The 2023 football season is officially beginning its home stretch.

With six regular season weeks down and four remaining, potential District 11 title contenders are starting to come into focus.

Among area teams, Palmerton and Northwestern have established themselves as the hierarchy. Both teams are still undefeated, and well on their way to district playoff berths and potential championships.

While the Bombers and Tigers are virtual locks to qualify for postseason play, several other area teams are in contention heading down the stretch.

This week’s Overtime column will look at one of those teams that is battling for a postseason berth - Marian. We’ll look at the Colts’ journey from perennial championship contender, to the brink of program extinction, and back to a playoff contender once again.

In addition, Rod Heckman will provide statistics and historical perspective on several accomplishments from a week ago, including the end of a long field goal drought at Northern Lehigh, and a long bomb by the Bombers.

********

Stan Dakosty knew it wasn’t going to be a quick fix.

When the veteran coach returned to take the reigns of the Marian program in 2020, it was coming off a season that had just ended with two forfeit losses and about 15 healthy players on the roster.

With concerns that the program may not even have enough players to field a team, Dakosty returned to the sidelines after a three-year absence.

“I knew it would take patience - and quite honestly that’s never been a word that I was really good with,” laughed Dakosty. “But realistically, we felt that it would be a three- or four- year process - because our goal wasn’t just to build a team, we wanted to rebuild the program.”

Dakosty - now in his fourth-year since returning and his 44th year overall - is finally starting to see his long-tern goal come to fruition.

“It’s been a long process, but when you surround yourself with good people, good things happen,“ said Dakosty. “And that’s why we’ve been able to get to this point.

“My assistant coaches and everyone associated with our program - from the administration to our managers and training staff and especially our players - they have all bought in and made the commitment and sacrifices we’ve asked of them.”

Marian currently has a 4-2 record and finds itself in the hunt for a postseason berth. It’s the best record the Colts have had through six games since 2012, and if they can qualify for the District 11 playoffs, it will be the first time since 2018.

“We realize that there is still a lot of work to do - and all that is guaranteed right now is four wins,“ said Dakosty. “But I’m thrilled for our kids, and excited about where we’ve come as a program.”

Where the program has come since Dakosty’s return is light years away from where it was in 2020.

Marian went from roster numbers in the teens, to 42 players at the start of this season. The Colts not only have solid varsity numbers, but the last couple of years have been able to field a JV team as well.

Dakosty said the biggest differences between this Colt team and the ones from the past few years are improved depth at most positions, and players who understand the game and what’s expected of Marian football players.

“In that first year, we had 30-some kids, but a good number of them had either never played football before, or hadn’t played since knee-hi. We had trouble just lining up right some games.

“But we’ve made huge strides since then. Our football IQ is now something I’m extremely proud of. Our kids now know the game, which allows us to do so much more from a formation and adjustment standpoint.”

That first year Dakosty referred to also had the added difficulty of being in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My first year back was the COVID year, which added to the challenge of what we wanted to accomplish,” said Dakosty about the 1-7 season.

Marian followed that up with four-win seasons in each of the last two years.

With four weeks left in the regular season, Marian has already hit the four-win mark this year, and is now a legitimate playoff contender.

“I’m just so thrilled for our players and our program, said Dakosty. “The type of excitement at our games and among our fans and our student body is what I wanted them to experience when I decided to come back.

“I didn’t need any more championships or trophies. I was blessed with so many great players and great assistant coaches during my first stint as head coach that I was able to experience those things. But I love this school and the people associated with it, and I wanted to try to help a new group of young men experience the type of joy and satisfaction that comes with that type of success.”

Dakosty has made it a point to take advantage of former players who were a big part of the program’s success over the last four-plus decades.

“Marian has such tremendous football tradition, and I wanted our current team to hear about that,” said Dakosty. “Because tradition might not win games for you, but it can show you how to win games. And I think our football alumni who have come back the last few years to talk to the kids have made a huge impression.”

Although Dakosty’s patience has been tested at times during the rebuild, his enthusiasm for the game of football in general and Marian football in particular, has never wavered.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to return,” said Dakosty. “I owe so many thanks to my wife and my family for supporting the decision and standing by me.

“But I’m so glad I decided to do it. The support I’ve received from our former players and students, from others in the coaching fraternity, and from my assistant coaches and our current players has made it well worth it.”

**********

500 AND COUNTING ... Not only was last Saturday Homecoming at Marian, but its head coach, Stan Dakosty, reached a career milestone.

The longtime mentor, who is in his 44th season, coached his 500th game.

Dakosty, who began his coaching career in 1977 and returned to the sideline again in 2020 after a three-year hiatus, won the game 21-13 against Mahanoy Area. That pushed his all-time record to 323-174-3 for a winning percentage of .649. Of his 323 victories, 83 of them have been shutouts.

It was fitting that Marian defeated Mahanoy in Dakosty’s 500th game, as he’s compiled more wins (36) against the Bears than any other opponent.

Among other area schools, Jim Thorpe’s Mark Rosenberger currently has coached 272 games, while Northern Lehigh’s Joe Tout is at 199 and will reach No. 200 on Friday.

**********

BULLDOG FIELD GOAL ... Northern Lehigh’s Chase Moffitt did something in Friday’s game against Salisbury that hasn’t been done in a long time.

Moffitt booted a 25-yard field goal in the Bulldogs’ 45-13 victory.

The three-pointer was the first by a Nolehi player since Oct. 31, 2008 - 167 games ago - when Kris Krawchuk connected for a 24-yarder against Palmerton.

The other eight TN area schools had connected on 126 field goals - including 36 by Northwestern (the most) - between the two Bulldog kicks.

**********

DOUBLE DUTY ... Another rare occurrence happened in Northern Lehigh’s win when freshman Chris Frame returned an interception for a touchdown on defense, and also caught a scoring pass on offense.

Over the last 30 years, Frame is just the third Bulldog player to catch scoring passes on offense and defense in the same game.

Brett Misera turned the trick on Sept. 17, 2021 against Notre Dame, and Caleb Johnson also did it on Oct. 12, 2012.

**********

FOURTEEN IS ENOUGH ... Last Friday, Tamaqua pulled out a 14-7 Homecoming win over Jim Thorpe in a low-scoring contest.

The last time the Blue Raiders scored 14 or fewer points in a game and still won was Nov. 3, 2012, when they shut out Marian by a 12-0 score.

Since that victory over the Colts, Tamaqua has won 62 games (not including a forfeit win) and have averaged 39.0 points in those contests.

**********

BOMBS AWAY ... Palmerton’s Matt Machalik and Ty Sander hooked up for an 83-yard touchdown completion during Friday’s 41-22 victory over Pine Grove.

Over the past 30 years, only two Blue Bomber TD passes have gone for more yardage.

Kyle Versuk caught a 95-yard scoring pass from Craig Steigerwalt on Sept. 22, 2000 against Southern Lehigh, while Ethan Recker completed a 91-yard hookup with Machalik in an Oct. 23, 2020 contest against Palisades.

Over that same time span, 27 different TN area quarterbacks have completed touchdown passes of at least 83 yards. Besides Machalik, only two others have done it multiple times - Northwestern’s Deven Bollinger and Jim Thorpe’s Matt Long.