DALLAS TWP. – The Dallas Mountaineers have the offensive weapons to score regardless of field position.
When the defense sets it up well, however, that offense becomes even more dangerous.
That was on display Friday night when the Mountaineers took advantage of good field position to score a pair of touchdowns in each quarter on the way to a 56-15 rout of visiting Pittston Area in a Wyoming Valley Conference Class 4A Division game.
Defense and special teams combined to set up Dallas for an average field position of its own 46. The Mountaineers scored after taking over in Patriots territory three times and the other five scoring drives began from the 39 or better.
“It definitely helps us a lot,” said Lenny Kelley, who carried 12 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns while also being part of the defensive effort. “We’re a strong group on defense and we have the guys who rotate that help us.
“It’s nice when you set up pretty close to the end zone.”
Dylan Schuster and Taylor Bolesta led that defensive effort.
Schuster had a team-high five tackles, along with three assists and intercepted a pass that led to one of the touchdowns. He further disrupted a Pittston Area passing game that finished 8-for-26 by breaking up two passes and rushing the passer into another incompletion.
Bolesta had a sack and three other tackles for losses. He also had two assists.
The defense paved the way for the Mountaineers to run off 49 straight points after Pittston Area used its own field position, off Andrew Krawczyk’s 66-yard interception return to the 10, to force a 7-7 tie in the first quarter.
Pittston Area did not score again until it moved 65 yards on the final drive in the last four minutes with reserves playing for both teams. Until that point, the Patriots had just 76 yards on 50 plays.
Danny Meuser chipped into the defensive effort with four tackles, an assist and a broken-up pass. He also joined Kelley in leading the 354-yard ground attack by running for 101 yards on just five carries.
It was Meuser’s 61-yard run on the first play after a punt that accounted for the only scoring that began from inside the 40. The touchdown broke the first-quarter tie.
Kelley scored the next three touchdowns on runs of 18 and 3 yards in the second quarter and 22 in the third.
Michael Starbuck, who had thrown a 23-yard touchdown pass to Luke DelGaudio less than two minutes into the game, found Matt Maransky for 25 yards to invoke the Mercy Rule at 42-7 with 4:07 left in the third quarter.
Nikolus Gashi and Jackson Wydra ran 12 and 16 yards for fourth-quarter touchdowns.
While they had some difficulties on special teams and were only even on turnovers, the unbeaten Mountaineers had complete control of every other part of the game.
Dallas clearly won up front. It won on offense, on defense and whether the ground game or the passing game was in play.
“We try to control the game in all aspects,” said Bolesta, who opens holes for the running game from his right tackle position and moves around the defensive front to disrupt opposing attacks. “We really did our job tonight.
“We’re proud of ourselves. We’re moving on to the next one.”
Kelley likes what he has been seeing up front while the Mountaineers have outscored opponents, 188-41, in the first four games.
“The blocking’s amazing,” he said. “All five guys up there, the tight end, the fullback; everybody’s on a guy.”
Mountaineers coach Rich Mannello was pleased after what he thought was a slight step back a week earlier in the 41-13 win over Hazleton Area.
“They were laser-focused all week,” Mannello said. “We had a tremendous week of practice. They’re always dialed in, but there’s always another level. A week ago, we did not push that level and I think we did this week.”
Dallas is at Wyoming Valley West Friday night.
Three of District 2’s six unbeaten teams are in Class 4A where the Mountaineers currently hold the lead in the race for the top seed over Berwick and defending champion Valley View, two late-season opponents.
