MAHANOY CITY — All week long, the biggest question surrounding the Marian football team was whether or not senior tailback K.J. Snerr would play.
Snerr answered that question with an emphatic yes Friday night.
Snerr rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns as the Colts outlasted backyard rival Mahanoy Area 21-12 in a District 11 Class A semifinal at Alumni Stadium.
Snerr scored on runs of 14, 4 and 11 yards as third-seeded Marian (7-4) advances to next Friday’s district final at top-seeded Tri-Valley, which downed Williams Valley 36-12.
“He got hurt last week, and we missed him obviously,” Marian coach Stan Dakosty said of Snerr, who also went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season. “Tonight he came to play.”
Snerr was injured in Marian’s 31-21 loss to Tamaqua in the Colts’ regular-season finale. He showed no effects of the injury Friday, pacing a Marian rushing attack that finished with 161 yards on 32 carries.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder capped a six-play, 38-yard drive on Marian’s first possession with a 14-yard TD run. Snerr then made it 14-0 early in the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-goal play.
On both touchdown runs, the play was designed to go inside, but Snerr bounced off the first defender, took the play to the outside and got into the end zone.
“Our line played great this week,” Snerr said. “They’ve had their ups and downs this whole year, but they really played great for us tonight.
“That was our whole scheme coming in. We wanted to get up on them early. We got good field position all night, and we were able to capitalize on it.”
A key play on Marian’s second scoring strike was a 47-yard halfback option pass from Snerr to quarterback Ethan Kuczynski. The Colts were driving into a stiff wind at the time, and the play came in a third-and-8 situation.
“We work on that all the time. That’s like our secret weapon,” Snerr said. “We’ve really perfected it.”
Mahanoy Area (6-5), hosting a District 11 playoff game for the first time and searching for its first-ever District 11 playoff victory, made things interesting with a pair of touchdown runs by Mason Ryan.
Ryan capped a 10-play, 61-yard drive midway through the second quarter with a 1-yard keeper, then put the finishing touches on an 11-play, 42-yard drive on the Bears’ first possession of the third quarter with an 11-yard run.
On both touchdowns, however, Mahanoy Area was unable to successfully complete the conversion try.
After Ryan’s first score, a 5-yard procedure penalty wiped out a successful conversion kick, and the Bears’ attempt to go for two points failed. After his second TD, Matt Yedsena was stopped short on a reverse play.
“We felt good because our first extra point we were kicking with the wind, but we bobbled the snap and got a penalty on it,” Mahanoy Area coach Dave Holman said. “We called a two-point play and it didn’t work. After that, we were going for two to get back in it.
“When you’re playing games of this magnitude, those little things matter.”
Marian essentially put the game away with a nine-play, 40-yard drive immediately after Ryan’s second TD. A key 6-yard pass from Kuczynski to Mike Neary on fourth-and-4 at the Bears’ 23 kept the drive alive, and Snerr scored from the 11 to make it 21-12 with 1:09 left in the third.
Mahanoy Area had the ball three more times, but failed to get past the Marian 46-yard line on any of the possessions. All three possessions ended with a turnover on downs.
Ryan rushed for 119 yards on 22 carries and tailback Lenny Dulsky had 16 carries for 65 yards, but for the most part Marian’s defense controlled the Mahanoy Area ground game.
The Golden Bears’ biggest play from scrimmage was a 23-yard run by Ryan in the first quarter, and the nine-point deficit forced Mahanoy Area to throw the ball 14 times in the second half, something the Bears don’t do often.
Kyle Plesh and Josh Skotek had big games up front, while linebackers Nathan Litsch, Neary and Gunnar Rehrig were always around the football.
“Defensively, to hold them to 12 points is great,” Dakosty said. “Our whole defense, it’s a team defense against that type of offense. You have to play your assignments, and our kids were very disciplined tonight. That was a key to our victory.”
While the Colts advance to the District 11 final for the second straight season, Holman had to say goodbye to a talented group of 11 seniors that resurrected the Mahanoy Area football program.
That group, which includes Ryan, Dulsky, Yedsena, wingback Mike Wronski and offensive lineman Nolan Fegley, won 19 games over the past three seasons and reached the playoffs three straight years.
“My first year, these seniors were the freshmen that were in. Most of them started that year,” Holman said. “We took our lumps, went 2-8, but got better and better every year.
“I’m sad to see them go. I enjoyed being around them. They set the bar very high for the underclassmen.”
Game Summary
District 11 Class A Semifinal
Marian (7-4) 7 7 7 0 — 21
Mahanoy (6-5) 0 6 6 0 — 12
Mar — Snerr 14 run (Buscher kick)
Mar — Snerr 4 run (Buscher kick)
MA — Ryan 1 run (run failed)
MA — Ryan 11 run (run failed)
Mar — Snerr 11 run (Buscher kick)
Marian MA
First Downs 15 15
Rushes-Yards 32-161 41-179
Passes 6-11-2 8-18-0
Passing Yards 117 64
Total Yards 278 243
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties 6-55 7-50
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Marian — Snerr 17-117, Neary 9-38, Nause 4-15, Kuczynski 2-(-9). Mahanoy Area — Ryan 22-119, Dulsky 16-65, Wronski 3-(-5).
PASSING: Marian — Kuczynski 5-10-2, 70; Snerr 1-1-0, 47. Mahanoy Area — Ryan 8-18-0, 64.
RECEIVING: Marian — DeAngelo 3-67, Kuczynski 1-47, Neary 1-6, Nause 1-(-3). Mahanoy Area — Wronski 3-27, Yedsena 3-19, Lewandowski 2-18.
INTERCEPTIONS: Mahanoy Area — Fegley, Yedsena