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Dallas drops Bishop McDevitt, advances to Class 4A State Finals

Tagged under: District 2, District 3, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| December 2, 2023

4 undefeated teams remained in Class 4A heading into the semifinals. In this one, Bishop McDevitt entered at 13-0 and Dallas came in at 14-0. The Crusaders had the star power with Junior QB Stone Saunders needing only 3 TD passes to tie the State record, many of those to WR Rico Scott. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers lacked the stars but had not yet faced a team like McDevitt.  To top it all off, steady rain and fog persisted throughout the whole game.

Dallas didn’t seem fazed, at all.

The Mountaineers got huge plays all night from their special teams and defense, blocking a crucial kick for the second week in a row, and Dallas defeated Bishop McDevitt 26-23 in double-overtime to advance to the PIAA Class 4A State Finals.

Bishop McDevitt won the coin toss and deferred, so Dallas took the opening kickoff. WR/DB Gavin Lewis had a great return down the left sideline to the Crusader 40. Unfortunately the Mountaineers had a 3-and-out in which they lost 2 yards total, but a great punt by P/K Rowan Laubach pinned the Crusaders just inside their own 5. McDevitt was not intimidated however, and after a short run by RB Maurice Barnes it was QB Stone Saunders who hit WR Rico Scott for 17 yards and a 1st down. Saunders had 2 more passes on the drive, one to Scott and the other to WR Chase Regan, but this 13-play drive was mainly the running attack with RB Nazir Jones-Davis who ran it 5 times for 43 yards. Jones-Davis capped the drive with a 1-yard scoring dive, and with 5:07 left in the 1st quarter the Crusaders had a 7-0 lead.

The Mountaineers and Crusaders then settled into a defensive and field position battle, and they traded 3 possessions to end the 1st quarter. Heading into the 2nd quarter, the field position battle continued as they traded 5 more possessions. On the 6th drive of the quarter, McDevitt started in better position at their own 43. The Dallas secondary came up huge on the drive, as Lewis made 2 great plays on the ball to force incomplete passes. On 4th-and-10 from the McDevitt 43, Saunders punt attempt was blocked by DB Nate Malarkey. Saunders then recovered the ball but was hit again by Malarkey and fumbled, and the ball was recovered by Malarkey and run in for a touchdown that tied the game at 7 with 2:41 left in the half.

Disaster struck the Crusaders again on the ensuing kickoff as the squib kick was fumbled and recovered by Dallas at the McDevitt 30. Dallas QB Brady Zapoticky then started the next drive by calling his own number for 8 yards. The Crusader defense then came up big, stopping RB Dylan Geskey twice for no gain. On 4th-and-2 from the 21, Zapoticky threw it to WR Zach Paczewski who was hit as he caught it, and the ball deflected in the air to WR Lucas Tirpak who caught it for a 10 yard gain and a wild 1st down with only 32 seconds left in the half. After an incomplete pass and a big sack for a loss made it 3rd-and-22 from the 23, Zapoticky hit TE Nick Farrell for a great catch in the right corner of the endzone for the touchdown. The PAT was blocked, but with only 3 seconds left in the half it was Dallas who took the lead 13-7. The ensuing kickoff was a non-event and we went to halftime.

Starting the 3rd quarter, Dallas tried an onside kick and was successful, as Tirpak recovered the ball at the McDevitt 48. Unfortunately, Dallas could not get anything going and punted it away to McDevitt and it was downed at the Crusader 10 yard line. Jones-Davis gained 10 yards on the first 2 plays to get the Crusaders out of their own end. After a McDevitt false start penalty, the Dallas defense picked up where they left off in the first half as they pressured Saunders and allowed only 2 short gains to force a 4th down and a punt. Taking over at their own 47, Dallas used runs by Zapoticky and Geskey to get down to the Crusader 42. On 2nd-and-10 from the 42, Zapoticky hit Lewis for a nice 18-yard gain down to the 24. An offsides penalty netted the Mountaineers 5 more yards but that was all they could muster on the drive. A field goal attempt from 36 yards was wide left and Dallas turned it over to the Crusaders.

