Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

After giving up 88 points the last two weeks, Mounts step up against Pittston’s offense.

Pittston Area’s Sam Parente just misses a pass in the end zone as Dallas’ Anthony Rubbico attempts to intercept during the third quarter of WVC football action on Saturday.

S.John Wilkin/the times leader

DALLAS TWP. – There have been times during coach Ted Jackson’s 23 years at Dallas when the Mountaineer defense hasn’t allowed 88 points in a season.
So after allowing a combined 88 points in the last two games, Jackson issued a challenge to his defense.
And it responded in a big way.
Dallas shut down Pittston Area running back Tom Pisano and the rest of the Patriots in a 28-14 Wyoming Valley Conference Division 3A win Saturday afternoon. The win was big for the Mountaineers (3-1), who moved into second place behind Berwick in the District 2 Class 3A standings. The top four teams make the playoffs.
Pisano, who came into the game with 375 rushing yards and a division-leading 8.5 yards per carry average, was held to 30 yards on 15 carries. Pittston Area (1-3) finished with 207 yards of total offense, but almost half of those came on an 80-yard pass completion in the third quarter.
Dallas suffered a 50-22 loss at Berwick a week ago and gave up 38 points in a 41-38 overtime win at Tunkhannock two weeks ago. The 50 points were the most a Dallas defense had allowed in more than a decade.
“We gave up 88 points in two weeks and that’s unacceptable here,” said Jackson, who picked up his 193rd career win. “We have a tradition of having a strong defense. I appealed to their pride. I challenged them.”
Pisano wasted little time to create a buzz among the disappointing crowd of less than 2,500 fans, who watched the game in near-perfect weather conditions. The senior took the opening kickoff and somehow broke free from a pile of defenders and raced 77 yards for a touchdown to make it 6-0.
Dallas responded with quarterback Fred Mihal connecting with wide receiver Vito Recchia on a pair of touchdown passes – 20 and 13 yards, respectively – in the first quarter to give Dallas a 14-6 lead. A fumble recovery led to the first Dallas touchdown and the Mountaineers were also able to take advantage of terrific field possession thanks to the special teams play of kickoff/punt returner Kyle Arnaud, who finished with more than 150 return yards.
Pittston Area had a golden opportunity to tie the game before halftime. The Patriot defense pushed Dallas back to its own 4-yard line and forced a punt. Pisano returned the punt to the Dallas 29, giving his team tremendous field position. But Pittston Area could only move 3 yards in four plays from scrimmage and punted the ball back to the Mountaineers, who ran out the clock. The Dallas defense did a nice job all afternoon of playing disciplined defense against Pisano, who likes to cut back and change directions during his runs.
“Pisano still isn’t 100 percent healthy and our offensive line hasn’t created the space necessary to have a successful running game,” said Pittston Area head coach Lon Hazlet, whose quarterback son Broc threw for 155 yards, including 135 to Jason McCracken. “We have to continue to throw the ball. Maybe that will open our running game. I’m stubborn, I want to run first. But maybe we need to throw first rather than run.”
Mihal scored on a 1-yard run midway through the third quarter to make the score 21-6 and connected with senior wide receiver Pat Murray on a 46-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter. Sandwiched between those scores was Pittston Area’s only scoring drive of the game – and its only drive of the game of more than 20 yards.
Pinned back at his own 5, Broc Hazlet threw a perfect pass to McCracken, who had gotten behind the Dallas secondary. The play was good for 80 yards and put the ball at the Dallas 13-yard line. Three plays later, Pisano scored from 8 yards out and scored on the two-point conversion run to make it 21-14 with 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
“We got embarrassed last week,” said Mihal, who also plays middle linebacker. “We wanted to come out and show we had a good defense and I think we proved that today. We wanted to get back to the basics and play Dallas defense. In our last two games, we had guys in the right spots but we didn’t make the tackles. Today we did.”