SHENANDOAH - After a couple of seasons in which they had to settle for mediocrity, Marian head coach Stan Dakosty challenged his team to get into the weight room in order to take the state of the once-heralded program to the next level.

That the Colts heeded the call was never more evident Friday night at the home of the Shenandoah Valley Blue Devils, as the Colts dominated their hosts on both sides of the ball in a lopsided 30-0 victory.

The win moves Marian to 5-2 and moves them another step closer to qualifying for the District 11 playoffs and setting the ground work for what should be an exciting finish to 2023.

With a bevy of talented play-makers who used both a ground and aerial attack, Marian relied on the guys up front to pave the way to victory, grinding out 386 yards of offense while yielding a mere 11 yards to the Devils.

Offensively, a lot of the credit goes to linemen Mason Soult, Aidan Milkovits, James Rodino, Julian Hermany and J.T. Price, as well as tight end Michael Gelatko, as they enabled the Colt runners and senior QB Bruce Hopeck to have their own way.

From the opening possession, in which Marian went 67 yards in 13 plays in 7:10, to the very end, Shenandoah clearly had no answer to the Colts’ diversity.

The key beneficiary of the outstanding line play was freshman Rory Dixon, who rushed 28 times for 214 yards and two touchdowns in his second start following the season-ending injury to senior running back Jayden Fermin.

Then, too, Hopeck showed his great improvement in the off-season, connecting to five different receivers for 107 yards, including TD passes to Nova McGuire covering 36 yards and Brandon Klitsch from five yards out.

“Our offensive line is a strength for us,” Dakosty said. “The kids and our line coaches did a great job. We believe in them and our ability to run the football.”

Dixon carried 7 times for 46 of Marian’s 67 first possession yards, before Hopeck’s bomb to McGuire in the end zone came at the 4:50 mark, giving Marian a 6-0 lead.

But what the talented freshman did afterward - rushing 21 more times for 168 yards, including the game-closing 36-yard TD run with 4:57 on the board - caught the attention of both Dakosty and losing coach Ed Moran.

“Rory’s a special player and a special young man,” Dakosty said. “He’d be the first to tell you he benefited from the great line play and the blocking of our fullback (Jesse Rodino). He really filled the void (when Fermin went down) in our backfield and he’s a great young man who is part of a very good freshmen class that we are thrilled about for our future.”

With the Colt defense putting heavy pressure on Shenandoah QB Ben Dempster, Jesse Rodino came up with a fumble recovery less than a minute after Marian’s first score, returning it 27 yards for a 12-0 lead.

Defensively, James Rodino, Gelatko, Jesse Rodino and Milkovits were just too strong up front for the Devils, a testament to that off-season regiment. Linebackers Charlie Hower and Zach Holt filled the gaps nicely, while the secondary of Klitsch, Michael Silliman, Dylan Zullo, McGuire and Dylan Rodino stymied the Devil receivers, who had zero net yards on just four catches.

The Colts made it 18-0 on a 57-yard drive in the second quarter, the score coming on Klitsch’s catch from the five. Dixon added TD runs in the third and fourth quarters to round out the scoring.

Dakosty was more than pleased with the outcome, although noting, “In the first half, we were out of character; had no rhythm going, had lots of penalties (6 for 60 yards). But in the second half, we played clean football, and kept them off the board, which (a shutout) is always nice.”

Moran said his Devils were over-matched.

“They’re very strong in what they do, and they have a lot of size,” he said. “We were undersized and Marian used that to its advantage.”

About Dixon, he said, “He’s a great young kid who runs hard. They had a game plan and carried it out well.”

USE OF PERSONNEL ... Nine different Colts carried the ball while Hopeck teamed up with five different receivers. Dixon had 93 yards rushing in the first half and followed it with 121 more after the intermission.

READY FOR THE STRETCH ... Marian hosts to 5-2 Williams Valley Friday. “It’ll be one of the biggest games to be played by us in a long time,” Dakosty said. “We’re looking forward to our fans filling the stadium for the game.”

12TH IN THE STATE ... The win was No. 324 in Dakosty’s career at Marian, moving him into 12th place all time in PA coaching wins. Entering the game, his 323 wins were tied with John Hayes of Bellwood-Antis. Next up is Central Bucks West’s Mike Pettine, who has 326 wins.