Mars Looking to Playoffs!

By Travis Pickens

            No one was thinking playoffs a little over a month ago.

            On Sept. 16, the Mars High School football team lost to conference opponent Laurel, 33-14, to drop its record to 1-3. That's why it may be a surprise to some people to see Mars as one of the teams that already clinched a WPIAL Class AA playoff berth with one game remaining.

            "The last time we played in a (big) game was against Laurel," Mars coach Scott Heinauer said after his team beat Riverside, 44-0, on Friday night to clinch at least second place in the conference. "We came out flat. We made five mistakes that cost us the game. Our kids just refused to have that happen (on Friday)."

            The win sets Mars (5-3 overall, 5-1 Tri-County North) up with a conference-deciding game at Mohawk this Friday night.

            "We have to go up to Mohawk and play football the way we played (against Riverside), and we'll let the best win at that point," Heinauer said.

            Both teams knew prior to the game that the winner was in the playoffs, but the game was never in doubt Friday night as Mars jumped on top, 30-0, at halftime before cruising to its first shutout of the season. The Planets were led by senior running back Paul Ferrese, who totaled 188 yards on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns.

            "The defense was pursuing and I was just cutting back," Ferrese said of his performance. "I didn't really think we would come in here and score that many points. I thought it would be a grind-it-out game."

            Ferrese should have known better. Heinauer said he told his team the week after the loss to Laurel that every remaining game on the schedule was a playoff game. The Planets responded, winning their next four games by an average of 31 points, twice putting up more than 40 points.

            "Our offense is moving the football and doing a great job," Heinauer said.

            The early portion of Mars' season was rocky as the team dropped its first game to PFN Class AAA No. 8 Pine-Richland, 27-25. The Planets then saw a big second half lead disappear on the road at PFN Class AA No. 5 Center in a 24-21 loss. Rankings are current as of Oct. 11.

            Mars put 57 points on Union-New Castle the next week before suffering the setback against Laurel. The following week, the Planets made their run to the playoffs, but Heinauer still knows his team needs to improve.

            "We tried to put a point out here (against Riverside) defensively," said Heinauer, in his 18^th year as head coach at Mars. "We have had some defensive games where we have not played as well as I think we can. So I think we wanted to send a statement out that we can play defense when we want to play defense."

Chance for history

            After his team's loss to Mars, Riverside coach Jesse Rosenberger said he didn't expect his team to still be alive for a playoff berth.

            "I think some strange things need to happen for us to make the playoffs," Rosenberger said. "If that happens, then, God bless us, but right now we're not a playoff team and I doubt we're going to make (the playoffs)."

            Thanks to Summit Academy's upset over Laurel on Saturday, Riverside (4-4, 3-3) is still alive for the last berth. The Panthers need to get past a Summit Academy (4-4, 3-3) team looking to make history.

            Whichever team wins this game is in the postseason. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Knights have never made the playoffs or had a winning record since joining the WPIAL in 1998.