Marian's best stretch of football this season looked like it might not be enough.

A huge Colt lead had evaporated in what seemed like the blink of an eye.North Schuylkill was riding a wave of momentum and looked poised to put the finishing touches on an incredible comeback victory.But just when things appeared to be at their darkest for Marian, a pair of seniors stepped up to light the way.Thanks to huge contributions from Lucas Damian and Stephen Hall, Marian was able to turn a potential blackout into a brilliant sunrise.The result was a 27-26 upset of the Spartans in an Anthracite Football League thriller in Hometown."This is one of our best wins in a long time," said Marian coach Stan Dakosty. "North Schuylkill is a great team and take their best shot like we did tonight and still find a way to fight back and win the game speaks volumes about the character of our kids."The Spartans' best shot that Dakosty was referring to was a four touchdown, 26-point outburst in an incredible 6:28 of playing time. The North Schuylkill run came in the closing minutes of the second quarter and the start of the third quarter. It turned a seemingly comfortable 21-0 Marian lead into a 26-21 Spartan advantage."We told our kids that North Schuylkill wasn't going down without a fight and obviously they didn't," said Dakosty. "They had us back on our heels for a little while, but I extremely proud of how our players answered the challenge when North Schuylkill took the lead."Nobody did that better than Hall and Damian.First, Hall came up with the first of four second half Spartan turnovers when he recovered a fumble on the North Schuylkill 30-yard line midway through the third quarter."Stephen Hall was all over the field tonight," said Dakosty after watching his two-way lineman make 11 tackles, get a quarterback sack, and recover a pair of fumbles.It was Damian's turn to step up next.Stepping in to play quarterback after starter K.J. Snerr's huge night ended when he suffered a shoulder injury on the preceding Colt possession, Damian pounded the Spartan defense.Four straight Damian carries out of the Colts' pistol formation produced the go-ahead touchdown. The final carry was a 12-yard run where Damian ran over or through a half dozen defenders."Lucas just put the team on his shoulders and carried us in that drive," said Dakosty. "He plays split end, tight end, slotback and when we need him like we did tonight, he can step in and play quarterback. He's an incredible athlete."When K.J. went down, he stepped up and led us in for the go-ahead score. He's an absolute warrior."Damian said stepping in to play quarterback in the second half of a tight game wasn't a problem."I always take a couple of reps at quarterback during practice in case something happens that I'm needed there," said Damian. "K.J. played a great game (16 carries, 162 yards, two touchdowns), but when he got hurt, I knew I had to try to make some plays to help us out."On the touchdown drive, I got great blocking from the line and I was determined to help us capitalize on the turnover."After the Colts took the lead, they still had 18 minutes to protect a slim one-point edge against a North Schuylkill team that had scored on four of its previous five possessions.The Marian defense answered the call, however, as the Spartans' last five possessions of the game produced just three first downs and three more turnovers."Marian played a great game," said North Schuylkill coach Wally Hall. "They had us on the ropes early, but our kids battled back and we had a great chance to get out of here with a win. We just couldn't finish."You can't turn the ball over like we did and expect to win games."