`56
Total yards`278`474
Passing`8-13-0`2-7-1
Sacked-yards lost`5-38`1-2
Punts-avg.`5-29.6`2-25
Fumbles-lost`2-1`2-0
Penalties-yards`6-55`2-10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — DAL, Brady Zapoticky 12-(minus-8), Parker Bolesta 22-188, Geskey 4-25, Jarratt Webb 3-3, TEAM 2-(minus-3); WBA, Essa Gigo 1-5, Shiner 25-207, Nelson 13-151, Howe 1-(minus-2), John 3-27, Trustyn Johnson 1-0, Davon Underwood 3-31, TEAM 1-(minus-1).
PASSING — DAL, Zapoticky 8-13-0-73; WBA, Howe 2-7-1-59.
RECEIVING — DAL, Geskey 2-6, Bolesta 1-8, Zach Paczewski 5-59; WBA, Naquan Johnson 2-59
INTERCEPTIONS — DAL, Joe Peters 1-11
MISSED FGs — None
