HS Football: ‘Gritty’ defensive effort pushes Colts past Tri-Valley
Marian quarterback Greg Tirpak drops back to pass during Friday's win over Tri-Valley at Stan Dakosty Field at Men of Marian Stadium (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
HOMETOWN — Marian coach Billy O’Gurek couldn’t be prouder of his defense Friday night.
He had good reason.
The Colts stifled Tri-Valley’s offense from start to finish en route to a 17-14 victory over the Dawgs in a Schuylkill-Colonial Blue Division game at Stan Dakosty Field at Men of Marian Stadium.
Marian forced three turnovers, including a 55-yard fumble return by Damian Rodino for a touchdown, and held Tri-Valley to just four first downs and 72 total yards.
The victory improves the Colts to 2-0 overall, 1-0 in league play.
“Unreal,” O’Gurek said of his defensive unit, giving credit to defensive coordinator J.D. Hackenberg. “That was a gritty, gritty performance the way we were able to play, especially our run defense. We cleaned up our pass defense and got pressure on (Trey) Porter. It was a great performance.”
Marian’s defensive excellence started up front.
The line of defensive ends Rocco Griguoli and Jason Ashfield and tackles Dominick Rodino and Billy Ebert were in the backfield all night, while linebackers Jah Bushati and Damian Rodino continually made tackles.
Tri-Valley, which rushed for 248 yards in its season-opening win over York Catholic, was held to 30 yards rushing on 19 carries. The Colts had five tackles for loss and allowed only one rush for more than 10 yards.
Tri-Valley punted seven times. Parker Hatter led the Dawgs with 49 yards rushing on 14 carries. Sophomore quarterback Trey Porter struggled, completing just 3-of-15 passes for 42 yards and two interceptions.
“We always try to establish the run game and tonight we just didn’t do it,” Tri-Valley coach Jeff Sampson said. “They ran an excellent defensive game plan against us and we couldn’t get jump-started. Even in our passing game they were blitzing, they were in our face.
“We didn’t play well up front. Most of the time Trey had bodies in his face and they were in the backfield before we got to the line of scrimmage.”
Marian’s defense set the tone for its strong performance on Tri-Valley’s opening series when Dominick Rodino tossed Porter for a 10-yard loss on the Dawgs’ second play.
On Tri-Valley’s second series, Damian Rodino stepped to the fore, slicing into the backfield and catching a toss from Porter to Hatter and going the other way 55 yards for a touchdown.
“It was huge,” O’Gurek said of the defensive score. “We were a little slow to start off and that let our kids know we could play in this game and that we could hang with these guys.”
Marian’s offense wasn’t great, but the Colts made big plays when they had to.
Early in the second quarter, Marian put together a 14-play, 58-yard drive that ended with a 31-yard field goal by Bushati for a 10-0 lead. The key play was a 38-yard run on a fake punt by Jake Tom that moved the ball to the Tri-Valley 23.
“We’ve been working on that punt since the summer. We’ve been talking about it, we’ve been saving it,” Tom said. “I saw how deep they played and I said, ‘Coach, Coach,’ and he called it. It came out good.”
Marian extended its lead to 17-0 on its next possession when Tirpak connected with Tyler Price on an 85-yard touchdown pass.
The Colts were facing third-and-5 at their own 15 but Price drew 1-on-1 coverage on the outside and beat the defender off the ball. Tirpak laid in a perfectly thrown ball that Price caught in stride and was off to the races for the score.
“We saw their starting corner get injured,” said Price, who hauled in four passes for 105 yards. “They put in a small corner who didn’t have a lot of playing time. We said let’s take advantage of him and it worked out for us.”
Tri-Valley (1-1, 0-1 Blue) got on the board right before halftime on a 7-yard run by Hatter. The Dawgs played much better defensively in the second half but couldn’t move the ball offensively.
The Bulldogs got the break they were looking for with 6:05 remaining in the contest when Lucas Schwartz stepped in front of a bubble pass and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown to make it 17-14.
The Dawgs then got a pair of defensive stops to give themselves a chance to win it, but Marian’s defense rose to the occasion each time with interceptions by Tom and Price.
Marian’s win avenged a pair of losses last season to the Colts, 24-0 in the regular season and 27-0 in the District 2/11 Class A subregional semifinals.
“It feels great,” O’Gurek said afterward. “We talked earlier this week, if we want to go the places we want to go, we have to beat teams like (Tri-Valley). For us, it’s reassuring to our players that we can play in these type of games.”
