In a match up of two fairly even teams, one player stood out and dominated the game.

Williams Valley senior running back Alex Ackenbach shredded the Marian Catholic defense for 228 yards on 21 carries, propelling the Vikings to a 13-6 win over the Colts on Friday night.

In just eight games, Williams Valley is 6-2, Ackenbach has rushed for 1,900 yards.

“He sure can make a coach look smart,” Stephen Sadesse, the first-year Williams Valley coach, said. “You know I called a few plays, and when it looked like (Ackenbach) it was going nowhere he makes it into a big gain and makes a young coach look good.

“He can do a lot of things. He’s a tough runner to bring down,” Marian coach Stan Dakosty said. “A few times we had him trapped, but he kept using his ability to get free.”

Marian looked spot-on to open the game.

The Colts raced down the field in precession fashion on its first drive.

Marian freshman running back Rory Dixon had four carries on an eight-play drive that was capped by Brandon Klitsch’s nifty 12-yard end around that gave the Colts a 6-0 lead.

But that would be all Marian scored in the game.

It was a night of frustration for Marian as Williams Valley played keep-away, but not by design or in the game plan.

“Nah, not really,” Sedesse would say about limiting Marian’s offensive possessions. “It just happened.”

Dakosty would bemoan that afterward.

“Possessions, possessions two darn times,” he said.

That was the number of times Marian had the ball in the third and fourth quarters. It was unable to sustain any type of offense when it did get the ball in the third. It punted twice, and had a drive foiled in Williams Valley territory at the 27.

“I really thought overall we did a great job, especially on (Achenbach),” Dakosty said.

Ackenbach break any big runs - his biggest gainer was 35 yards that set up the second touchdown at the start of the the third quarter that turned into a well-executed six-play drive ending with Ackenbach going into the end zone on a 7-yard run.

The Vikings took the lead in the first quarter. They marched 64 yards on 9 plays, which ended on Kian Krzyzewski’s 28-yard dash to the end zone, with Sage Smeltz’s extra point kick for a 7-6 lead.

The Vikings milked the clock the final 7:14 of the third quarter. There was 11:48 to play in the game, when Williams Valley took over at its own 11, and never gave up the ball, sucking up 23 plays, which included five combined penalties.

“We never had the ball (enough) to get a shot at some type of offense,” Dakosty said about the second half and the fourth quarter in particular.

ROARN RORY ... Dakosty said in the preseason that Rory Dixon was going to be special. After senior Jayden Fermin had a season-ending injury in the first half of the Nativity win, Dixon has picked up the slack. He had 58 yards rushing against Williams Valley.

ACKENBACH ... Kid’s a real gamer. Tough to wrap up, quick, smart and has that innate ability to feel defenders coming after him.

STILL IN GOOD SHAPE ... The loss hurt, but as long as Marian takes care of business in its final two games, it should finish third in the District 11, Class A standings, behind second place Nativity. Minersville will be the top seed.