Dallas’ Tyce Mason (2) tries to get past the Wilkes-Barre Area defender Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Dallas’ Drew Klineto, left, pressures the Wilkes-Barre Area quarterback on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Dallas’ Tyce Mason (2) runs the ball against Wilkes-Barre Area on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Dallas’ Tyce Mason (2) races past Wilkes-Barre Area defenders on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Dallas’ Bobby Gallagher (3) goes up between two Wilkes-Barre Area defenders to make a catch on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Dallas’ Hunter Pitcavage (4) tries to hurdle a Wilkes-Barre Area defender Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Rajan Watson (5) brings down Dallas’ Talan Geskey (15) on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Anthony Daniel (left) tries to get past Dallas defenders on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Dallas’ Tyce Mason (2) looks to get around Wilkes-Barre Area’s Josiah Cannon (24) on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Wilkes-Barre Area quarterback Declan Gregor (3) looks to p[ass against Dallas on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
Show Caption
1 of 10
Dallas’ Tyce Mason (2) tries to get past the Wilkes-Barre Area defender Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Mountaineer Stadium. (FRANK LAURI / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER)
DALLAS — The wheels were already turning in Rich Mannello’s head following Friday night’s 47-7 over Wilkes-Barre Area.
Dallas improved to 5-0 with the mercy-rule victory, but the veteran head coach wasn’t exactly happy.
The Mountaineers were hit with 10 penalties, and a couple more unsportsmanlike calls that didn’t make the stat sheet because they were offset.
Dallas wasn’t as crisp as it was through the first four weeks offensively. The team’s emotions got the best of them more than once. And they had two touchdowns taken off the board, one for a penalty, and one because of a dropped pass.
As happy as Mannello was to walk away with a 40-point win against a Wolfpack team that had shown great strides in a win over Berwick a week ago, the scoreboard hadn’t even been turned off before he was thinking of ways to address the mistakes Friday night.
“I think we may be at the point that we’re done talking about it,” Mannello said. “I’ll figure out how to address it as the head coach, but I’ve done enough talking. And I’ll get it handled.”
There were plenty of reasons for Dallas to be pleased with Friday’s effort.
Dallas is 5-0 for the first time since 2023, a season that ended with a state runner-up finish. The offense put up 467 yards and saw five players score a touchdown. The defense played fast, forcing a pair of turnovers and holding an opponent to seven or fewer points for the third time in five weeks.
It’s not as if the team in general was upset. They ran the victory bell with vigor. But Mannello knows there’s work to be done following a day of rest Saturday.
“There’s things that have to get tightened up,” Mannello said. “There are just some loose ends that can come back to bite you. We’ll watch the film and learn from it.”
What the Wyoming Valley Conference has learned about through the first half of the regular season is that Dallas is the team to beat regardless of division. It showed why in all three phases Friday. An offense that averages 42.2 points per game was only stopped when it stopped itself. Take away one 75-yard rushing touchdown by Wilkes-Barre Area, and the Wolfpack averaged just 3.4 yards per play.
Then there was special teams. The Mountaineers got quite the jump start when Trevor Slavinski returned the game’s opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.
“He’s a fast dude. He’s a killer,” said Dallas receiver Tyce Mason, who caught four passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. “Emotionally, that just hypes you up. We were all over the place on the sideline just screaming and yelling. And that carried into our defense and our offense.”
In the blink of an eye it was a two-score lead after the Mountaineers forced a three-and-out, and then covered 64 yards on nine plays to hit paydirt. Hunter Pitcavage (13 carries, 98 yards, 2 touchdowns) carried six times for 43 yards on the drive, including the final seven for his first score.
Then the defense turned away a 14-play drive with an interception by Brady McCann in the end zone on third-and-goal.
Dallas needed just five plays in the ensuing possession to cover 80 yards. Mason caught a slant pass, stopped on a dime letting his defender run past him, then outran the Wolfpack to the end zone for a 21-0 lead.
Less than three minutes later, Mounts receiver Bobby Gallagher caught a 41-yard pass on the post to set up his own 5-yard scoring run on the next play. The 27-0 lead seemed to happen in an instant and helped cover up the penalties and misplays that seemed to plague the first half for the Mountaineers.
“We faced adversity in this football game and we still battled,” Mason said. “But adversity will help you and it motivates you. We know we have a killer offense and a killer defense. We just have to clean some things up.”
Added Mannello: “That interception in the end zone was big. Wilkes-Barre is such a tough bunch of kids, and if it’s 14-7 there, we got a different game. Defensively, I just love our speed. Speed makes up for a lot. If you miss a gap or somebody misaligns, you still got guys that can run to the football. You always have a chance when you got speed on defense.”