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DANVILLE — On the very first offensive play Dallas ran, Lenny Kelley fumbled the ball away.
Which only served to make the sure-handed running back even more motivated.
“I was playing very angry,” Kelley said. “I wanted to do something to get us back.”’
Consider that error repaid.
Over and over.
Kelley raced for 288 yards and five touchdowns Friday, Michael Starbuck tossed three touchdown passes and Dallas jolted Jersey Shore, 56-28 in a PIAA Class 4A semifinal game at Danville’s Ironman Stadium.
The 15-0 Mountaineers will face Thomas Jefferson, which leveled Lampeter-Strasburg 44-2 in the other Class 4A semifinal, for the state championship at 7 p.m. Thursday at Hersheypark Stadium.
“This is a dream come true,” said Dallas receiver Luke DelGaudio, who finished with six catches for 117 yards and a 44-yard touchdown grab to get the Mountaineers’ scoring started. “We’ve been chasing this since freshman year.
“It’s a great feeling.”
It began with a feeling of frustration.
Kelley lost the football after an eight-yard gain on Dallas’ first offensive play. On the second, fullback Danny Meuser coughed up a fumble after making an 18-yard catch.
“Oh,” Kelley gasped, “not the way you want to begin. Me and Meuser both fumbling the first time we touched the ball is not what we want. (But) we had to keep moving forward.”
Jersey Shore discovered that once they get going, the Mountaineers are very difficult to stop.
Especially Kelley, who gained 160 yards in the first half and broke off touchdown runs of 12, 42 and 1 yards in the second quarter to give the Mountaineers a 35-14 halftime lead.
Jersey Shore, which built up some big yardage with its high-octane, pass-happy NASCAR offense, never really recovered.
After Kelley’s initial fumble, he turned away Jersey Shore’s threat by picking off the Bulldogs’ third play from scrimmage from his linebacker spot.
“That’s one guy…” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said, “I don’t even have to raise my voice. That’s one of the toughest kids in the building. He made a mistake, you know he was going to make up for it.
“They’re all like that.”’
The Mountaineers, who ran one offensive unit right after another in practice to prepare their defense for Jersey Shore’s break-neck offensive pace, had some trouble adjusting to the speed of the Bulldogs’ snaps initially.
A 29-yard completion from quarterback Tanner Lorson set up Josh Malicky’s 11-yard touchdown run as the Bulldogs turned Dallas’ second turnover into a 7-0 lead.
After the Mountaineers answered with DelGaudio’s 44-yard touchdown catch, Dallas struck again when Starbuck found Meuser for a 19-yard scoring strike and a 14-7 lead — as the Mountaineers tried to loosen up Jersey Shore’s run-stacked defense.
“The safeties were standing next to the linebackers,” Mannello cracked.
But Jersey Shore whipped up a 79-yard scoring march, running 12 plays in the blink of an eye and finishing up with Lorson’s eight-yard touchdown dart to Cayden Hess to tie the game at 14-14.
But Dallas caught on, and the Bulldogs scored only one more meaningful touchdown after that.
“It’s a little different out here than it is in practice,” Mannello said of facing the fastest-paced attack the Mountaineers have met up with this season. “The pace is faster. Then we got it.”
Jersey Shore tried to hang around by pulling within 35-21 on Lorson’s nine-yard touchdown pass to Hess to cap the opening drive of the second half.
But Kelley kicked it into high gear, answering with a 19-yard scoring run down around end to restore a three-touchdown lead for Dallas.
“The holes were amazing tonight,” Kelley said. “The holes were humongous.”
His rushing yardage total kept growing and growing, too.
Kelley roared through the middle of the line for a 78-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds to play in the third quarter. And Dallas set the mercy rule into play when Jack Farrell returned an interception 36 yards and Starbuck hit Meuser with a five-yard touchdown toss for a 56-21 Mountaineers advantage on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“This is amazing,” Kelley said. “From going 2-9 (four years ago) to 15-0, and to know we are going to the state championship is huge.”
The Dallas starters spent the rest of the fourth quarter on the sidelines, biding their time to the celebration — and until they meet up with Thomas Jefferson for the state title.
“Any kid who plays high school football, their dream is to go to the state championship game,” Mannello said. “This is the moment for these kids.”
PIAA CLASS 4A SEMIFINALS
Dallas 56, Jersey Shore 28
Dallas`14`21`14`7 — 56
Jersey Shore`14`0`7`7 — 28
First quarter
JS — Josh Malicky 11 run (Cam Allison kick), 9:58
D — Luke DelGaudio 44 pass from Michael Starbuck (Ryan Fisher kick), 9:06
D — Danny Meuser 19 pass from Starbuck (Fisher kick), 4:35
JS — Cayden Hess 8 pass from Tanner Lorson (Allison kick), 2:26
Second quarter
D — Lenny Kelley 12 run (Fisher kick), 11:25
D — Kelley 42 run (Fisher kick), 6:31
D — Kelley 1 run (Fisher kick), 0:48
Third quarter
JS — Hess 9 pass from Lorson (Allison kick), 9:39
D — Kelley 19 run (Fisher kick), 6:12
D — Kelley 78 run (Fisher kick), 0:34
Fourth quarter
D — Meuser 5 pass from Starbuck (Fisher kick), 11:56
JS — Lorson 12 run (Allison kick), 5:23
Team statistics`DAL`JS
First downs`20`24
Rushes-yards`45-313`22-95
Passing yards`189`315
Total yards`502`410
Passing`11-17-0`32-59-3
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-10
Punts-avg.`6-32`3-33
Fumbles-lost`3-2`1-1
Penalties-yards`2-20`5-55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — DAL, Lenny Kelley 29-288, Danny Meuser 5-23, Michael Starbuck 3-8, Jacob Fenske 1-3, TEAM 1- (minus 1), Jake DelGaudio 5- (minus 4), Jackson Wydra 1- (minus 4). JS, Josh Malicky 12-58, Tanner Lorson 9-28, Anthony Shaffer 1-9.
PASSING — DAL, Starbuck 11-17-0-189. JS, Lorson 32-59-3-315.
RECEIVING — DAL, Luke DelGaudio 5-117, Danny Meuser 5-57, Jack Farrell 1-12. JS, Stanton Westlin 8-78, Shaffer 8-62, Cayden Hess 7-94, Owen Anderson 6-73, Brett Guthrie 2-10, Malicky 1- (minus 2).
INTERCEPTIONS — DAL, Kelley 1-0, Meuser 1-0, Jack Farrell 1-36.
MISSED FGs — None.
