NAZARETH - It might have been the ultimate example of bend but don't break.

Time and time again, Marian drove deep into scoring territory and came away empty.On a night when the Pius X offense lived up to its hype, it was the ability of the Royal defense to play with its backs to the wall that might have been the deciding factor.The combination of an explosive Pius X offense and an imploding Marian attack in the red zone allowed the Royals to roll to a 45-14 victory in the District 11 Class A championship game on Saturday night."We shot ourselves in the foot over and over," said Marian coach Stan Dakosty. "Give credit to Pius X, but we kept stopping ourselves. You can't do that against a football team as good as they are and expect to win."We moved the ball up and down the field, but didn't capitalize when we had our chances to score."Dakosty was referring to six different possessions when the Colts reached at least the Pius 22-yard line - three of them inside the five-yard line - and failed to get any points.On a night when Marian racked up 434 yards of offense and never punted, it was five turnovers and several short-yardage failures that ultimately proved fatal."We don't like to give up anything," said Pius X coach Phil Stambaugh. "But tonight we'll take it. It was definitely a bend but don't break performance by our defense."While the Royals defense did a great job of not breaking, their offense was breaking big plays all over the field.Pius X had five plays of at least 45 yards in the game - three by the offense, one by the defense and one on special teams. All of the plays either produced a score or led to one."That's the way they operate," said Dakosty. "They have great athletes and are very explosive."They are going to score some points and you have to be able to match them. But when you are turning the ball over as much as we did, that's pretty hard to do."A 45-yard return of the opening kickoff by the Royals' Nate Stewart set up a 35-yard field goal by Dalton Tucker that made it 3-0.Pius added an incredible one-handed 29-yard TD catch by Jon Moran and a second Tucker field goal to make it 14-0. A short time later, an 86-yard run by quarterback Tre Jordan - his second 86-yard run in the game - made it 21-0."When you spread teams out like we do, it's tough for them to stop everything," said Stambaugh. "When our kids are able to execute, we're tough to defend."While Pius (10-2) was scoring on three of its first four possessions to build a commanding lead, the Colts' first three possessions ended on downs at the Royals' 19-yard line, two-yard line and five-yard line respectively.But just when Marian looked in danger of being blown out, it battled back.Despite having the starting running back tandem of K.J. Snerr and Nick Sully both on the bench with injuries, the Colts got on the board with just :16 left in the half. Quarterback Ethan Kuczynski hit Angelo Maskornic with a 45-yard pass to set up his own three-yard run.Marian (8-4) then took the second half kickoff and behind the running of Snerr, who returned to the game and carried four times for 78 yards in the drive, punched in another touchdown to make it 21-14."I had a feeling that was going to happen because they're a good team," said Stambaugh about the Marian comeback. "They got here because they're a good football team and I give them credit. They had a great season."But as quickly as the Colts got back in the game, that's how quickly Pius X knocked them back out of it.Two plays after the Marian TD, Jordan hit a wide open Moran in the middle of the field for a 75-yard gain that set up a touchdown to make it 28-14.Marian drove the ball back down the field, but an 80-yard pick six by the Royals' Stewart with 4:39 left in the third quarter all but sealed the outcome."I'm proud of our season and our effort tonight," said Dakosty. "We had our chances, but we didn't take advantage of them. But this doesn't diminish what these kids accomplished. It was a good season."Pius is a great team and we wish them well in the state playoffs."The Royals will open PIAA state tournament play on Friday night at Nazareth when they host the winner of tonight's game between Calvary Christian and Delco Christian.