PLAINS TWP. — Dallas was heading into uncharted territory for the first time under coach Rich Mannello before it was able to navigate a victory Friday night.
Brandon Miller connected on a 22-yard field goal with four second remaining as the Mountaineers picked up a much-needed win, defeating Wilkes-Barre Area 24-21 in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game.
Dallas (1-0 Div. 1, 1-3 overall) never started 0-4 in Mannello’s 11 years at the helm. The last time the Mountaineers did was in 2013 when they lost their first eight games.
“These kids, you say it all the time — if you got heart and you got guts, you got a chance,” Mannello said. “So proud of them. They stayed together. We talk about the Dallas D, and there are two D’s that don’t get in that building — doubt and drama.”
A third D — determination — was needed on Dallas’ final possession of the game. The first three drives of the second half yielded no points and limited yardage.
Dallas took over at its 20-yard line with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter after a fourth-down stop. The Mountaineers pounded freshman running back Mark Saracinaj at the Wolfpack eight times in the 14-play drive.
Saracinaj had just two carries all season, but ran 30 times for 155 yards.
“I didn’t tell him he was starting until we got to the clubhouse tonight,” Mannello said. “I think he figured it out that I said, ‘Hey, you’re going.’ He was excited, he wasn’t rattled.”
Saracinaj was stuffed for no gain on his final carry to send out Miller, the captain of the soccer team, for his chip-shot game-winner.
WBA (0-1, 2-2) fell behind 14-0 after one quarter and 21-7 at halftime. But a 20-play scoring drive that finished with a Khalil Smith 4-yard TD run gave the Wolfpack some momentum going into the second half.
The Wolfpack started the third quarter with a scoring drive sparked by a 28-yard scramble by quarterback Jake Howe. Howe later tossed 12 yards to tight end Gino Dalessandro to cut the deficit to 21-14 at 8:25 of the quarter.
WBA tied the score with 30 seconds left in the third quarter behind the running and pass of Howe. He dropped a perfectly-placed 33-yard TD pass to wideout Jordan Kieselowsky to tie the score 21-21.
The Wolfpack got their hands on the ball two more times. The first ended in a punt and the second ended at the Dallas 21-yard line after a fourth-and-2 run was stopped a yard short.
“It was a tough game,” WBA Ciro Cinti said. “We didn’t downplay them at all. We knew they lost to some good teams. We needed two yards on fourth down and you’ve got to get two yards.
“They stopped us and that’s the difference in the game. It could have been whole different if we get that first down and go from there.”
Dallas Post
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