HAZLETON — The showdown of unbeatens never materialized Friday night. Dallas made sure of it.
The Mountaineers jumped out quickly in a dominant performance as they routed Hazleton Area 42-20 in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 football game.
Dallas improved to 4-0 in Division 1 and 6-0 overall, and is only one of three undefeated teams remaining in District 2. Hazleton Area fell to 1-1 in the division and 5-1 overall.
“That’s a great football team over there in the red,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “They’re big, they’re fast, they’re well-coached and our kids just played so well start to finish. Came off the bus ready to play. We just played fast, we tackled well in the open field, we took advantage of opportunities. That’s what good football teams do.”
Dallas dominated from the onset behind the running of Parker Bolesta and a defense which recorded four turnovers in the first half. The Mountaineers started the 35-point mercy rule when Bolesta scored his fourth TD at 8:25 of the third quarter for a 42-6 lead.
Bolesta, the WVC’s leading rusher, ran 23 times for 185 yards. Dallas’ performance was so strong in the first half, he carried the ball just three times in the second half.
“It wasn’t an easy game,” Bolesta said. “We came in here dialed in and ready to go. Up front, we took care of what we needed to do. Those guys are amazing up front.”
The blocking of the receiving corps was also impressive, allowing Bolesta to turn the corner on several occasions.
Hazleton Area pumped in a couple touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to make the final score look closer than it was. The Cougars outgained Dallas 350-327, but 124 of their yards came in the final two scoring drives.
Hazleton Area’s WVC-leading passing attack was stymied until those final two scoring possessions. WVC Division 1 leading receiver Connor Shamany had five catches for 129 yards, but one reception was a 76-yard TD when he drifted past the secondary in the first quarter. Matt Cusatis, who was second in the division in receptions, didn’t have a catch until the Cougars’ next-to-last possession.
Dallas scored on its first three possessions. Bolesta started the onslaught with a 48-yard TD run and later scored from three yards out after a Hazleton Area fumble. Mike Lewis speared an interception on Hazleton Area’s ensuing possession and the Mountaineers turned it into an 8-yard scoring run from Bolesta.
Hazleton Area gained some traction on the Wolfe-to-Shamany 76-yard touchdown pass, but it was fleeting as Dallas’ Brady Zapoticky connected with Nick Farrell for a 28-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.
Another interception cut off a Hazleton Area scoring threat and led to a Dallas touchdown with 42 seconds left until halftime. Defensive back Joe Peters made the pick at the Dallas 5-yard line and returned it 77 yards. Zapoticky flipped a short pass to Dylan Geskey on the next play for an 18-yard TD and a 35-6 halftime lead.
The big advantage didn’t have the Mountaineers thinking victory but rather back to last year’s game. They led Hazleton Area 21-6 midway through the fourth quarter and lost 28-21 in overtime.
“We were just thinking 0-0,” said Peters, who has two interceptions this season. “That’s all we were saying, 0-0, remember what happened last year and don’t let that happen again.”
Dallas 42, Hazleton Area 20
Dallas`21`14`7`0 — 42
Hazleton Area`6`0`0`14 — 20
First quarter
DAL — Parker Bolesta 48 run (Jace Chopyak kick), 11:04
DAL — Bolesta 3 run (Chopyak kick), 2:49
DAL — Bolesta 8 run (Chopyak kick), 1:09
HA — Connor Shamany 76 pass from Tyler Wolfe (pass failed), 0:09
Second quarter
DAL — Nick Farrell 28 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Chopyak kick), 10:02
DAL — Dylan Geskey 18 pass from Zapoticky (Chopyak kick), 0:42
Third quarter
DAL — Bolesta 18 run (Chopyak kick), 8:25
Fourth quarter
HA — Ryan Matyas 14 pass from Wolfe (Matt Buchman from Wolfe), 4:08
HA — Matt Cusatis 16 run (run failed), 2:16
Team statistics`DAL`HA
First downs`16`16
Rushes-yards`34-184`20-80
Passing yards`143`270
Total yards`327`350
Passing`15-23-0`15-26-2
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-5
Punts-avg.`1-36`1-29
Fumbles-lost`1-1`4-2
Penalties-yards`6-37`2-10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Dallas, Bolesta 23-185, Zapoticky 1-0, Geskey 6-12, Mike Lewis 1-0, team 3-(minus-3). Hazleton Area, Buchman 10-62, Wolfe 7-2, Cusatis 3-16.
PASSING — Dallas, Zapoticky 15-23-0-143. Hazleton Area, Wolfe 15-26-2-270.
RECEIVING — Dallas, Geskey 4-32, Bolesta 5-29, Joe Peters 3-34, Farrell 3-48. Hazleton Area, Cusatis 2-48, Shamany 5-129, Buchman 2-28, Connor Kundrat 3-42, Matyas 3-23.
INTERCEPTIONS — Dallas, Lewis 1-15, Peters 1-77.
MISSED FGs — Dallas, 26WL