KINGSTON — It took Dallas until Week 7 to break .500. As far as Mountaineers coach Rich Mannello figures, they are getting hot at just the right time.
Dallas rampaged Wyoming Valley West for a 35-6 victory Friday night. It marked the Mountaineers’ fourth straight win after an oh-fer start through the opening three games.
“It is survive and advance,” Mannello said. “Can you get to Week 8 and be in the conversation? Now, who is healthy? If you had a bad week or 10 days of practice in the first month, it’s going to catch you now. You’re not making that up.
“That’s why we’re hoping to continue to climb in this way. We’re only as good as last practice.”
Dallas used a little bit of luck to get started against the winless Spartans. A botched punt snap sailed 25 yards, and the Mountaineers’ Nate Malarkey was able to walk it the fumble return 2 yards for the first score of the game.
From there, the Dallas defense kept the Wyoming Valley West offense largely in check. The Spartans were kept to 30 yards of total offense and turned the ball over three times.
“When you look at the size of the kids, they have good speed,” Mannello said. “It just takes time. We’ve been down this round. It doesn’t happen overnight. Their kids played down to the very end. So a lot of respect for that staff and what they’re doing here.”
Less than four minutes later, Dallas doubled its lead to 14-0. Gavin Lewis caught the first Brady Zapoticky pass of the game and sprinted 50 yards for a touchdown. Returning from an injury suffered in the Mountaineers’ opening week loss to Jersey Shore, Lewis finished with three catches for 86 yards.
“He’s finally healthy after week one — it’s testament to him,” Mannello said. “Against Jersey Shore, he changed the game with the last touchdown. He got hurt pretty good. He was out for a while. He fought his way back, and now he’s back to himself again. He’s flying around. He’s a game-changer.”
Dylan Geskey finished with a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Mountaineers. He rushed for a game-high 69 yards on 15 carries.
With the Dallas rushing attack keeping Wyoming Valley West from gaining any momentum, its secondary was pivotal to limiting the Spartans offense. Both Sam Kelley and Lewis made acrobatic catches for interceptions.
“We knew it was going to be a grind in the first month, and the kids had to overcome an awful lot,” Mannello said. “We’re just starting now this past week to roll guys and eyeball other guys, just being able to roll guys in practice.”
Wyoming Valley West averted the shutout with a fourth quarter touchdown. Gadgidas Reisinger intercepted a sideline pass and ran 54 yards into the red zone. Tyler Mattis caught a 2-yard slant from Damien Eastman for the Spartans’ lone touchdown.
Dallas 35, Wyoming Valley West 6
Dallas`21`14`0`0 — 35
Wyoming Valley West`0`0`0`6 — 6
First quarter
DAL — Nate Malarkey 2 fumble return (Rowan Laubach kick), 9:40
DAL — Gavin Lewis 50 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 6:10
DAL — Dylan Geskey 4 run (Laubach kick), :04
Second quarter
DAL — Zapoticky 1 run (Laubach kick), 6:15
DAL — D.Geskey 3 run (Laubach kick), 1:44
Fourth quarter
WVW — Tyler Mattis 2 pass from Damien Eastman (kick failed), 4:11
Team statistics`DAL`WVW
First downs`15`2
Rushes-yards`37-198`19-(-9)
Passing yards`89`39
Total yards`287`30
Passing`4-12-1`8-13-2
Sacked-yards lost`2-19`3-26
Punts-avg.`0-0`5-29.4
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-1
Penalties-yards`1-0`4-16
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — DAL, DGeskey 15-69, Zapoticky 12-67, Malarkey 3-2, Logan Geskey 3-11, Hunter Pitcavage 4-10, Travor Slavinski 7-16, Jim Youngblood 1-2, Talan Geskey 4-13, TEAM 1-(minus-2). WVW, Paul Riggs 6-25, Carter Isbel 2-6, Mattis 3-8. Carson Brown 5-(minus-29), Chase Meyers 2-6, TEAM 1-(minus-25)
PASSING — DAL, Zapoticky 4-10-89-0, Brady McCann 0-1-0-0, Youngblood 0-1-0-1. WVW, Brown 6-7-27-1, Eastman 2-6-20-1
RECEIVING — DAL, Lewis 3-83, Tyce Mason 1-6. WVW, Mattis 2-7, Paul Riggs 1-2, Leland Alexander 1-3, Chase Meyers 1-18, Tyler Ruddy 2-9
INTERCEPTIONS — DAL, GLewis 1-0, Sam Kelley 1-0; WVW, Gadgidas Reisinger 1-54
MISSED FGs — None.
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