DALLAS TWP. – It’s not difficult for coach Rich Mannello to get his Dallas team to buy into special teams.
It was as plain as your eyes can see after two punt blocks — three, if not for a holding penalty — in the first quarter of Friday’s game.
Dallas’ special teams reigned supreme once again in a 56-0 win over Hazleton Area.
“We have a history of going out there through the state and winning some football games that people didn’t think we had a chance at because of the special teams,” Mannello explained. “When you do that, the young ones see that and they think that this stuff works. The buy-in is not hard.”
While the returners and kickers may have gotten the headlines throughout the Mountaineers’ six consecutive wins, the punt block unit hogged the limelight on Friday.
Dallas tackled the punter at the Hazleton Area 15-yard line, setting up a Hunter Pitcavage rushing touchdown three plays later for the early 7-0 lead. On the next Cougars’ possession, Trevor Slavinski blocked the punt and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.
“(Blocking punts) is not something you figure out in August,” Mannello said. “These kids are bought into the techniques and schematics all year long. We have our best guys on the units. Those are starters. We don’t mess around.”
For the second straight week, Dallas returned a punt for a long touchdown. To close the first half, Tyce Mason returned a Cougars punt for a 55-yard score, giving the Mountaineers a 42-0 lead at the break.
“We do some sort of punt every single day because the biggest change of possession occurs during punts,” Mannello said. “The drilling for kick returns is the most monotonous thing you could ever watch in your life. And these kids do it every single week.”
Dallas benefited from more-than-favorable field possession all night. The Mountaineers did not receive the ball outside of the red zone until their fourth drive.
The Mountaineers’ offense scored three touchdowns in a 7:32 span in the second quarter. Marc Saracinaj ran in for a 3-yard rushing touchdown. Talan Geskey hit Owen Oldt and Mason with passing touchdowns to reach a 35-point lead with 3:47 to spare in the first half.
“We’ve got so many weapons,” Mason said. “We’re able to do whatever we want with the ball. We can move the ball however we want. We have a killer defense as well. So, either way, you’re not stopping us.”
Saracinaj finished with a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Aside from Dallas’ meteoric special teams, the storyline centered on Hazleton Area’s inability to snap the ball in punt and shotgun formations. The Cougars fumbled the ball 12 times. Remarkably, Hazleton Area recovered the first 10 fumbles before a pair of late turnovers. Its snapping and handoff struggles resulted in five sacks for 49 yards and 11 team rushing attempts for minus-131 yards.
In spite of the score, Hazleton Area totaled more first downs (6-4) than the Mountaineers.
Dallas 56, Hazleton Area 0
Hazleton Area`0`0`0`0`— 0
Dallas`14`28`7`7`— 56
First quarter
D — Hunter Pitcavage 4 run (Brandon Miller kick), 8:28
D — Trevor Slavinski 15 punt block (David Worth kick), 2:27
Second quarter
D — Marc Saracinaj 3 run (Miller kick), 11:19
D — Owen Oldt 7 pass from Talan Geskey (Worth kick), 8:25
D — Tyce Mason 13 pass from Geskey (Miller kick), 3:47
D — Mason 55 punt return (Worth kick), 1:00
Third quarter
D — Saracinaj 21 run (Miller kick), 11:17
Fourth quarter
D — James Gibbons 0 fumble recovery (Christian Maier kick), 5:11
Team statistics`H`D
First downs`6`4
Rushes-yards`42-(minus-13)`18-58
Passing yards`27`80
Total yards`14`133
Passing`4-7-0`4-7-0
Sacked-yards lost`5-49`0-0
Punts-avg.`3-25`0-0
Fumbles-lost`12-2`0-0
Penalties-yards`6-37`6-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — HAZ Alex Fedorko 13-53, Zach Wilson 7-8, Wilmington Fabre 1-(minus-8), Jayson Arroyo 1–(minus-2), Jason Zamudio 4-21, Mikhail Exantus 5-37, TEAM 11-(minus-122). DAL, Pitcavage 3-15, Saracinaj 5-30, Mason 1-3, Oldt 1-4, Thomas Fostock 6-2, Jesse Berlew 1-5, TEAM 1-(minus-1).
PASSING —HAZ Wilson 4-4-27-0, Arroyo 0-3-0-0; DAL Talan Geskey 4-6-80-0, Berlew 0-1-0-0
RECEIVING — HAZ, Fabre 1-0, Jaxon Johnson 1-8, Zander Rossi 1-9, Anthony Graziano 1-9. DAL, Mason 2-64, Oldt 1-7, Worth 1-9
INTERCEPTIONS — None
MISSED FGs — None
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