BLAKELY — Dallas coach Rich Mannello said his team never wavered after losing five of its first six games to open the season. After starting 1-5, the Mountaineers reeled off four straight wins to qualify for the postseason and will now play for a district title.
After a scoreless first half, No. 3 Dallas scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns and its defense pitched a shutout to earn a 17-0 win over No. 2 Valley View in a District 2 Class 4A semifinal Friday at John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Mountaineers will play top-seeded North Pocono for the district championship after the Trojans defeated Crestwood, 42-21, in the other semifinal.
Dallas (6-5) started the season 0-3 before earning its first win over Wilkes-Barre Area. The Mountaineers dropped their next two games, including a 35-14 loss to North Pocono, before earning wins over Wyoming Valley West, Crestwood, Hazleton Area and Lake-Lehman to reach the playoffs.
“You have to have unbelievable kids for this to happen and the seniors have to be completely bought in, which they are,” Mannello said. “It’s one of the most sought after years of your life besides things that happen great for your family is your senior year of high school football and to go 1-5, they never curled their lip, they never wavered. They came in that building every day and it permeated down through. We’re all in together and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The Mountaineers drove 76 yards on their first possession and reached Valley View’s 4-yard-line, but the Cougars (6-5) stopped Dallas on fourth down to end the drive. The Cougars defense forced punts on Dallas’ next three drives but, late in the second quarter, Valley View fumbled at its own 5-yard-line. The Cougars defense held again and forced a field goal attempt, but a botched snap kept the game scoreless through two quarters.
Dallas’ defense held Valley View to three first downs in the first half and forced four punts.
“We’re playing fast on defense,” Mannello said. “The coaching staff on that side of the ball puts these kids in a great position to allow them to be able to play fast. They’re bought in to the system in what we do. We’re not big enough yet, but we’re strong and we’re in condition so we play to the strengths of what our kids can do. We get lined up and we play fast.”
After a short Valley View punt into a stiff wind midway through the third quarter, Dallas took over at Valley View’s 44. Two strong runs by Sam Kelley and a pair of personal foul penalties pushed the ball to the Cougars’ 2 and Nico Wilk powered in from there to give Dallas a 7-0 lead.
The Mountaineers took advantage of good field position again on its next drive after another short punt gave them the ball at Valley View’s 34. Quarterback Talan Geskey had a 24-yard run on third-and-9 and then, on third-and-goal from the 9, Geskey dropped back and hit Wilk for a touchdown pass to push the lead to 14-0.
“Obviously it’s going to be a little frustrating to not score in the first half, but you stay together, keep our heads up, keep driving and the guys are going to get there soon so don’t take any plays off,” Geskey said.
Caleb Brown had two completions on Valley View’s next drive, but Wilk intercepted a pass to end the drive.
“(Wilk is) an example of what that entire senior class is,” Mannello said. “Those kids, there’s not a kink in them character-wise. They’re stone solid as you can be character-wise.”
Kelley had six carries on Dallas’ drive after the turnover and Brandon Miller hit a 26-yard field goal to give Dallas a 17-0 lead with 5:56 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“In the offseason, we trained really hard,” Geskey said. “We practiced hard for this game and it paid off really well. 1-5 is a hard spot to be in, but the team has heart and guts so we have a chance and we stayed with it.”