PINE GROVE - Marian was hoping to break even on the season, and Pine Grove was searching for its third win Friday night on the last weekend of the regular season.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first two quarters.

Pine Grove broke through for a pair of early touchdowns to open the second half that propelled the Cardinals to a down-to-the wire 14-6 victory.

It was a tailspin ending for the Colts, who had high hopes early, then never seemed to garner any type of momentum over the second half of the season. Mistakes and misfortune all rolled up into a 4-6 season.

“It’s been our season in a nutshell,” said veteran coach Stan Dakosty.

Pine Grove got going in the second half by turning to their best running back Lane Lehman.

Lehman ran the stretch play, getting to the edge of the defense on the first series to start the second half. And that was by design, said Pine Grove’s first year coach Dave Shiffer.

“We saw how they were setting their front, and felt we had a better chance of running into the boundaries, setting our tight end that way,” Shiffer said about giving Lehman the outside look.

The Cardinals mounted a near-perfect 12-play drive featuring Lehman who chewed up 34 yards of the 56-yard drive and carried the final two times scoring from 1-yard out. Lehman was the feature back, rushing 19 times for 101 yards. He also punched in the second touchdown, thanks to a Marian fumble immediately after Pine Grove had taken a 7-0 lead.

“We’ve made the same mistakes over and over,” Dakosty said. “We consistently shoot ourselves in the foot, with fumbles. (The) one to start the second half was critical.”

The Cardinals tood advantage, needing just four plays to crack the end zone. It was all Lehman, four carries, 24 yards as he raced into the end zone from four yards out and the extra point kick made it 14-0 with less than three minutes to play in the third quarter.

Marian had opportunities to catch the Cardinals. It came up short on a drive to open the third quarter, dying at the Pine Grove 49 on a fourth-down attempt. Then after holding off Pine Grove and getting field position at its own 42, it drove deep into Pine Grove territory when Bruce Hopeck threw a 37-yard pass completion to Mike Gelatko to the 15.

Good fortune was missed again. A bad snap caused the Colts a 28-yard loss and the drive fizzled. Marian got on the board with 1:15 oeft in the game when Hopeck threw a 41-yard scoring strike to Nova McGuire.

Pine Grove recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

SHARING TIME … Dylan Rodino started at quarterback for Marian. Hopeck came on in the second half.

BIG OUT … Marian’s two-way standout Matty Martin was injured to start the second quarter. Dakosty said losing Martin was more critical on defense, where he is a standout linebacker.

LEHMAN AND LEHMAN … Lane Lehman had a big night carrying the ball and scoring both touchdowns.

MCGUIRE CATCH … McGuire had the big catch, and Marian piled up 146 of its 176 total yards in the passing department.