Marian and Shenandoah Valley compete during Friday night's game in Shenandoah. (Photo by Skook News)

SHENANDOAH – Marian’s roadrunners were about to take off and leave Shenandoah Valley flat-footed Friday evening in a clash between two diehard football programs.

The Colts were sailing along, uncontested if you will.

But suddenly a determined band of Blue Devils found some moxie, some guile, but just didn’t have quite enough to overtake Marian, falling 47-23 in a Schuylkill/Colonial Blue Division game. The win elevates the Colts to 2-2 on the season, Shenandoah Valley falling to 0-4.

“I can’t say enough about that football team. They put their noses in and battled us, very hard,” first-year Marian coach Billy O’Gurek said of Shenandoah Valley.

Surely, O’Gurek was pleased with the way his gang dominated early. The Colts quickly took a 34-2 lead. They found a sturdy new offensive weapon in their Division-I athlete Mike Gelatko, who hauled in a 39-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Rodino in the first quarter, then switched to running back, powering for a nifty 14-year run to the end zone unscathed.

“Hey, he’s a D-I player and we want to put the ball in his hands as many times as we can,” O’Gurek said.

And when the big stud wasn’t carrying the payload, swift-footed Rory Dixon was at the forefront, rushing for 131 yards on 15 carries, including touchdown runs of 11 and 18 yards.

Despite the deficit, Shenandoah Valley never backed off. The Blue Devils may have been feeling a sting, but their spirit was far from removed. They rallied around a sophomore Joel Nunez and freshman quarterback Ethan Bench. Nunez is something special, quick-footed, speedy, too. He hit the end zone twice, once on a 65-yard scintillating race to the end zone, outpacing the Marian defense. That touchdown excursion seemed to give a bit of battle cry. Prior to the Nunez scoot, the defense pushed Marian back into its own end zone for a safety.

However, the Colts answered quickly, marching 62 yards in five plays, with Tyler Price cashing in on an 8-yard run. Seventeen seconds later, Marian’s defense had a 50-yard interception return by Mike Johnson.

Meanwhile, Nunez was far from folding any tent. He cleverly picked off a pass in the flat, never broke stride racing to the end zone with a 40-yard touchdown run. Bam, the Blue Devils were pressing Marian down 34-16 and feeling like a team that belonged.

“I can’t say enough about Nunez,” first-year Shenandoah Valley head coach Dave Bench said.

He knows there are holes to be addressed and quickly pointed out: “… we’ve got to pick up our blocking. We gained some momentum in the (second quarter) going into the half.”

However, a seasoned Marian team reached back to score a pair of touchdowns to open the second half. First, Hunter Sartori blazed 30 yards to the end zone, capping a well-executed eight-play, 73-yard march. Three minutes later, Dixon was rocking the boat with his 18-yard touchdown and a comfortable 47-16 lead with 3:33 to play in the third quarter.

Shenandoah Valley still had some answers, coming up with its biggest scoring play of the young season. Riding the speedy legs of another promising sophomore, Todd Seiger hooked up with Bench on a nifty 64-yard scoring pass with 4:27 remaining in the game.

“We made too many mistakes,” O’Gurek said about the way his team needed to regroup. “I thought we had a bit of a letdown for a while. I told Dave (Bench) that his team is getting better. We’ve got to look at some things and get back to playing more consistent.”

THREE TIMES … Marian engaged a trio of quarterbacks. Rodino, Nick Shigo and freshman Greg Tirpak. Marian threw only five times but had two picks by SV, one each from Nunez, a pick-six, and sophomore Mike Elchisak.

GRIND GRIND GRIND … Marian engaged the running attack. It posted 251 yards on the ground, getting but 39 passing. The Blue Devils mustered 136 on the ground and 105 passing.

NEW LOOK … Marian stacked the backfield and ran counter action. It paved the way for Gelatko to score his six on a 3-yard run. It also enabled Dixon to find holes inside.

Both teams play next Saturday evening: Marian hosts rival Mahanoy Area for homecoming; the Blue Devils are at Pine Grove’s homecoming.

Game Summary

Marian 47, Shenandoah Valley 23

Marian (3-1, 2-1 Blue) 20 14 13 0 — 47

SV (0-4, 0-3 Blue) 0 16 0 7 – 23

M – Gelatko 39 pass from Rodino (Bushati kick)

M – Dixon 11 run (kick failed)

M – Gelatko 3 run (Bushati kick)

SV – Team safety

M – Price 8 run (Bushati kick)

M – Johnson 50 interception return (Bushati kick)

SV – Nunez 65 run (Mentusky kick)

SV – Nunez 40 interception return (Mentusky kick)

M – Sartori 30 run (Bushati kick)

M —  Dixon 18 run (Bushati kick)

SV – Seiger 64 pass from Bench (Mentusky kick)

Team statistics

Mar-SV

First Downs —- 13  6

Rushes-Yards — 35-249  17-136

Passes —- 1-5-2  6-13-3

Passing Yards —- 39  102

Total Yards —- 290  238

Fumbles/Lost —- 2-1  2-1

Penalties — 4-35  3-30

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Marian – Dixon 15-131, Ashfield 7-48, Sartori 2-30, Steibler 5-23, Gelatko 2-21, Price 1-8, Charlie Hower 1-6, Rodino 1-(-2), Acosta 1-(-3), Shigo 1-(-13). Shenandoah Valley – Nunez 11-91, Bench 2-(-6), Karosas 1-4, Elchiask 1-(-5), Burrows 1-(-6), Reyes 1-(-6).

PASSING: Marian – Rodino 1-3-2, 39; Shigo 0-1-0, 0; Tirpak 0-1-0, 0. Shenandoah Valley – Bench 6-11-2, 80; Karosas 0-2-0, 0

RECEIVING: Marian – Gelatko 1-39. Shenandoah Valley – Seiger 2-64, Reyes 2-6, Burrows 2-10.

INTERCEPTIONS: Marian – Johnson, Chazz Hower, Bushati. Shenandoah Valley – Nunez, Elchisak