St. Mary's, Panther Valley Catholic Golden Dragons & Marian Catholic Colts

The Marian Catholic High Colts football program traces its roots back to 1924 when the St. Mary's High School football program in Coaldale fielded its first team under head coach Vince Gildea, a former quarterback for the Coaldale Big Green. During the 1924 and 1925 football seasons, St. Mary's High lost just one game. On October 11, 1944, the St. Mary's football program, because of a shortage of players, entered into a jointure of sorts with St. Ann's of Lansford and St. Jerome's of Tamaqua to form the Panther Valley Catholic High Golden Dragons football team, whose team colors were purple and gold. The first head coach of the Golden Dragons was the same Vince Gildea. In the 1954 football season, the Marian Catholic High Colts officially came into being in Coaldale. The nickname "Colts" is an acronym of sorts that contains the first letters of the towns that, at that time, produced the players for the team, i.e., Coaldale, Lansford, Tamaqua, and Summit Hill. The first head coach of the Colts in Coaldale was Joe Rilo. Then, Hugh "Wink" Gallagher took over as head coach until the 1964 football season when the team moved to its current location in Hometown.

Marian Catholic High Colts ( in Hometown)

Marian Catholic High Colts ( in Coaldale) -- 1954-1963

Panther Valley Catholic Golden Dragons -- 1944-1953