DALLAS TWP. — The pass was perfectly placed for Dallas receiver Zach Paczewski. A sure touchdown, no doubt as he had his defender beaten.
And … he dropped it.
Then there was Dallas quarterback Brady Zapoticky, who had a pass batted into the air, intercepted by Crestwood defensive lineman Aidan Jardine and returned 58 yards into Dallas territory.
Undeterred, the Mountaineers made amends for the miscues, something Crestwood couldn’t do Friday night.
Paczewski and Zapoticky sparked a 21-point second quarter as Dallas seized control on the way to a 35-14 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game.
Dallas improved to 1-0 in the division and 2-0 overall. Crestwood fell to 0-1 in the division and 1-1 overall.
“It was a wide-open touchdown,” Paczewski said. “I got a little too excited. I was looking for the end zone already and then I got mad at myself and knew I had to come out and play and do it for my team.”
Paczewski did so on Dallas’ third possession of the game after the second one ended on the interception by Jardine. He speared a 38-yard pass from Zapoticky and then a 39-yarder to put the ball at the Crestwood 6-yard line.
Two plays later, Zapoticky rolled to his right and found tight end Peter Harpersberger in the back of the end zone for the Mountaineers’ first score of the second quarter.
On Dallas’ next drive, running back Dylan Geskey turned a short pass into a 28-yard gain to the Crestwood 7. From there Zapoticky lofted a pass under a heavy rush to Paczewski, who outjumped a Crestwood defender at the goal line for a touchdown.
“He’s a pretty tough-minded kid for a 10th grader,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said of Zapoticky. “He getting coached by coach (Ryan) Zapoticky, that’s his brother. He getting coached hard to say the least and probably 18 hours a day.”
Ryan Zapoticky was a standout quarterback at Dallas and Shippensburg University.
Running back Parker Bolesta finished off the three-TD outburst with a 3-yard run just before halftime as Dallas took a 21-0 lead into the locker room.
While Dallas shook off its early mistakes, Crestwood couldn’t do the same. The Comets had three bad snaps in the first half, resulting in minus-52 yards. Penalties hampered two possessions and a fumble, which was picked up by Dallas defensive lineman Colby Klinetob and returned 39 yards, set up the Mountaineers’ final score of the first half.
Crestwood also had a 54-yard TD run by running back Noah Schultz in the third quarter wiped out by a holding penalty.
Schultz finally got the Comets on the scoreboard with a 70-yard punt return touchdown with 2:30 left in the third quarter. But Dallas answered that score and a 1-yard TD run by Crestwood quarterback Jaden Shedlock with touchdown runs by Bolesta.
Bolesta had 44 yards on 11 carries in the first half. He finished with 138 yards on 25 rushes.
“I told the guys you’re never as good as you think, you’re never as bad as you think,” Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli said. “Last week, maybe we thought we were a little better than we were. This week, we’re going to go back and look at the film and be like, ‘Man, we’re not that bad. We’re not 35-14, we’re right here with a very good football team.’
“We just have to find a way to challenge adversity head on.”
Dallas 35, Crestwood 14
Crestwood`0`0`7`7 — 14
Dallas`0`21`0`14 — 35
Second quarter
DAL — Peter Harpersberger 6 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Brady Chopyak kick), 7:46
DAL — Zach Paczewski 7 pass from Zapoticky (Chopyak kick), 4:36
Dallas — Parker Bolesta 3 run (Chopyak kick), 0:49
Third quarter
CRE — Noah Schultz 70 punt return (Logan Rolles kick), 2:30
Fourth quarter
DAL — Bolesta 8 run (Chopyak kick), 11:19
CRE – Jaden Shedlock 1 run (Rolles kick), 5:34
DAL — Bolesta 4 run (Chopyak kick), 1:07
Team statistics`CRE`DAL
First downs`11`13
Rushes-yards`43-91`31-144
Passing yards`47`150
Total yards`138`294
Passing`7-12-0`7-11-1
Sacked-yards lost`2-4`1-11
Punts-avg.`3-27.3`3-37.3
Fumbles-lost`5-1`0-0
Penalties-yards`7-45`3-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Crestwood, Schultz 17-95, Shedlock 14-59, Brendan Dennis 6-28, Brady Davidson 1-4, Jason Swank 1-(minus-1), team 4-(minus-66). Dallas, Bolesta 25-138, Dylan Geskey 2-3, Paczewski 1-0, Zapoticky 3-3.
PASSING — Crestwood, Shedlock 7-11-0-47, Schultz 0-1-0-0. Dallas, Zapoticky 7-11-1-150.
RECEIVING — Crestwood, Shultz 5-30, Robert Knight 1-6, Josh Hilpp 1-11. Dallas, Paczewski 3-84, Harpersberger 1-6, Geskey 3-52, Joe Peters 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS — Crestwood, Aidan Jardine 1-58.
MISSED FGs — none.
