Late in the game, fourth down and short.

Convert and you run out the clock. Fail, and your opponent has a chance at a game-winning drive.

That’s the scenario that faced Marian last Friday.

And once the Colts lined up to take that chance, most fans knew what was going to happen.

“Somebody asked me about that play, ‘Did you have any other thought of what you were going to do?’” said Marian head coach Billy O’Gurek. “And I’m like, ‘No, everybody in the stadium knew who was getting the ball.’

“No. 1 was getting the ball ... because he’s had that type of year for us, and that’s the type of kid that we can count on for so much.”

For those who don’t know, No. 1 is junior Tyler Price.

And yes, the Colt running back fought for the yardage needed to come through for his team and secure a 25-20 victory over Nativity.

That effort was part of a performance that saw the area’s leading rusher end with 171 yards on the ground, 29 through the air, and two touchdowns on offense, as well as 12 tackles on defense.

It was also good enough to earn him the Times News Player of the Week.

“That was definitely a close call,” said Price of the fourth-down conversion. “It was great to get it, everyone was ecstatic when we got it. I have a lot of trust in my teammates, my offensive line, my fullback. It probably would’ve been easier if I stuck it inside instead of trying to bounce it out, but as long as we got it, that’s all that matters.

“It’s my job to go out there and produce for my team. The other guys on the team, they have big roles, too. Our line, they do a great job blocking. My fullback, he does a great job going through the hole and picking up a guy. Our wide receivers, they’re the ones who open up the run game for me. Without them it wouldn’t be possible for me to have the yards that I have.”

And Price has a lot of them.

In seven games, he has run for 1,202 yards on 162 carries, an average of 7.4 yards per carry. He also is a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield, something he did against the Green Wave in a key situation earlier in the contest.

Tied at 6-6, Price snared a touchdown pass from Greg Tirpak right before the half to give the Colts a lead heading into the locker room.

“His versatility is, I think, one of the biggest pluses,” said O’Gurek. “He obviously has the yards rushing, but he’s also caught about 20 passes for like 300 yards. I don’t think, and especially in high school, you don’t see that a whole lot — that type of versatility.

“His background, the last two years, as primarily a receiver has helped out, and it’s helped us out too because we’re able to move him around in different spots when we need to, to try and generate a big play. And that touchdown pass, we actually haven’t practiced that in a couple of weeks. That was one of those things where we did it on the fly ... and it worked to perfection.”

A few months ago, no one even saw Price as the feature back, let alone one of the top offensive weapons in the area.

The Colts’ leading rusher a year ago, Rory Dixon, was expected to be back and build on his impressive totals. But Dixon, an outstanding wrestler, decided not to play this season.

That opened the door for Price. And he has taken full advantage.

“I think it was about a month before the season started (I found out Rory wasn’t going to play), so I definitely didn’t have a lot of time to transition to running back, but I’ve been playing it my whole life so it wasn’t too hard,” said Price. “I was a little upset, a little happy, a little bit of everything.

“It sucked that he wasn’t playing, but at the same time I understood where he was coming from. At the same time, I was also happy because I was going to be getting the ball more. So it was a lot of mixed emotions. But I think we turned out alright without him. He definitely would have been a big help, but I think we’re doing alright.”

If there was any question if Price could handle the starting job in the backfield, he answered it in Week One.

“We started to use him in the backfield a little bit more at the end of last year, so we knew that carrying the ball was part of what he was going to do this year, but until he does it full time you don’t know how it’s going to work out,” said O’Gurek.

“When we played Palmerton Week 1, one of his first carries of the game he was coming towards our sideline, and he ran over two kids, like they just bounced right off him and we all sort of looked at each other and were like, ‘This is going to work out just fine.’”

Price finished that game with 115 yards rushing. He’s had at least 143 since then, and he’s been over 200 twice.

But as impressive as those numbers are, what often gets overlooked is his play on defense.

“This, I think, is crazy to say given the offensive production he’s had this year, but he’s a better defensive player, at least in my opinion,” said O’Gurek. “That’s where he’s going to play at the next level.

“He plays middle linebacker for us, so he’s not just playing but he’s getting our guys lined up on the line of scrimmage, he’s shifting our guys, he handles all our calls, so there’s a great burden on him, not just offensively but defensively, and he’s responded every single week for us so far.”

Price is already on the radar of colleges, and is sure to be playing on Saturday afternoons — just not running the ball.

“I love defense,” he said. “I hope to play defense at the next level. It was very important (Friday), making those plays, getting those tackles, giving our team the defensive edge, holding them to a lot of three-and-outs. It definitely helped.”