PINE GROVE - Almost four years ago to the date, an unknown Marian freshman quarterback was thrown directly into the fire during an Eastern Conference Football playoff game against Muncy.

The young quarterback wasn't fazed. In fact, he thrived in the moment.Ethan Kuczynski's debut was one for the ages.Kuczynski threw for 168 yards and four scores during his first-career varsity start.Little did the rest of the District 11 and Times News area know that his performance was a sign of big things to come.After the Muncy game, Kuczynski said that his team "helped him a lot."Four years later, it's obvious that he has helped his team a lot as well.Kuczynski has put his name among the top quarterbacks in Marian's rich football history, collecting accolades and hardware along the way.The senior signalcaller has four championship games under his belt. He won an Eastern Conference title his freshman year following his heroics against Muncy. Since then, he has appeared in three-straight District 11 title games."We wouldn't have been able to do what we did the last three or four years without Ethan Kuczynski," said Marian head coach Stan Dakosty. "We had a great relationship and he represented our program first class for four years. He's a true student of the game."Although Marian was defeated by Williams Valley on Friday in his final-career varsity start, Kuczynski ended his career the way he started - by finding the end zone multiple times. The senior threw a pair of touchdowns and also sprinted for a 65-yard score in the losing effort. Kuczynski's three scores gives him a total of 18 for the season."I've had great effort from my seniors all year," Dakosty said. "There was certainly no lack of effort. You have to credit Williams Valley tonight. They kept plugging away and took advantage of some things."On top of Kuczynski's knack for finding the pylon, the senior will finish his career third on the Colts' on the all-time passing yards list behind former Marian greats Brent Andrew and Brian Kennedy. Kuczynski has thrown for over 4,000 yards, has 255 completions, and 46-career passing touchdowns."He is one of the best that we've ever had," said Dakosty. "He's a great player and a great leader. Ethan wants to play at the next level and hopefully we can get him situated. We're going to miss him."Not only has Kuczynski excelled on offense, but has been a consistent starter in Marian's secondary this season. The speedster recorded an interception this season and had multiple pass-deflections, including a major one during a one-on-one coverage situation in the title game against the Vikings on Friday (which can be seen on the Times News Sports Facebook Page)."He gave us great defense this year," Dakosty said. "He is a true warrior, and an excellent football player and young man. He will be greatly missed by this program."As impressive as Kuczynski's individual numbers are, the best way to appreciate what he did in his career is to look at what his team accomplished under his guidance.Nine postseason games.Six playoff victories.Four years of qualifying for the postseason.Three times in the District 11 playoffs.Two postseason championships.One PIAA state tournament appearance.The numbers really do speak for themselves.