Expand<\/a><\/p>\nYATESVILLE \u2014 One play Friday night epitomized Dallas head coach Rich Mannello\u2019s entire philosophy in action.<\/p>\n
Brady McCann blocked a Pittston Area punt and Marc Saracinaj returned it for a 13-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, putting a bow on a four-touchdown explosion across just 6 minutes, 23 seconds of game time.<\/p>\n
Efficiency on offense and physicality on defense contribute to winning football, but most importantly, according to Mannello, soundness on special teams makes all the difference.<\/p>\n
The third phase certainly aided that scoring burst as Dallas mounted a 35-7 victory over the Patriots in a Wyoming Valley Conference game at Charley Trippi Field.<\/p>\n
The punt block returned for a touchdown gave Dallas a 35-0 lead with 8:30 left in the third quarter that enforced a running clock.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the most important thing we do at Dallas,\u201d Mannello said. \u201cPeople may be getting sick of hearing about it, but as long as I\u2019m standing on that sideline, special teams is the No. 1 priority 12 months a year at Dallas.\u201d<\/p>\n
If anything, Mannello is self aware. Touting the value of special teams every week can be redundant, but when all three phases work harmoniously, the proof of concept is Friday night\u2019s scoring eruption.<\/p>\n
Hunter Pitcavage scored on a 7-yard rush with 2:53 until halftime, giving Dallas a 14-0 advantage. It was set up by a 19-yard Talan Geskey scramble and a 37-yard deep pass from Geskey to Tyce Mason.<\/p>\n
After forcing a three-and-out, Dallas used tempo to drive 65 yards in just over a minute. Saracinaj notched a 21-yard rush and a 26-yard catch-and-run to set up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Geskey to Mason 16 seconds before halftime.<\/p>\n
Brandon Miller consistently sent kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks to give Pittston Area tough starting field position, and he did so to start the second half.<\/p>\n
The Patriots lost 19 yards in three plays and punted from their 1, and Mason returned it 40 yards to the Pittston Area 6 to set up first-and-goal.<\/p>\n
Two defensive pre-snap penalties later, Pitcavage scored on a 2-yard carry to make it 28-0 at the third quarter\u2019s 10:05 mark.<\/p>\n
Another Pittston Area three-and-out led to the blocked punt and return to put the game out of hand quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cPittston played well and played hard. That\u2019s Pittston, they\u2019re always going to do that,\u201d Mannello said. \u201cWe adjust, everybody stayed in the game and that\u2019s when the weight room takes over. \u2026 We went to 10-personnel at one point and sped up the game, trying to change the tempo of things at the end of the first half.\u201d<\/p>\n
The victory elevates Dallas to 4-0 for the first time since 2023, a season that ended in the state championship game.<\/p>\n
The Mountaineers have displayed a high-powered offense this season, but Pittston Area (1-3) kept them at bay early.<\/p>\n
A holding penalty wiped out a 50-yard gain on the third play of the game and Dallas ultimately punted on that opening series.<\/p>\n
It took a 95-yard drive to open the scoring. Pittston Area punter Jordan Talarico flipped the field midway through the first with a 62-yard punt that was downed at the Dallas 5.<\/p>\n
Geskey then led a methodical drive, including four first downs, eventually muscling in a 1-yard QB sneak to make it 7-0 with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
The junior completed 7 of 14 passes for 130 yards and rushed for 51 yards.<\/p>\n
With kicker Brandon Miller booming kickoffs into the end zone, Pittston Area rarely started in favorable field position as Dallas pulled away.<\/p>\n
The mercy rule was in effect by the time freshman Levi Pisano got Pittston Area on the board with a 3-yard touchdown rush with 3:31 left.<\/p>\n
Jude Ferentino paced Pittston Area with 71 yards rushing on 19 carries.<\/p>\n
The Dallas secondary, led by McCann and Bobby Gallagher, made it nearly impossible for Santino Salvo to pass and Lucas LoPresto to find open space. Dallas allowed just 18 passing yards through three quarters.<\/p>\n
Pittston Area\u2019s longest plays \u2014 passes of 19 and 27 yards by Salvo \u2014 came on its final drive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas\u2019 Hunter Pitcavage (4) runs the ball during a football game in Yatesville on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,2291,154],"class_list":["post-440875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-high-school-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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