NORTHAMPTON - Catasauqua head coach Travis Brett knows exactly what Marian’s football team is going through this season.

The second-year mentor was the school’s middle school coach in 2018 and 2019 when the varsity squad was going through a transition period and posted a combined 1-21 record.

Brett has the Rough Riders headed in the right direction, improving to 3-0 after Friday night’s 42-6 victory over the Colts. But he still remembers all the growing pains.

While that’s the situation Stan Dakosty and his club face right now, the Catty coach knows there are brighter days ahead for the Hometown faithful.

“I said to Stan, I don’t won’t to play them in a couple years, they’re going to be a solid team,” said Brett. “They have a lot of young guys and only have a few seniors. They’re going to be a tough team. If Stan sticks around, he’s going to bring them back.”

One of the young guys Brett was referring to was Bruce Hopeck. The sophomore quarterback took over in the second half with the game out of reach, but stood tall in the pocket and threw the ball well. Hopeck completed three passes, including an 18-yard scoring strike to freshman Michael Gelatko.

With that showing, Dakosty may have found his quarterback of the future.

“That could be,” said the veteran coach. “We’ll see what happens. He’s been looking really good at practice. That’s one positive out of tonight.

“But that was one of the worst-played first halves we’ve played in a while. We just can’t let some of that stuff happen. We’ll get back to the drawing board and try and get some things done.”

The Colts gave up big plays, had an untimely turnover and were flagged for numerous penalties in the opening two quarters. Their offense couldn’t move the ball, gaining just one yard of offense in 19 plays.

Catty didn’t have those problems, scoring on four of its six possessions in the first half.

Hunter Reitz got the Roughies on the board first, as his 37-yard run set up his own 2-yard tally. Elijah Soler made it 14-0 early in the second frame on a draw play, as he picked his way through the Marian defense for a 43-yard scoring run.

After a fumble, Soler found the end zone again, taking a toss and scooting nine yards to extend the margin and keep Catty’s ground game humming - something their head coach wasn’t expecting to do.

“No, actually that wasn’t the gameplan,” said Brett. “We actually wanted to air it out a little more tonight, but the run was working and Soler was running pretty hard there, so we just kept with it.

“We were a little concerened about their backers, because they bring them quite often. We weren’t getting to sthat level to block their backers, so we started going outside a little bit more there and it was successful.”

The Roughies did get a chance to throw the ball late in the half as they took over possession with under a minute to play. Quarterback Christian Fye moved away from pressure and fired the ball downfield, finding Wyatt Younes for what turned into a 66-yard touchdown and a 28-0 advantage.

“He’s a very level-headed kid and when he gets in trouble, he can get away from pressure or just take off and run ... It feels good, we haven’t been 3-0 in a long time.”

Soler added a 22-yard run on Catasauqua’s first possession of the second half, which led to a 5-yard TD run by Anthonie Hunsicker and instituted the mercy rule.

“We made mistakes ... But the kids will get back to it Monday and keep working at it,” said Dakosty. “I thought Bruce did a nice job there (at quarterback), and Matt Rehrig made two brilliant catches. We’re getting there, little by little, and we’ll keep going at it.”

UNFAMILIAR FOES ... This was only the second time ever Marian and Catasauqua met on the football field. The other time was in 1996 when the Colts posted a 41-28 victory in the semifinal round of the district playoffs.

GAME HONORS ... MVP awards were handed out after the game, with Soler being Catty’s recipient and Hopeck named Marian’s top player. Soler finished with 103 yards rushing on 10 carries, while Hopeck directed his team’s 11-play, 77-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT ... The Colts will host Palmerton in Week 4. The Blue Bombers are 2-1 and defeated Panther Valley on Friday.