HS FOOTBALL: Geskey, Dallas trample West Scranton
Sep. 16—DALLAS — A broken wrist couldn't stop Dylan Geskey. Neither could West Scranton.
The junior running back suffered the injury in Week 2 against Crestwood. Despite sporting a bulky cast on his right arm, he ran for 120 yards and four touchdowns in just 1 1/2 quarters as Dallas rolled past West Scranton, 56-20, in a nonconference football game Saturday afternoon at Mountaineer Field.
Quarterback Brady Zapoticky ran for one touchdown and threw for another as the Mountaineers (4-0) scored on their first seven possessions. They also had a defensive touchdown and kicker Rowan Laubach was 8 for 8 on extra points.
This game was scheduled for Friday night, but postponed to Saturday after Dallas was one of several targets in Luzerne County to receive a bomb threat, which turned out to be fake.
According to head coach Rich Mannello, it was part of a rough week for the Mountaineers.
"We had a lot of kids sick and it started a week ago Friday in our last game," Mannello said. "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday were quite a challenge here. But they responded and handled the adversity. They overcame a lot and then they had to deal with not playing (Friday) night. But you've got to adjust and they did a great job."
An indication of how the day would go for West Scranton (0-4) came on the first play. The Invaders fumbled a handoff exchange and Brady Rosencrans recovered for Dallas at the West 24.
Geskey carried for 19 yards, then five yards for the touchdown. Laubach's kick gave the Mountaineers a 7-0 lead just 47 seconds into the contest.
"We talked about self-inflicted wounds prior to the game and putting ourselves in better situations," West Scranton coach Jake Manetti said. "It's definitely tough to come back from an opening-play fumble no matter who you're playing, let alone against a well put-together team like Dallas.
"Our guys battled, but too many mistakes to win the game. Same tune we've been singing all year."
Following a three-and-out by the Invaders, Dallas put together a nine-play, 64-yard drive that Geskey capped with a 4-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 with 6:38 left in the first quarter.
A bad punt snap by West Scranton gave Dallas the ball at the Invaders 8. Three plays later, Zapoticky scored on a 1-yard sneak to make it 21-0 with 3:49 left in the first.
In the second quarter, Geskey sandwiched scoring runs of 6 and 4 yards around a 14-yard touchdown pass from Zapoticky to Zach Paczewski to extend the lead to 42-0 with 6:28 remaining. His 4-yard touchdown came on his 14th and final carry of the day.
"He's a real tough kid," Manetti said of Geskey. "We saw it on film. We knew that if we tried to arm-tackle him or not swarm to the football, he was going to hurt us. He's got a cast on his right arm and he's still out there playing 110 percent. He's a physical runner and he's got a good O-line."
Mike Lewis scooped up a fumble and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown to make it 49-0 with 4:10 left in the second quarter.
Dallas' final touchdown came with 7:15 left in the third quarter on a 42-yard run by backup quarterback Nate Malarkey.
One bright spot for West Scranton was the play of Caiden Berardi. The junior took over at quarterback when senior starter Danny Van Dusky rolled his ankle in the first quarter and engineered a nine-play, 76-yard scoring drive right before halftime, capping the march with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 49-6.
Berardi finished 12-of-17 passing for 142 yards with one interception and a touchdown — a 10-yarder to Zaeyvion Miller with 7:01 left in the fourth quarter.
"We have two viable options at quarterback," Manetti said. "Berardi played nine games at quarterback for me last year, so he's very capable. We like to use him other areas if we can. But he definitely did a really good job of stepping in and weathering the storm today."
Shamier Lyons had West Scranton's final touchdown on an 18-yard run with 36 seconds to play.
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