DALLAS — The wheels were already turning in Rich Mannello’s head following Friday night’s 47-7 over Wilkes-Barre. 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 which were offset that didn’t make the stat sheet. They weren’t as crisp as they have been 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 which had shown great strides in a win over Berwick as 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 which ended with a state runner-up finish. The offense put up 467 yards of offense 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 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 which has averaged 42.2 points per game through five weeks was only stopped when it stopped itself. Take away one 75-yard rushing touchdown by Wilkes-Barre, and the Wolfpack averaged just 3.4 yards per play.
And then there was special teams. The Mountaineers got quite the jump start when Trevor Slavinski raced up the far hash marks on the game’s opening kick and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown, outrunning Wilkes-Barre kicker John Mendola over the final 40.
“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 7 for his first score.
Then the defense made its presence known when it turned away a 14-play Wilkes-Barre 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 3 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 which 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.”
“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,” Mannello said. “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.”
Dallas 47, Wilkes-Barre 7
Wilkes-Barre 0 7 0 0 – 0
Dallas 14 20 13 0 – 47
First quarter
D—Trevor Slavinski 99 kickoff return (Brandon Miller kick), 11:44
D—Hunter Pitcavage 7 run (Miller kick), 5:16
Second quarter
D—Tyce Mason 46 pass from Talan Geskey (Miller kick), 11:14
D—Bobby Gallagher 5 run (kick failed), 8:39
WB—Wonder Woods 75 run (John Mendola kick), 5:33
D—Pitcavage 11 run (Miller kick), 2:16
Third quarter
D—Mark Saracinaj 9 run (pass failed), 6:50
D—Owen Oldt 1 run (David Worth kick), 2:07
WBA Dal
First downs 12 21
Rushes-yds 29-183 43-282
Com-att-int 11-23-2 8-14-0
Pass yards 63 185
Total yards 246 467
Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-53 10-79
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Wilkes-Barre: Wonder Woods, 1-75, TD; Anthony Daniel, 13-75; Matthew Cinti, 4-14; Noah Monsour, 2-10; Peter McCoy, 1-8; Kymani Hubbard-Jones, 2-6; Ethan Hooper, 1-3; Jhavon Jones, 1-1; Declan Gregor, 4-(-9). Dallas: Hunter Pitcavage, 13-98, 2 TDs; Mark Saracinaj, 8-72, TD; Talan Geskey, 4-34; Owen Oldt, 4-29, TD; Tom Fostock, 6-28; Carver Jones, 2-9; Jim Youngblood, 2-5; Trevor Slavinski, 1-5; Bobby Gallagher, 1-5, TD; Team, 1-(-1); Tyce Mason, 1-(-2).
Passing—Wilkes-Barre: Declan Gregor, 9-19-2, 53 yds.; Matthew Cinti, 2-4-0. Dallas: Geskey, 7-13-0, 181 yds., TD; Jesse Berlew, 1-1-0, 4 yds.
Receiving—Wilkes-Barre: Nic Saracino, 4-16; Jayson Sanchez, 2-16; Woods, 2-12; Omar Contreras, 1-9; Gino Dalessandro, 1-8; Jayden Pena, 1-2. Dallas: Mason, 4-91, TD; Gallagher, 1-41; Pitcavage, 1-38; Brady McCann, 1-11; Bolly Moran, 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS: Dallas 2, Bobby Gallagher, Brady McCann.
RECORDS: Wilkes-Barre (1-4); Dallas (5-0).