HOMETOWN — There was very little for Marian to be disappointed with Friday night.
The Colts scored 28 points in less than 10 minutes, totaled more than 400 yards of offense and held Shenandoah Valley to fewer than 100 yards.
As Marian closes on a playoff run and a Week 10 rivalry game against Tamaqua, veteran coach Stan Dakosty was pretty pleased with his surging Colts following a 41-0 win over the Blue Devils in an Anthracite Football League contest at Men of Marian Stadium.
Maybe the only thing Dakosty found disappointing was not putting the game away before halftime.
“That was my only little disappointment,” Dakosty said. “I thought that by halftime, and that’s no disrespect, but we’re in position to put the game away at halftime, and we didn’t. That’s football. The kids are playing well now.”
The Colts (6-3, 5-3 AFL) are playing so well that with 2:23 left in the opening quarter K.J. Snerr was well on his way to another 100-yard rushing effort and Ethan Kuczynski would finish with a 171-yard night through the air, including a 71-yard toss to Snerr on which the receiver made an adjustment on the ball before breaking a tackle and sprinting down the sideline to paydirt.
Snerr finished with 127 yards rushing, a pair of catches for 78 yards and five total touchdowns, increasing his season totals to 901 yards rushing and 15 scores.
“K.J. is back at full speed,” Dakosty noted. “He has been for three weeks. You see the difference in us now.
“I thought Ethan threw the ball well. We were able to throw it, then we had to lay off a little bit.
“Overall, I’m very pleased with the way our kids played.”
Snerr scored on touchdown runs of 7, 5, 16 and 22 yards to go along with the TD reception.
Defensively, the Colts shut down Shenandoah Valley’s offense, limiting the Blue Devils to just 87 total yards.
The Blue Devils (2-7, 2-7) gained most of that ground on a 13-play, 38-yard march midway through the second quarter.
“We had some things clicking all game that we saw in their coverage,” Shenandoah Valley coach Kevin Bolinsky said. “It’s just sometimes pressure got there to us. I was happy with Ian’s reads tonight. It’s a game of inches. We were inches away on probably about a dozen quick posts, hitches.
“They’re good up front. Their defensive front — it’s hard to push around.”
Quarterback Ian McCole finished 9-of-21 for 43 yards, while Jeremy Urbanavage gained 29 yards on 10 carries.
Trailing 28-0 early in the game limited what the Blue Devils could do from a play-calling standpoint offensively.
“At every point in the game, we still want to be able to run the ball,” Bolinsky said. “That’s your main stress. There’s no secret, to have success here at any level, you’ve got to be able to run the ball. That’s what we come out, stress a lot about running the ball, make corrections (and) make adjustments. In this league, coaches are too tough with secondaries. There’s too many athletes in this league to chuck it up that much.”
Defensively, Marian put the clamps to the Blue Devils.
“Our defense is playing well,” Dakosty said. “Nate Litsch is playing outstanding linebacker. We have a freshman, Seth Paluck, who’s starting for us now at linebacker (and) playing really well. Our secondary was tested because we knew they were going to throw the ball. Under 100 yards, a ton of credit to our secondary. Under 100 yards … that’s great.”
Game Summary
SV (2-7, 2-7) 0 0 0 0 — 0
Mar (6-3, 5-3) 28 0 13 0 — 41
M — Snerr 7 run (Busher kick)
M — Snerr 71 pass from Kuczynski (Busher kick)
M — Nause 13 run (Busher kick)
M — Snerr 5 run (Busher kick)
M — Snerr 16 run (kick failed)
M — Snerr 22 run (Snerr kick)
SV Mar
First Downs 8 20
Rushes-Yards 27-44 34-238
Passes 9-21-0 8-12-1
Passing Yards 43 171
Total Yards 87 409
Fumbles-Lost 3-0 2-1
Penalties 2-20 3-25
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Shenandoah Valley — Urbanavage 10-29, McCole 10-12, Morales 4-12, Labosky 1-2, Allegretta 1-1, Team 1-(-12). Marian — Snerr 17-127, Nause 4-48, Kuczynski 3-20, Xavier 5-18, Nolter 2-15, Dubravski 1-13, Mussoline 1-(-1), Litsch 1-(-2).
PASSING: Shenandoah Valley — McCole 9-21-0, 43. Marian — Kuczynski 8-12-1, 171.
RECEIVING: Shenandoah Valley — Allegretta 1-17, Santana 6-14, Urbanavage 1-11, Morales 1-1. Marian — Snerr 2-78, DeAngelo 3-39, Moore 1-37, Collevechio 1-12, Litsch 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS: Shenandoah Valley — Santana.