Special teams is not often the first thing discussed at the local coffee shop on Saturday morning after a full slate of Friday night football. But in its season opener against Marian, Jim Thorpe proved that special teams are indeed a vital phase of the game.

The Olympians (1-0) performance on special teams - blocking three Marian punts - along with a dominant defensive effort helped them come away with a 43-0 victory over the Colts.

Thorpe set the tone quickly on Marian’s first offensive possession, forcing a three-and-out. On the Colts’ ensuing punt attempt, a host of Olympians got to punter Mike Baloga, blocking the punt backward into and out of the end zone for a safety.

It was the first of three blocked punts of the night for the Thorpe, with freshman Salvatore Capria responsible for two of them.

“Special teams were great tonight. Our guys flew down the field all night long and we were really sound with our tackling,” said Olympians’ head coach Mark Rosenberger. “We were able to get great field position throughout the game - and how about Sal Capria with two blocked punts as a freshman football player. That’s great to see.

“It was a good team win using all three phases - offense, defense and special teams.”

Thorpe used that field position to get out to a big lead in the first quarter. All three of the Olympians scoring drives started inside the Marian 40-yard line.

Brandon Fasolino got the Olympians rushing offense going early, breaking loose for touchdowns of eight and 40 yards in the quarter. Thorpe then finished the first quarter strong with a beautiful toss from Davier Calcano to Derryl Fisher down the right sideline for 47 yards. Fisher made a nice grab and then outran a few Marian defensive backs for the score, giving the Olympians a 23-0 lead.

The young and inexperienced Colts squad showed some fight in the second quarter, holding the Olympians to just six points and forcing two turnovers. The play of the night for Marian came on the defensive side of the ball with the Thorpe threatening once again at the Marian 14-yard line. A pass from Calcano to the goal line was read by defensive back Xavier Ocasio, who made a nice play on the ball, coming up with the interception right before the end of the half.

It was also the best quarter offensively of the contest for Marian as it was able to gain two first downs in the frame.

“My biggest concern coming in was our inexperience and the game speed for our guys who never played at this level before,” said Marian coach Stan Dakosty. “We haven’t played anybody, but ourselves since last season. Our scrimmage was canceled, so we knew we had our hands full with a good football team tonight.

“We have 38 kids - 31 are underclassmen - and 23 of our kids never played high school football before. No matter who we’re playing though, we have to eliminate the mental errors like the fumbles and missed blocks, stuff like that. But we’re going to get back to work and get better.”

After a sloppy second quarter where they turned the ball over twice, the Olympians’ offense got back to work in the third, putting the ball into the endzone twice to extend the lead to 43-0.

SHORT FIELD ... The Olympians started with the ball five times inside the Colts 30-yard line. Their worst starting field position of the night was their own 30-yard line. Thorpe started just two offensive drives in their own territory in the game.

PUNTAPALOOZA ... Thorpe’s defense was strong on the night, forcing Marian to punt eight times.

SHARING THE ROCK ... Jim Thorpe got a ton of players involved in the game as Rosenberger substituted liberally. Offensively, 11 different Olympians touched the ball.