HOMETOWN - The seasons have come and gone, winter is about to approach the region with her brutal force, the temperature will drop, the frigid chill will hit the landscape, and the snows will pile up.

Here in this tiny hamlet, a way of life has been a beckoning call for Marian's long-time football coach Stan Dakosty.Friday, October the 16th in the year 2015, Dakosty moved into elite status in the state of Pennsylvania coaching annals when the Colts roared past Schuylkill Haven 41-14 enabling their legendary leader to win his 300th game.When things had settled down, the customary water soaking, the hoopla from the fans, a hug from his wife, and a kiss from his mother Jackie Dick, and his sister Patti Jean O'Brien, Dakosty was sporting a smile as he walked off the turf at Rotary Field. Stan wasn't smiling about the milestone he was more concerned about getting win number four on the season."We got off the schnied," he said with a broad grin of relief. "We needed this win. It's big for a number of reasons. It gets us back into the (district) playoff picture and it takes a lot of pressure off the players."Certainly the players knew from the onset of the 2015 season that Dakosty needed just four wins to vault into the 300-win category. The revered coach knew that his players might have been pressing a whole lot more in a stretch of a three-game losing streak, as well.You could sense the relief afterwards from the combatants, for they formed a tunnel chanting with exhalation "Coach, Coach, Coach." There were others on hand, former players watching with elation wanting to be a part of the historic achievement.The euphoria was evident in the locker room."Win number 300 - the players, the coaches, I stand on their shoulders… the school, the support from the people like the Men of Marian. The fact that our former players care about us and what we do makes it really special," Dakosty said on Friday night."Three days later, Dakosty was able to reflect back on what it was all about, what it meant to him, but more so to the school and the past players."We are very fortunate here at Marian Catholic High School to have a family that is very different than at most schools," he said smiling in his office. "I've been extremely lucky. First of all I've been blessed to only have two principals since I've been here; Jack Malarkey and Sister Bernadine Agnus. I've had a staff that has been with me for a long time. I've often said my staff sees me more than my wife."He chuckled about that last sentence. Mary Katherine Bonner Dakosty has been wed to the coach for nearly 40 years, and she, too, has bought into the football program."She parks cars for us on game (nights)," he said. "She's been my rock, unbelievable. She holds the family together. There have been many a Thanksgiving when she was home alone making dinner, and I had to be at practice."The good thing about Stan's wife making the traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the coach is not whether he will get a drumstick, some cranberry and stuffing, it signifies the Colts are in a postseason playoff game somewhere.It has been a long, but fruitful run of 39 years for the native of Shenandoah, who was a Blue Devil player, fell in love with the sport because of his late father Stanley and his former high school coach Geno Poli a native of Coaldale, who has also passed on."My dad meant so much to me," Stan said choking up, as he gathered his poise. "You come from that town (Shenandoah) and it is eat, sleep and drink the game. My father instilled that in me. And Geno was my high school coach, who I respected and loved a lot, and later he would join my staff."How it startedChuck Rocconi had invited Dakosty to join his coaching staff in 1974 and for three years Dakosty paid his dues. So when Rocconi decided to leave Marian and pursue other coaching avenues, he recommended the then 25-year-old Dakosty for the position. Dakosty became only the sixth coach in the history of the school, which dates back to 1954."When I took over I thought that we had a pretty good team starting the 1977 season," Dakosty said. "We go into the season opener with Mount Carmel and the staff and myself are thinking no way we're going to lose… it was our power game against their speed."Three hours after the visit to the hollowed Silver Bowl and a 50-12 loss, the coaching staff came down to earth in a hurry."I'm outside the locker room with our staff, and there's the great (coach) Jazz Diminick and (radio sportscaster) Ed Romance sitting outside and they came over. The first thing that Ed says to me is 'welcome to the big time'."Dakosty said that Mount Carmel has turned out to be the toughest team to beat during his coaching career with the Colts going just 2-20 against the Red Tornadoes."They won the state championship in 2000 and if they weren't there, I honestly feel that we could have won the championship," Dakosty reminisced. Marian was 12-2 that season with both losses to the Red Tornadoes, including one in the Eastern Final.The 2000 season was also the year that Stan's son, Stan