McDevitt began an inspired drive then at their own 20. Saunders and Jones-Davis gained 8 yards total on the ground, then Saunders threw it to Regan for 15 yards and a 1st down at the 43. A costly holding call pushed the Crusaders back to the 35, but Saunders hit RB Maurice Barnes for 14 yards and Davis then ran it 4 yards for a 1st down. Saunders then hit WR Jontai Quick for a big 26-yard strike down to the Mountaineer 20. The Dallas defense knew they were backed up and ratcheted up the pressure again. Farrell ran down Scott from behind on a reverse for no gain, and pressure from DL Brady Rosencrans forced 2 incomplete passes. On 4th-and-10 from the 20, the Crusaders went for it and Saunders hit Scott for a 20-yard score. The PAT was blocked by Dallas DL Dan Sabulski and the score was knotted at 13 with 50 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.

Dallas got a nice kick return from Malarkey to their own 34. Zapoticky hit Paczewski for a quick 9 yards and then Paczewski ran it for 9 yards as the 3rd quarter expired. Starting the 4th quarter, Dallas faced a 3rd-and-10 from the Crusader 48 when Zapoticky hit Tirpak on a leaping catch for a huge 23-yard gain. Dallas only managed to gain yards to the 18 though, and Laubach then nailed a 32-yard field goal to give Dallas the lead again 16-13 with 9:58 left in the 4th. The Crusaders took possession at their own 28 and Jones-Davis ripped off 2 nice runs for a total of 19 yards. Unfortunately, McDevitt’s drive stalled as the Dallas defense again pressured Saunders repeatedly and the Crusaders punted it away.

With the clock showing just under 8 minutes to go, Dallas knew the game was not settled yet. Geskey had a short run that was followed by a Zapoticky to Paczewski strike for 22 yards out to the McDevitt 48 for a 1st down with 6:55 to go. A costly pass interference penalty moved Dallas further into Crusader territory at the 33. Geskey then had 3 straight runs netting 8 yards and the clock drained down to 4:13. Geskey was then stopped for a loss and McDevitt took over at their own 32. The Crusaders knew time was the enemy so they ran a disciplined drive that started with a Saunders pass to Regan for 7 yards. Jones-Davis ripped off a big 17-yard run, and Saunders followed that up by hitting Quick for 10 more yards down to the Dallas 28. Barnes had 2 runs totalling 18 yards as the clock dipped under 2 minutes remaining and the Crusaders at the Dallas 11. The Mountaineer defense stopped Davis for only 2 yards, forced an incomplete pass and then stopped Davis again for only a 1-yard gain. With 56 seconds left and facing a 4th-and-7, McDevitt connected on a 26-yard field goal that tied the game. Dallas was then very conservative on the ensuing drive with little time left on the clock and settled for overtime.

Dallas had the 1st chance in overtime. Zapoticky ran it on the keeper for 3 yards, followed by a Geskey run for 2 yards. On 3rd-and-goal from the 5, Zapoticky hit Malarkey for a 5-yard touchdown and with the PAT good it was 23-16 in favor of Dallas.

Bishop McDevitt started their first chance in overtime with a Saunders scramble for 1 yard, and the Dallas defense then sacked Saunders for a loss of 3. On 3rd-and-goal from the 12, Saunders was under pressure again and tossed it to Davis who had a wild run down the left sideline for the score. With the PAT good, the score was 23-23.

In the second overtime, McDevitt went first. Pressure again from Farrell and Rosencrans forced an incomplete pass on 1st down, and on 2nd down Saunders was forced to scramble again but gained 4 yards. On 3rd-and-goal from the 6, 2 Dallas defenders collapsed the pocket and Saunders was hit as he threw it and it fell incomplete. The Crusaders lined up for a 23-yard field goal attempt, but Dallas stood tall and blocked the kick.

Dallas then took over on their 2nd attempt in OT, and it was Geskey for a 2-yard gain. Dallas then called timeout, and decided they would try to end it here and lined up for a 25-yard field goal. The kick from Laubach was good, and the Mountaineers prevailed 26-23.

After the game, Mountaineer Coach Rich Mannello was asked about the effort of his team: “It’s not shock and upset to the guys in blue, to the Dallas community. We say all the time–you’ve got that D on your helmet, you can get off a bus anywhere in the state and we can play football and we just proved it.”

Dallas improved to 15-0 and now heads to the Class 4A State Final on Thursday 12/7 against Aliquippa.

 

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