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A 3-0 playoff loss to Tri-Valley ended Marian Catholic’s 2025 season in heartbreak. Now entering 2026, Coach Billy O’Gurek and the Colts are fueled by a mission to win more than they lose, play meaningful football in October, and contend for a championship.
“We’re one of the best small-school leagues in the state and we play seven league games,” O’Gurek said. “If you’re not on your game every week, you can get beat easily, so it makes you prepare well and to make sure you’re on top of your game.”
Marian Catholic carries strong momentum into 2026, building on three consecutive winning seasons — a streak that earned the team its “Three W Club” nickname.
“It’s the third year in a row (that) we got to the district championship game and came up a little short…so that’s something that drives you to your next season,” O’Gurek said. “We use that as motivation. We go into each year with higher standards.”
Senior Dominick Rodino will be one of the main players leading the charge on the offensive line.
“At the line of scrimmage, we want teams to know how physical and strong we are and we don’t know how to give up,” Rodino said. “We want to beat them off the ball…and make a lot of good holes for our running back.”
As for the rest of the offense, O’Gurek expects efficiency and explosiveness to pave the way for a more well-rounded attack.
The Colts built their defense on toughness last season, forcing 29 turnovers, including 19 interceptions. For O’Gurek’s squad, the key to repeating that success will be capitalizing on those takeaways when opportunities arise.
Marian Catholic returns its entire starting defensive front: Jason Ashfield, Rocco Griguoli, Billy Ebert and Dominick Rodino.
Griguoli, a defensive end, enters his senior year with the main goal of bringing in sacks. He also aims to break 500 receiving yards on offense.
“We want to stay locked in. When everyone focuses on their own position it helps a lot when we step on the game field,” Griguoli said. “We can have a better record than we did last year and hopefully win a district championship.”
With Jah Bushati and Dylan Rodino graduated, Tyler Price takes over at middle linebacker with a prototypical build and high expectations. His goals for a breakout senior year are simple: rack up 100 tackles and establish himself as the hardest hitter in the league.
“The biggest thing we learned from last year was to not take things lightly,” Price said. “There’s always a good chance it could be the last game of the season and you have to go with all your might. We just have to keep pushing.”
The Colts hope their 2026 season extends into December, but in order for that to happen, they’ll have to hit their stride earlier in the fall.
“We want to play meaningful football in October, and if we do that we have a chance to get to the playoffs,” O’Gurek said. “If we get into the playoffs, we have a good enough chance to get to a championship at some point. At this point in the program, we go into every season with the same approach regardless of how we finished the prior year.”
Marian Catholic opens the season Aug. 28 by hosting Palmerton.
TriValleyMarian Catholic’sNowCoach Billy O’GurekColtsWe’reO’GurekMarian CatholicThree W ClubIt’sSenior Dominick Rodino
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