Jr. had been a senior. "I was pretty tough on him at times," said the elder Dakosty. "But he always responded."He really turned out to be a really good athlete. He earned eight gold medals (track), led us to two district (football) finals… he exceeded my expectations. It was great coaching him. I had a really good friend tell me that your son has to be really good or really bad. Because the ones in the middle are the ones that are really tough for a coach."He earned a scholarship to Colgate and I told him after he graduated to go out and use that Colgate degree to earn some money. Instead he follows in my footsteps, which is quite an honor for me. I'm extremely proud of him. He has all the ambition to coach and is dedicated. Hopefully some day he will be a head coach."Staying in touchThis coming Friday, Marian's state championship team will be honored on their 25th anniversary.Former players from that team and from teams throughout Dakosty's career still stay in touch.Joe Gillespie, a terrific two-way standout who went on to play at Maryland, called Dakosty after the latest win."Those types of things are great when you hear from players who go on to attain success in life, We had (Sean Love) in the NFL, we've had players go and compete at Notre Dame, Penn State, Syracuse, guys who played at the highest levels and at other (smaller) schools," said the coach."We have a motto here 'It's a means to an end, don't let the game use you, you use the game'."We have a football academic advisor. He monitors all of our athletes, he tells us whether he should start and we've actually had that happen. If a player isn't doing his class work and our advisor tells me he shouldn't play, they don't."Through the yearsDakosty has sent his players through the gauntlet over the five-plus decades he has coached. The Colts never refused a challenge under his tutelage. And he thought back to some of the great players and teams' that played against the Colts.One of the players he admired was linebacker Joe Costello from Mount Carmel."Costello was a great linebacker and we go down to (scout) Mount Carmel and he filled a hole against GAR like no linebacker that I never saw before," Dakosty said."I kind of compare him to Wyatt Clements from Lehighton. He has a passion for the game, much like Costello. He epitomizes what the area is like, he has a great work ethic."As far as memorable games are concerned, obviously the state championship game against Farrell in 1990 stands out."They had Lorenzo Styles, who went on to play in the NFL, and a tremendous amount of Division I talent on that team and we end up winning. Not many people had given us much of a chance."The game was a classic and several years later a reporter asked Brad Cashman, who was then the head of the PIAA, what state championship game stands out in his mind. He promptly said Marian and Farrell."Dakosty also recalled a game played in Hometown against Panther Valley in the mid-1980s."Panther Valley is a great rivalry and we had over 4,000 fans in attendance that day. The place was jam-packed, cars were parked all the way down to Air Products, the atmosphere was unbelievable," said Dakosty."Afterwards I had a college coach call me and he said he (had) never seen an atmosphere like that at a high school game."Other memoriesDakosty recalls playing South Williamsport in an Eastern Final in a sea of mud."To this day, I still think about how we lost to them. The game was played in mud up to our ankles and they were a power team and we were a finesse team. I don't know why they played that game," said Dakosty. "It still bothers me. South Williamsport was a great team. It should have been played on a turf field. We never got to play our game.He also remembers a game when snow was a factor."In 1980, when Mike Tracy played for us and we won the Eastern Conference against Honesdale. It snowed that Thursday and to see how the community responded was something else," recalled Dakosty. "They came and shoveled all the snow off the field. That sticks out. It was our first championship."Dakosty also appreciates all the support he has received throughout his career."I can't say enough about the whole region, my hometown, the other coaches, our school administration and our players, present and past. And our managers, they've all been so supportive," he said. "I encourage fans to go out and support their teams. They're really into the game. There is nothing better than coal region football."No memories about Dakosty's career are more important to him than ones about his family.He choked up reminiscing of his late father, he credited his wife and kids for their support while he put in numerous hours coaching, and he had a huge smile on his face talking about his mother. "She never misses a game," Dakosty said. "She is so special. She's been there all the time."And on a night that the coach achieved a special win, Jackie Dick was there for her son and the late Stanley Dick was looking down from the stars above. It was indeed a very special evening. A magic night to remember victory number 300.