HEGINS - To win a championship you need to make championship plays. Otherwise it could be just for naught.

A year ago, at this same juncture in time, the Marian football team never could come up with an answer in struggling to find a way to out-maneuver a now defunct Pius X High School in the District 11, Class A football title game.Now nearly 365 days later, the Colts wallowed in a victory euphoria here where they spanked a very talented Tri-Valley team 33-0 to claim their first gold medal since 2007."You need to make plays in a game like this," said Marian head coach Stan Dakosty prior to covering his players with individual gold medals. "I knew coming in that we were (capable) of winning the game, but not (by) this score.Surely good times find a way to make breaks, including these Colts and in particular one player. Josh Skotek made the play of his life when he stripped the ball out of the hands of quarterback Jaden Buchanan near the Marian three.It looked like the Bulldogs were going to put a six on the board and cut into the 13-0 deficit and without a doubt turn momentum back to their corner. Instead, the ball popped into the air and Skotek embraced it, then took off.As he hit midfield he could hear his teammate Hunter Nause "keep going, keep going, keep going." Indeed Skotek kept going right across the goal line nearly the entire length of the field, almost tripping twice before finding the end zone.All week long the Colts practiced stripping the ball in drills."It paid off," said Skotek, who is a 5-11, 225-pound senior nose guard and right guard on offense."Give them credit for a good defensive play," said Ulicny. "They made plays and we didn't. We had chances, for sure. He made a championship play…he's tough."That was just one of many big plays that Marian made en route to the end result. Senior running back KJ Snerr was nearly perfect on this night for he rushed for 190 yards, scored four touchdowns, and intercepted a pass.Snerr's first visit to the end zone came on the opening offensive series of the game. The quick-footed halfback darted six yards into the end zone with 9:36 on the clock, in a drive that featured two pass completions from Ethan Kuczynski; the first to Aaron DeAngelo for 40 yards and the second for 24 yards to Nause at the nine.Before you could say fiddlesticks, the Colts came up with a turnover when Snerr picked off a pass at the Tri-Valley 31. Four players later he slithered into the end zone, for a 13-0 lead.Tri-Valley seemed to settle its feet on the ensuing series. Buchanan was stellar as he led his team on a drive that started at their own 44. He used a nifty trap play out of the wildcat to race 40 yards on second down, before adding runs of 8, 8 and 3. And then the roof caved in on the very next play, the one Skotek reversed the momentum and put the Colts into a championship mode."We never lost sight of what we needed to accomplish in order to get to this point," suggested two-way lineman Kyle Plesh. "In a season there are going to be ups and downs, but you just got to remain focused."Certainly, the Colts had been in a rut at midseason, but turned the tables, and even came off the floor after losing in the season finale to Tamaqua to win two playoff games. And before Tri-Valley could find a way of its own to rally, Marian put the dampers on any of those spirited thoughts with two more touchdowns, both from Snerr.The biggest run of the night came on a 70-yard sprint by Snerr, as he zoomed in to the end zone with 9:47 to play in the third stanza.And there was one more for the good by Snerr. This one was a nifty 10-yard reception in a tight window thrown by Kuczynski before Tim Busher added the closing point with the PAT kick."Our line blocked beautifully," said Snerr. "I can't thank my guys enough, just the way they worked, the way they came out, it was really impressive they did a great job this whole season."KNOCKING EM DOWN… Plesh and Snerr both had 10 tackles for the Colts,and Skotek had six in the first half before leaving with an injury. Gunnar Rehrig was an unsung hero with 12 tackles for Marian. Snerr also had 10.UNABLE TO PLAY… Mason Evitts transferred from Mahanoy Area a year ago, but was ineligible to play. Dakosty praised the senior for showing up at all the practices. "He is a part of this team even though he couldn't play he practiced all season."SCORING MACHINE… Snerr started his career at quarterback, was injured in his sophomore year, then switched to running back. He has scored 303 points in his career.UP NEXT… Marian plays Bishop McDevitt of Philadelphia next either Friday or Saturday. No it is not the powerhouse McDevitt from Harrisburg.