Penns Valley falls to Marian Catholic in overtime

Nick Erbe hadn’t played offense in his football career at Marian Catholic until Friday night. He’ll likely never forget his debut at tight end.

With the Colts trailing Penns Valley by three in the first overtime, Erbe caught a game-winning touchdown pass after coming across the middle. The funny part about the play of the game, the ball wasn’t meant to go to Erbe.

Marian quarterback Ethan Kuczynski rolled to the right on second down and goal from the 8-yard line. The senior signal caller saw wide receiver Anthony Colvecio open across the middle and lofted the ball to him. The ball never made it to Colvecio as Erbe raised up over the defense and snagged the game-winner despite taking a heavy hit, scoring Marian a 27-24 overtime win.

“As a coach all you can ask for your kids is to lay it out there on the field and our kids did,” Marian coach Stan Dakosty said. “I couldn’t be more happy for that.”

Kuczynski went toe-to-toe with Penns Valley’s Andrew Tobias. The 6-foot-4 gunslinger threw for 255 yards and two scores. Kuczynski threw for 130 and the touchdown, and added another 53 on the ground despite losing 39 yards on sacks.

One of Kuczynski’s biggest plays of the night came on defense, however. The Marian quarterback hadn’t played on the defensive side of the ball in two years. With the secondary struggling, Dakosty entered his quarterback in at cornerback. Kuczynski answered the call by making an interception that set up a Marian score.

Penns Valley struck first with a screen pass from Tobias to Takoda Bubb for 63 yards. Bubb would finish the night with two scores including the game-tying touchdown with 8:21 left in regulation. The other Penns Valley score came from wide reciever Jared Hurd, who hauled in a 19-yard strike.

Marian got touchdowns from Erbe, Kuczynski, Aaron Adams and Seth Paluck.

Marian’s first-year kicker Jarod Paisley was a perfect 3-3 on extra point attempts.

Penns Valley plays its home opener next Friday against Clearfield.

This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 12:09 AM with the headline "Penns Valley falls to Marian Catholic in overtime."