SHENANDOAH — Marian’s roadrunners were about to take off and leave Shenandoah Valley flat-footed Friday evening in a clash between two die-hard football programs.

The Colts were sailing along.

But suddenly a determined band of Blue Devils found some moxie, but just didn’t have quite enough to catch Marian, falling 47-23 in a match-up in the Schuylkill/Colonial League Blue Division. The win elevates the Colts to 2-2 on the season, while Shenandoah Valley fell to 0-4.

“I can’t say enough about that football team. They put their noses in and battled us very hard,” said first-year Colts head coach Billy O’Gurek.

O’Gurek was pleased with the way his gang dominated early.

The Colts quickly took a 34-2 lead. They found a sturdy new offensive weapon in their future Division-I athlete Mike Gelatko, who hauled in a first-quarter 39-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Rodino, then as a running back powered through for a 3-yard run to the end zone.

“Hey, he’s a D-I player and we want to put the ball in his hands as many times as we can,” O’Gurek said.

And when the Buffalo-bound stud wasn’t carrying the payload, swift-footed Rory Dixon was at the forefront posting big numbers, rushing for 131 yards on 15 carries, including touchdown runs of 11 and 18 yards.

Maybe the Colts were resting on their laurels early, but Shenandoah Valley never backed off.

They rallied around a fast-rising start in sophomore Joel Nunez and freshman quarterback Ethan Bench. Nunez is something special, quick-footed and speedy, too. He hit the end zone twice, including a 65-yard scintillating race to the goal line, outpacing the Marian defense.

That touchdown seemed to give a bit of battle cry. Before the Nunez scoot, the defense pushed Marian back into its own end zone for a safety.

However, the Colts answered quickly, marching 62 yards in five plays, with Tyler Price cashing in on an 8-yard run. Seventeen seconds later, Marian’s defense had a 50-yard interception return by Mike Johnson.

But Nunez was far from folding any tent. He cleverly picked off a pass in the flat and never broke stride on his way to the end zone with a 40-yard touchdown run. The Blue Devils were pressing Marian while down 34-16 and feeling like a team that belonged.

“I can’t say enough about Nunez,” said Dave Bench, the SV first-year coach. “We’ve got to pick up our blocking. We gained some momentum in the (second quarter) going into the half.”

However, a seasoned Marian team scored a pair of touchdowns to open the second half.

First, Hunter Sartori blazed 30 yards to the end zone, capping off a well-executed eight-play 73-yard march.

Three minutes later, Dixon was rocking the boat with his 18-yard touchdown and a comfortable 47-16 lead with 3:33 to play in the third quarter.

Shenandoah Valley still had some answer, coming up with its biggest scoring play of the young season. Riding the speedy legs of another promising sophomore Todd Seiger, who hooked up with Bench on a nifty 64-yard scoring pass with 4:27 remaining in the game.

“We made too many mistakes,” O’Gurek said. “I thought we had a bit of a letdown for a while. I told Dave (Bench) that his team is getting better. We’ve got to look at some things and get back to playing more consistent.”

THREE TIMES … Marian engaged a trio of quarterbacks. Rodino, Nick Shigo and freshman Greg Tirpak. Marian threw only five times but had two picks by SV, one each from Nunez and sophomore Mike Elchisak.

GRIND, GRIND, GRIND … Marian engaged the running attacking. It posted 251 yards on the ground, getting but 39 passing. Blue Devils mustered 136 on the ground and 105 passing.

NEW LOOK … Marian stacked the backfield and ran counter action. It paved the way for Gelatko to score on a 3-yard run. It also enabled Dixon to find holes up inside.

RISING FAST … Nunez is a tough young man. He, along with QB Bench and Seiger, are all three sophomores, and two have sprinter speed. Better days are on the lookout for this team. If the line finds a way to block, it will create a lot of interesting offensive attack.

SATURDAY FIASCO … Both teams play Saturday evening next week. Marian hosts rival Mahanoy Area with homecoming; the Blue Devils at Pine Grove’s homecoming.

Marian 47, Shenandoah 23

Marian 20 14 13 0 - 47

Shenandoah 0 16 0 7 - 23

Scoring summary

M - Gelatko 39 pass from Rodino (Bushati kick)

M - Dixon 11 run (kick failed)

M - Gelatko 3 run (Bushati kick)

SV - Team safety

M - Price 8 run (Bushati kick)

M - Johnson 50 interception return (Bushati kick)

SV - Nunez 65 run (Mentusky kick)

SV - Nunez 40 interception return (Mentusky)

M - Sartori 30 run (Bushati kick)

M - Dixon 18 run (Bushati kick)

SV - Seiger 64 pass from Bench (Mentusky kick)