Ah, that lady did it again.

We’re talking about Mother Nature — she loves to put her two cents into mankind, and she did it again Friday evening on the hallowed Stan Dakosty turf at Men of Man Stadium.

This time, she wasn’t whistling Dixie. Instead, she whipped up a windstorm that turned things upside down for two football teams battling for a gold medal — and a playoff matchup in the PIAA Class 1A ranks.

It all came down to who would score first. In this case, Tri-Valley called on junior Nathan Hillard to boot a career-long 50-yard field goal with less than a minute left in the third quarter. That kick stood up for the Bulldogs, who claimed a 3-0 victory. The win sends Tri-Valley into next weekend’s subregional final against Lackawanna Trail, which advanced by defeating Nativity 50-6. Ironically, Tri-Valley turned out to be Marian Catholic’s nemesis not once, but twice this week — both times in gold medal victories. Earlier, Tri-Valley’s girls volleyball team defeated Marian for the District 11 Class 1A championship.

For Hillard, the field goal was his sixth of the season — in seven attempts.

“Nah, I didn’t feel nervous,” Hillard said, smiling through his face mask.

The right-footed, soccer-style kicker said coach Jeff Sampson told him to be ready, knowing touchdowns would be hard to come by and that field position with the wind at their backs would be key.

“I thought we could have scored at least three times in the first half, but we just made mental mistakes,” Sampson said.

As the third quarter wound down, Tri-Valley was close to losing the wind advantage. The decision to attempt the long field goal was crucial.

“I had confidence in him,” Sampson said. “He’s got the leg; the wind was a factor for both teams.”

Hillard didn’t back down. He stepped up and let Mother Nature — and his foot — do the rest.

“I was pretty excited, I’m just glad to be on the winning side,” Hillard said. “(Yeah) the wind helped me get some length on my kick. Once we got past the 50 (coaches) told me to get ready.”

Sampson believed his team had more chances to score earlier.

“I (really) thought we should have been up 21 points in the first half,” he said. “We had blown opportunities.”

He might have been right. The Bulldogs started deep in Marian territory after a Colts punt into the wind went almost straight up — just one yard — to the 14-yard line. But despite the great field position, the Colts’ defense held strong.

On its next possession, Tri-Valley again reached deep into Marian territory but failed to score. A bad snap on a 29-yard field goal attempt killed the drive. Two more scoring chances in the second quarter also came up empty.

Marian’s offense struggled all night. At halftime, the Colts had only three rushing yards and couldn’t find any rhythm. Still, their defense held firm, only yielding on Hillard’s decisive field goal.

“We played our hearts out. This was a great group of young men who played hard, played on every down, and never backed away,” said second-year Marian coach Billy O’Gurek, emotion running through his voice. “All you can do is ask the coaches and players to give you all they have … and they did.”

Late in the game, Marian mounted one final push. Starting at its own 26, the Colts rode the efforts of Rory Dixon — who surpassed 1,000 yards for the third time in his career — and Tyler Price. But on a crucial 4th-and-2 at the Tri-Valley 21, the play broke down. Bulldog defender Max Masser burst through the line and stopped Dixon for a two-yard loss with 5:14 remaining.

“That stop was a big play for us,” Sampson said, soaked from the celebratory Gatorade splash.

“It was set up, but they made a great play on (Dixon). I really felt that we had the right play called, but (Masser) blew it up,” O’Gurek said.

That stop also ended Marian’s hopes of extending its season.

“We had a great year. We won seven of our eleven games,” O’Gurek said. “You hate to see it end this way, especially for our seniors. It’s going to take a while to get (over) this one.”

HECTIC FINISH ... An inadvertent whistle on a Tri-Valley punt with 1:27 left nearly caused chaos. Marian fumbled the return, and Tri-Valley recovered. The quick whistle forced a re-kick, but Marian still couldn’t find the end zone on its second chance. SHE BLEW, AND BLEW, AND BLEW ... The wind was a huge factor for both teams. Tri-Valley managed 130 yards of offense to Marian’s 120. Yep — it was that kind of night.

OVER BARELY… Hillard’s field goal seemed to die, and it looked as if it went under the crossbar. But it hung up enough to make it good.

Tri-Valley 3, Marian 0

Tri-Valley 0 0 3 0 - 3

Marian 0 0 0 0 - 0

TV - Hillard 50 FG