PLAINS — The football hadn’t landed yet beyond the goal posts, but Dallas kicker Brandon Miller was on a dead sprint to the Mountaineers’ sideline. Following him, en masse, were 10 of his teammates trying to catch the captain of the soccer team who moonlights on the football field.
His 22-yard field goal with 4 seconds left Friday night at Wolfpack Stadium got Dallas off the schneid. The Mountaineers weathered a second-half comeback by Wilkes-Barre Area, and rode the shoulders of freshman running back Mark Saracinaj to its first win of the season, 24-21.
Dallas coach Rich Mannello didn’t tell Saracinaj he would make his first start until they were in the locker room at Wolfpack Stadium before Friday night’s game. Saracinaj responded with 32 carries for 152 yards and a touchdown. And Miller, who had just two PATs in the season’s first three weeks, converted a trio last night to go along with the game-winning field goal.
“If you would have watched practice this week, you would have thought we were three-and-oh,” Mannello said. “And I’m not just saying that because it sounds good. These kids understand the process. At some point when you’re oh-and-three you might wonder why we do all this stuff. But this is the reason why. I’m so proud of them.”
With the game tied 21-21 with just 4 minutes, 5 seconds to go, the Mountie defense stuff a Wilkes-Barre running back Kahlil Smith at the Dallas 20 on fourth-and-2. Smith (20 carries for 74 yards) was in the game because Wolfpack starting running back Davon Underwood left the game after just four carries because of an injury. And Smith and quarterback Jake Howe largely provided the Wilkes-Barre offense with the run game it was hoping to have Friday night.
Howe picked up big chunks at times and ran for 110 yards on 16 carries. But the Dallas defense stiffened at the 20-yard line late in the fourth quarter when a first down would have allowed Wilkes-Barre an opportunity to move into field goal range and bleed the clock.
But the turnover on downs helped set up Dallas for a 13-play, 75-yard drive which was punctuated with Miller’s first field goal of the season.
“We were out of range for our field goal kicker, so we were comfortable going for it there on fourth down,” Wilkes-Barre coach Ciro Cinti said. “There’s no doubt we’re going for it there. We were better off trying to run the ball and win the game that way. It could be a whole different game if we get the first down there. But that’s football.”
Dallas played that final drive much more aggressively than it did a late second-quarter drive when it settled for a 45 yard field goal attempt by Miller. On that drive to end the first half, the Mounties got the ball with 1:40 to go on the Wilkes-Barre side of the 50. But the Mounties ran the ball four consecutive times and then took a sack, which led them to settle for a long field goal attempt.
Taking over in the fourth quarter with 4:05 to go and 80 yards from the end zone, Dallas threw five times on its 13 plays, four of which were completed by quarterback Talan Geskey for 50 yards. A bubble screen to Logan Geskey set up the Mounties at the Wilkes-Barre 19 with under a minute to play. Three plays later, Saracinaj converted on third-and-7 with an 8-yard run to set up Miller’s winning kick.
“We had zero worry about (sending Miller out for the kick),” Mannello said. “He’s the captain of the soccer team for a reason.”
Dallas broke out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. One play after intercepting Howe for the first of three times, the Geskeys connected on a 38-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring. Later in the first quarter, Saracinaj — who had just two carries for 6 yards in the first three weeks — broke a 27-yard run to the Wilkes-Barre 6-yard line before fumbling. The ball scooted forward on the turf and Logan Geskey jumped on it for his second touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Wilkes-Barre was plagued in the first half by dropped passes. Both of Howe’s first-half interceptions came on deflections after hitting his receivers in the hands. The Wolfpack dropped four passes in all in the first half. Wilkes-Barre also lost a fumble at the Dallas 8-yard line in the first quarter.
“We had so many opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them,” Cinti said. “Dallas did take advantage of theirs.”
Trailing by two scores at halftime, Wilkes-Barre did find its footing offensively in the third quarter. Howe found tight end Gino Dalessandro for an 8-yard touchdown pass to cap a crisp 80-yard drive to open the second half. And with 30 seconds left in the third quarter, Howe made a beautiful throw on the run to Jordan Kieselowsky for a 33-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 21-21.
“I’m so proud of all these guys,” Mannello said. “They really stuck together tonight. Eventually the process will prove itself if you stay true to it.”
Dallas 24, Wilkes-Barre 21
Dallas 14 7 0 3 – 24
Wilkes-Barre 0 7 14 0 – 21
First quarter
D—Logan Geskey 38 pass from Talan Geskey (Brandon Miller kick), 9:08
D—L. Geskey recovers fumble in end zone (Miller kick), 1:07
Second quarter
WB—Kahlil Smith 4 run (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 4:11
D—Mark Saracinaj 3 run (Miller kick), 1:59
Third quarter
WB—Gino Dalessandro 12 pass from Jake Howe (Sanchez kick), 8:25
WB—Jordan Kieselowsky 33 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), :30
Fourth quarter
D—Miller 22 FG, :04
Dal WBA
First downs 16 20
Rushes-yds 45-177 46-219
Com-att-int 8-14-0 9-18-3
Pass yards 153 108
Total yards 330 327
Fumbles-lost 3-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 4-15 5-49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Dallas, Mark Saracinaj, 32-152, TD; Talan Geskey, 8-15; Nico Wilk, 3-11; Logan Geskey, 1-3; Trevor Slavinski, 1-(-5). Wilkes-Barre, Jake Howe, 16-110; Kahlil Smith, 20-74, TD; Kevon Creech, 2-16; Davon Underwood, 4-11; Gene Ardo, 4-8.
Passing—Dallas, T. Geskey, 8-14-0, 153 yds., TD. Wilkes-Barre, Howe, 9-18-3, 108 yds., 2 TDs.
Receiving—Dallas, L. Geskey, 6-114, TD; Sam Kelley, 2-39. Wilkes-Barre, Jordan Kieselowsky, 3-53, TD; Gino Dalessandro, 3-22, TD; Rajan Watson, 2-26; Ardo, 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS—Wilkes-Barre (3), Tyce Mason, L. Geskey, Slavinski.
RECORDS: Dallas (1-3); Wilkes-Barre (2-2).