Big-time players make big-time plays.

And fortunately for Marian, it has some big-time players.With their offense not able to sustain long drives throughout the evening, the Colts' marquee players made up for it.Ethan Kuczynski connected with Aaron DeAngelo for three touchdown passes, including a momentum-changing 91-yarder late in the second quarter, to lift the Colts to a hard-fought 27-6 Anthracite League win over rival Panther Valley."Our guys made some big plays," said Marian head coach Stan Dakosty. "We've got to be more consistent on offense, and you can credit PV for not allowing us to establish a rhythm."But we took some shots and they worked for us and we won the ballgame."Kuczynski and DeAngelo seemed to be on the same page all night long. The duo hooked up seven times for 229 yards, including scoring tosses of 33, 35 and the 91-yarder. Even in an ironic twist, the two fell to the turf at about the same time after cramping up following one of their completions."Ethan always knows where I am," said DeAngelo. "We work off the field all the time. We work, throw, plan routes. He just always knows where I am.""Those touchdowns don't happen by accident," said Dakosty. "After every workout you see them throw the ball and stay after practice 15 to 20 minutes to work together."That worked payed off in a big way late in the first half against the Panthers.With Marian (2-0) holding a 7-6 advantage, PV received a 51-yard run from freshman Rene Figueroa to reach the red zone. The Panthers eventually had a first-and-goal at the five and were looking to take the lead, but two running plays netted no yards and two incompletions followed after that.On the second play after Marian took over, Kuczynski threw deep and hit DeAngelo in stride for the 91-yarder that pushed the Colts lead to 14-6."I felt we really needed to take a shot there," said Dakosty. "We really needed a shot of adrenaline. We thought we had a matchup we liked right there and we let it rip. Ethan put it right on the money and that really allowed us to take a breath.""Our defense played awesome, but we just can't give up big plays," said Panther head coach Matt Davis. "We're not that good of a team or program right now that we can allow teams to get 90-yard touchdown passes on us, especially after a change of events like that. It killed the momentum. It killed the emotion."When we made them drive the ball, we were fine. Our kids played with a ton of heart and left it on the field. I'm very proud of them."Marian scored on its first play of the second half to up the margin to 21-6. After DeAngelo hauled in a pass, a PV defender slipped allowing the Colt receiver to break free for a 35-yard score.The Panthers (0-2) still battled, though, moving inside Marian's 30-yard line on two occasions. Unfortunately for them, one ended with an interception and the other was stalled on downs.Kuczynski, who finished with 257 passing yards, sealed the contest after PV was stopped on fourth down. The junior quarterback broke loose for an 80-yard scoring run to set the final score."PV really battled us tough and that doesn't surprise me," said Dakosty. "It's a rivalry and we knew we'd get their best shot."COLT ON THE RUN ... While Marian's passing game excelled, the Colts also benefited from the running of K.J. Snerr. The senior ran 26 times for 114 yards and prompted DeAngelo to comment, "K.J. opens things up for our receivers. Everybody keys on him with the run, run, run and every once in a while we pull up and throw. It's great to be out on the edge when that happens."FANTASTIC FROSH ... Figueroa made his presence known throughout the evening. Besides the 51-yard run mentioned above, the freshman scored the Panthers only touchdown on a 14-yard scamper. The ninth grader is an elusive runner, making tacklers miss often. He finished with 108 yards on the ground.BIG PLAYS RULE ... Marian racked up 447 yards of offense. Over half the yards came on the four touchdown plays, Those four scores netted 239 yards while the other 43 accounted for 208.PV HITTERS ... Ali Capobianco and Nate Miller both had strong defensive games. Capobianco had an interception, a tackle for loss and a big hit on special teams. Miller had three tackles for loss, including a sack, and a fumble recovery.