It may have been another loss.

But it may have also been another step in the right direction.

While Marian’s mercy rule loss to Williams Valley Saturday night doesn’t seem like something to be optimistic about, Colts head coach Stan Dakosty still managed to find a silver lining in the 35-7 defeat.

“I thought overall, believe it or not, our defense played fairly well,” said Dakosty, whose team dropped to 0-7. “We also did some nice things on offense ... There are some positives to build off here, but we’ve just got to limit our self-inflicted mistakes. We have to be a clean football team from the beginning.

“We had a terrible fumbling problem early in the season, and we didn’t do that tonight, so that’s a plus. The work ethic at practice is good. The attitude is good. We’re just plugging away, and we’re chipping away trying to get that first win. The coaches and players are working hard to try and get it done. And that’s all we can do right now.”

Marian gave up 367 yards in the contest, but a closer look inside the numbers shows why Dakosty wasn’t upset with his team’s defensive effort.

Of the Vikings’ 30 rushing attempts, 14 gained only three yards or less. Even in the secondary - despite allowing 202 yards through the air - the Colts often had good position, but were just outdone by a hot quarterback.

“They threw the ball well,” said Dakosty. “Their quarterback put the ball on the money. There were times he had a window that wasn’t big, and he was laying it right in that window. That’s tough to do. There were times, I thought, our kids had good coverage, but he just made the throws.”

That quarterback was Williams Valley junior Isaac Whiteash.

Whiteash completed 11-of-15 attempts and tossed a pair of touchdown passes, both of them to Brady Evans.

His first came in the opening quarter with his team already up 7-0. After connecting with Nathan Cole for a 24-yard hookup earlier in the drive, Whiteash found Evans for a 22-yard TD toss to double the lead.

“They brought the heat a lot and had some decent blitz packages, but Isaac stepped in and made some nice throws,” said Vikings mentor Tim Savage. “The team also made some plays for him. He’s been hot and cold throughout the season, and tonight I’d give him a solid B.”

Marian responded to the score, but couldn’t cut into the deficit. A 42-yard run by Matt Martin helped the Colts get into the red zone, but they were stopped on a fourth-and-one. After returning the favor and stopping Williams Valley (6-1) on a fourth down, Dakosty’s club moved to the Vikings’ 33-yard line. That drive also stalled after a pair of incompletions.

“Offensively, we’re just not clicking,” said Dakosty. “We did some things on offense, but we’re not finishing. And that’s what hurting us.”

After Alex Achenbach extended the Williams Valley lead to 21-0 midway through the second quarter when he broke free from a pile up at the line of scrimmage and raced 44 yards to the end zone, Marian again found its way into enemy territory.

A 50-yard kickoff return by Luis Teron was followed by a Colts’ first down that put the ball at the 22, but once again the Vikings stiffened on defense.

“Two or three plays they got us with nice chunkers, but then we kind of settled in and played a tighter defense when it mattered,” said Savage. “Hats off to Marian. They played a good game, they played the best they could. We made some sloppy mistakes tonight and we didn’t play our best, but we had the better team coming in, so there was a little bit of a margin for error there.”

The winners upped the advantage to 28-0 before the half on Logan Williard’s 4-yard scoring run, and scored with three minutes left in the third quarter on a 28-yard pass from Whiteash to Evans.

Marian avoided the shutout early in the fourth quarter when Devon Smith reached the end zone from six yards out. Smith had runs of 13 and 21 yards during the scoring drive.

CENTURY MARK ... Martin ran for 106 yards. According to Savage, he believes it was the first time his team allowed a 100-yard rusher this season.

KING FOR THE DAY ...Colts senior lineman John Milosh was named the school’s Homecoming King during halftime festivities.

UP NEXT ... Marian hosts Nativity on Friday.