DALLAS TWP. — Through one half of football, Dallas and Abington Heights looked primed to offer up a very similar sequel to last year’s thrilling season opener, a three-point Mountaineer win.
Nick Bradley had other plans, using both his arm and his legs to keep Dallas searching for their first win of the year.
The Abington Heights gunslinger threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns, and added two more scores rushing the ball as the Comets hit the road and took down Dallas 30-13, dropping the Mountaineers to 0-3 on the year.
Wideout Shawn Theodore caught five passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns in the win, providing a vertical threat as Bradley was able to stretch the field enough for a few big chunk plays.
Dallas led 7-0 late in the second quarter and had the Comets tied up 10-10 at the half, but the Mountaineers couldn’t find the rhythm after halftime, getting outscored 20-3 in the second half.
“We have to stick to the grind, stick to the process. … There’s no shortcut, there’s no magic answer,” Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. “We’ve got a core group of guys that are north of 500 plays in three games, and the rest of them have to step up.”
Abington Heights took the lead for good midway through the third quarter on what initially looked like a broken play. Bradley appeared to be looking for top wideout Shawn Theodore, but Theodore slipped and fell.
Bradley decided to tuck and run, and found some room for a 4-yard run to put the Comets up 17-10. He found Theodore for the second of their two touchdown connections early in the fourth quarter, and added one final rushing touchdown with two minutes left to put the icing on a big win for the Comets.
The Comets also got a big night on the ground from running back Dominic Vergnetti, who racked up 101 yards on 23 rushes.
“This was a complete team effort,” Abington Heights coach Joe Repshis said. “Anytime you come in here, you know it’s going to be a tough football game. We were able to make a few more plays and come out of here with a tough win.”
Dallas opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run from Dylan Geskey with 4:10 left before halftime, the Mountaineer’s only touchdown.
Brady Zapoticky did the majority of the rushing for Dallas, running for 136 yards. He completed 11 passes for 108 yards, but threw an interception early on to snuff out an early Dallas scoring chance.
Rowan Laubach drilled a 47-yard field goal right at the end of the first half, and tacked on a 28-yarder in the second half.
Dallas will continue looking for their first win of the year next week, staying at home to take on Wilkes-Barre Area.
Abington Heights (2-1) will stay on the road, traveling to Valley View.
Abington Heights 30, Dallas 13
Abington Heights`0`10`7`13 — 30
Dallas`0`10`3`0 — 13
Second quarter
DAL — Dylan Geskey 4 run (Rowan Laubach kick), 4:10
AH — Jack Farrell 30 field goal, 2:29
AH — Shawn Theodore 47 pass from Nick Bradley (Farrell kick) 1:45
DAL — Laubach 47 field goal, 0:05
Third quarter
AH — Bradley 4 run (Farrell kick), 6:25
DAL — Laubach 28 field goal, 0:29
Fourth quarter
AH — Theodore 36 pass from Bradley (kick blocked), 9:01
AH — Bradley 2 run (Farrell kick), 2:00
Team statistics`AH`DAL
First downs`14`15
Rushes-yards`34-137`44-188
Passing yards`196`108
Total yards`333`296
Passing`10-24-0`11-21-1
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-39.5`4-43
Fumbles-lost`1-0`2-1
Penalties-yards`4-35`9-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — AH, Dominic Vergnetti 23-101, Thatcher Loss 2-4, Bradley 9-32. DAL, D. Geskey 16-49, Brady Zapoticky 27-136, Nico Wilk 1-3.
PASSING — AH, Bradley 10-24-0-196. DAL, Zapoticky 11-21-1-108.
RECEIVING — AH, Gavin Anders 3-58, Theodore 5-137, Cayd Sespico 1-(minus-4), Shane Brower 1-5. DAL, Cole Rigol 3-21, Sam Kelley 2-15, Logan Geskey 5-65, D. Geskey 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS — AH, Anders 1-0. DAL, none.
MISSED FGs — none.
