Colts riding wave of momentum – Hazleton Standard Speaker

For a young Marian football team, the splash of cold water came during the Colts’ preseason scrimmage against Upper Dauphin.

Back then, the Colts were still in a state of flux.

A little more than a month later, however, they remain the area’s lone unbeaten team through four games and are favored to make it five straight at Mahanoy Area on Friday night. They’ve even climbed into the No. 10 spot in the latest state Class A rankings according to Pennlive.com.

Surprising?

Maybe to those outside the program.

To those within?

Not so much.

“Going into the season, we knew we had the talent,” Billy O’Gurek, Marian’s second-year head coach, said earlier this week. “It was just a matter of when that talent would marry with the game experience we lacked.”

The Colts graduated 12 key contributors from last season, including eight who started on the offensive and defensive lines. Many were regulars for multiple seasons. They endured the most difficult stretch in program history as underclassmen, but they stuck together to help fuel the Colts’ renaissance and their run to the District 11 Class A final in 2023.

Mostly varsity newcomers filled the breach, hoping to ride the program’s momentum established by their predecessors.

“While we liked the guys we had at some spots, you just weren’t sure how they would respond to varsity situations,” O’Gurek said. “We’ve still had some growing pains at times, which is expected of a young team with only five seniors, but the way we have played early this season has been encouraging.”

The Colts’ new core that started taking shape back in offseason workouts was tested on that hot, sticky August morning in Lykens where not everything went according to plan.

“We had a tough scrimmage at Upper Dauphin,” O’Gurek recalled. “I think that sort of served as wake-up call to our guys.”

His guys responded with a solid week of practice heading into the season opener at Hanover Area, a team that the Colts drilled, 35-0, in Week 1 of the 2024 season.

Of course, that was then.

This is now.

“We had such a quick start …against a Hanover team that looks better than anyone expected, and I think that gave a lot of confidence to our players,” O’Gurek said. “We flew around the first half making plays on offense and defense, and the next thing you knew, we were up by three touchdowns. That was sort of the ‘light bulb’ for our guys. (They felt that) ‘we can compete and be pretty good.’”

The morale boost from Marian’s 42-24 victory over the Hawkeyes spilled into a 17-14 triumph over Tri-Valley in a Week 2 rock fight, showing the Colts were fast learning how to win in different ways but to win nonetheless.

Their defense stymied the Bulldogs’ potent attack at nearly every turn, limiting Tri-Valley to 72 yards from scrimmage and only four first downs and forcing three turnovers, including a fumble that Damian Rodino returned 55 yards for a touchdown.

Marian’s offense revved back up in the second half of a 39-12 win over Panther Valley and again in a 34-6 rout of Shenandoah Valley in Weeks 3 and 4, respectively.

The Colts will look for more consistency in different aspect of the game keep their momentum going. O’Gurek cited their running game and pass defense as two examples. The more holes that their revamped offensive line can for star running back Rory Dixon, the more play making opportunities for quarterback Gregory Tirpak, Tyler Price, Rocco Griguoli and Jake Tom are created, O’Gurek said.

“My hope is that we still have peak that we haven’t reached yet,” he said. “It’s nice to be 4-0, but we want to be playing our best football come playoff time. The early season success has been nice and has put us in a great position for the postseason. As we gain more experience going forward, I really think we can round into a good football team.”

O’Gurek, his staff and players are well aware that the meat of Marian’s schedule still lies ahead. Tri-Valley has been the Colts’ only opponent with a winning record thus far.

After taking on winless Mahanoy Area this week, they face Minersville, Schuylkill Haven and Williams Valley in successive weeks, teams with a combined 11-1 record to date. The Colts then will close the regular season against Pine Grove and Nativity.

By then, Marian should have a District 2/11 Class A Subregional playoff berth sewed up; their “wake-up” at Upper Dauphin a distant memory.

“(We) just try to keep our focus on the task at hand,” O’Gurek said. “This week that’s a Mahanoy Area team that’s one of our biggest rivals who happened to knock us off last season. It’s also an opportunity (for) us to start 5-0 for the first time since 2006. Our guys have accepted that challenge and embraced the possibility of that start.”

No matter who or what came beforehand and what comes afterward.

“We know we have a three-game grind coming up, but that won’t define our season,” O’Gurek insisted. “We intend to do whatever is needed to be successful each and every week, but come October, we want to be in position to win a championship.

“If we continue to focus on the task each week, the rest will care of itself.”