NAZARETH — Marian drove into the red zone on each of its first three possessions, spending most of the first half on the Pius X half of the turf at Nazareth High School’s Andrew S. Leh Stadium.
Each time the Colts came within striking distance, the Royals came up with a play to turn Marian away.
And when Marian finally pulled within a score of the Royals early in the second half, Pius X made an explosive play to stifle the Colts.
Pius X capitalized on Marian’s missed opportunities and its own explosive plays to capture the fifth District 11 Class A title in program history with a 45-14 romp over the Colts on Saturday night.
The victory advances the Royals (10-2) to the PIAA Class A state playoffs against the winner of Monday’s District 1/12 final between Calvary Christian and Delco Christian at a District 11 site and time to be determined.
Marian (8-4) closes its season with a disappointing loss.
“Our kids played hard all year,” Marian coach Stan Dakosty said. “I’m very proud of them for that. This does not diminish what these kids did. They gave us great effort. We just wish we could’ve played a little bit better tonight.”
After taking a 3-0 lead on the first of three Dalton Tucker field goals, Pius X allowed Marian to drive to the 3-yard line before an incompletion ended the threat.
On the eighth play of the Royals’ ensuing drive, Jon Moran made an acrobatic, one-handed, leaping catch at the goal line on a 29-yard toss from Tre Jordan to set the tone for the rest of the night offensively.
“I’ve seen a lot of football, and I played at a pretty high level,” Pius X coach Phil Stambaugh said. “That was as good a catch as I’ve ever seen.”
Marian drove to the Pius X 4-yard line on its next possession, completing a 1-yard pass on fourth-and-goal from the 4. Nate Stewart delivered a jarring blow to knock the receiver down short of the end zone.
Additionally, Marian leading rusher K.J. Snerr and fullback Nick Sully went down with injuries in the second quarter. Snerr eventually returned to finish his night with 189 yards on 26 carries.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Dakosty said. “The score doesn’t indicate it.
“One-yard line, 3-yard line, 1 yard line … lose our starting backfield in the second quarter didn’t help, but you’ve got to adjust to that.”
Tucker’s second field goal made it 14-0 on the Royals’ ensuing possession before Marian’s next drive ended at the Pius X 4. The teams exchanged possessions before Stewart intercepted his first pass of the night to set up an 86-yard touchdown run by Jordan for a 21-0 lead with 4:10 left in the first half.
“I’m very pleased with our guys’ effort. … Even though it looks like it’s all passing all the time, we’re best when we’re balanced — when we can do both,” Stambaugh said. “These guys had a game plan to try to take a lot of our pass away, and Tre popped off some tough runs, some long runs.”
Jordan finished with 201 yards rushing on 11 carries and also completed 9-of-17 passes for 240 yards.
“Missed assignments, but they have great athletes,” Dakosty said. “You miss assignments on those athletes, they’re going to make plays. We wish them well.”
Marian got on the board before the half when Ethan Kuczynski scored from 3 yards out to cap an 11-play, 63-yard drive to pull the Colts within 21-7 at halftime.
A 5-yard touchdown run by Snerr on the first drive of the second half pulled Marian within 21-14.
“Last week’s game against Mahanoy prepared us for what this game turned into, especially after halftime,” Stambaugh said. “We had a two-score lead and we had to rely on our defense a little bit to shut them back down.”
Pius X answered as Jordan hit Moran on a 75-yard strike to set up Nico Palma’s 3-yard TD run.
The next sequence just about put the game out of reach. With Marian driving, Stewart jumped in front of a pass and raced 80 yards for a score, breaking a tackle and cutting back across the field, to give the Royals a 35-14 edge with 4:39 left in the third quarter.
“We didn’t want to get into a punch-by-punch. We wanted to keep establishing ourselves, keep dictating how the game was gonna go rather than play their football game,” Stambaugh said. “I had a feeling that was going to happen because they’re a good team. They got here because they’re a good football team and I give them credit. They had a great season.”
Pius X added a 22-yard Tucker field goal and a 12-yard run by Jalen Simpson in the fourth quarter to set the final.
“When you’re spreading teams out like that, it’s hard to stop everything,” Stambaugh said. “It takes execution, obviously. When our kids are able to execute in those situations, run and pass the ball, it makes it tough to defend.”
Game Summary
District 11 Class A ChampionshipAt Andrew S. Leh Stadium, Nazareth Marian (8-4) 0 7 7 0 — 14
Pius X (10-2) 11 10 14 10 — 45
PX —FG Tucker 34
PX —Moran 29 pass from Jordan (Weller pass from Jordan)
PX —FG Tucker 24
PX —Jordan 86 run (Tucker kick)
M —Kuczynski 3 run (Busher kick)
M —Snerr 5 run (Busher kick)
PX —Palma 3 run (Tucker kick)
PX —Stewart 80 interception return (Tucker kick)
PX —FG Tucker 22
PX —Simpson 12 run (Tucker kick)
Mar PX
First Downs 18 14
Rushes-Yards 50-301 30-247
Passes 8-19-2 9-17-0
Passing Yards 136 240
Total Yards 437 487
Fumbles-Lost 4-3 0-0
Penalties 5-30 4-25
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Marian — Snerr 26-189, Sully 6-38, Goldberg 2-30, Litsch 5-16, Agosti 3-14, Fedorshak 1-7, Kuczynski 6-4, Neary 1-3. Pius X — Jordan 11-201, Simpson 7-41, Stewart 4-9, Palma 3-3, Woody 1-1, Team 1-(-1), Alphonso 3-(-7).
PASSING: Marian — Kuczynski 8-18-2, 136, Team 0-1-0. Pius X — Jordan 9-17-0, 240.
RECEIVING: Marian — Maskornick 3-89, Agosti 2-18, Nahas 1-15, Goldberg 1-13, Fedorshak 1-1. Pius X — Moran 3-120, Stewart 5-110, Weller 1-10.
INTERCEPTIONS: Pius X — Stewart 2.