HS Football: Dunmore pulls away from Mid Valley in second half
Oct. 1—DUNMORE — Before the start of Friday's game, Dunmore coach Kevin McHale told his players to start fast.
The team didn't get off to the start he hoped for as the Bucks compiled five penalties for 55 yards in the first half and held an eight-point advantage at halftime.
They made sure to finish it, though.
No. 4 Dunmore scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from Mid Valley, 37-2, in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division II matchup at Dunmore Veterans Memorial Stadium.
"In the second half, we came out and we knew that if we limit the penalties then we would come out with the win and that's exactly what we did," Dunmore running back Nico Ruggiero said.
The Bucks (5-1, 1-0 LFC Division II) had just two penalties for 15 yards in the second half and let Ruggiero do the work on the ground. After just seven carries for 27 yards in the first half, the senior ran for 62 yards on eight carries in the third quarter. That's when the Bucks offense got into a rhythm.
Ruggiero had runs of 20, 4 and 15 yards to start the third quarter, but Mid Valley forced a fumble and recovered to halt the drive.
Two plays later, Evan Makowski sacked Jordan Chmielewski at the Mid Valley 4-yard line and Nick Donvito tackled Chmielewski after a 4-yard gain to force a punt.
Ruggiero returned the punt seven yards before runs of 2 and 4 yards. Then Thomas Bowen hit Domenic DeSando for an 8-yard gain and a first down at the Mid Valley 17. Ruggiero took it from there with runs of 11 and 4 yards before capping the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to give Dunmore a 17-2 lead. He finished with 110 yards and one touchdown on
16 carries.
"It's awesome knowing that your team and your coaches trust in you to try and get the job done and I try and go out there and get the job done," Ruggiero said.
From there, the defense continued to stymie the Spartans. Brayden Reuther knocked down a Chmielewski pass at the line and Mid Valley botched two snaps, the second of which Nathan Reuther jumped on to give Dunmore to ball at the Mid Valley 6.
The Bucks allowed 131 yards, and the Spartans' only points came on a safety on a bad punt snap.
"(The defense) came out to play tonight definitely," Ruggiero said. "Our line was driving them off the ball, getting sacks, getting pressure on the QB and the secondary was dong a great job in coverage and deflecting passes."
Jake Hickey ran for a 2-yard score, while Ryan Mecca added 65 yards and two touchdowns on five carries in the fourth quarter.
Danny Pigga helped the Bucks score their 10 first-half points. The junior receiver tip-toed the sideline and dove into the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown on a perfectly thrown ball from Bowen in the first quarter. Then Pigga set up a Max Hunt 31-yard field goal when he intercepted a pass and returned it 54 yards in the second quarter.
Jakob Lesher led Mid Valley (2-4, 0-1) with 56 yards rushing on 12 carries and three catches for 15 yards.
Contact the writer:
