Wexford, PA - On the last Friday of October, the Mars Planets defeated the North Catholic Trojans 17-14 to win the Greater Allegheny Conference of 4A. This highly spirited affair came down to the final seconds, where the Planets prevailed. 

Some Background:  The North Catholic Trojans entered this game 5-4 on the year with a 4-1 record in section play. The Trojans were coming off a dominant 42-6 win over Indiana the previous week that propelled them into a winner-take all matchup with Mars. In that victory over the Indians, Jack Fennell rushed for 253 yards and 5 touchdowns, plus another touchdown off an 82-yard kickoff return. The passing game wasn't as necessary, but North Catholic only had 14 passing yards. That can work against Indiana, but Mars is a much different story. These two teams met 365 days prior at the Mars Athletic Complex to decide who would make the playoffs or go home. Mars won that game 24-14 and sent the Trojans packing. This was a chance at long-awaited redemption. These schools have more in common than they have different, which makes the rivalry even more deep-seated. Whenever these schools play each other, it's more than just two teams playing. It's two schools. That's unique compared to all other schools a North Catholic team may face. It's a section championship game mixed with a rivalry matchup in a game where the seeding implications are massive. What could happen? 

The Mars Planets walked into Lt. JC Stone Field 7-2 on the year with a perfect 5-0 record in section play. The Planets have been one of the highest-scoring teams in 4A this season. They have scored an average of 40 points per game, which puts them 1st in the section and 3rd in the classification. Their starting quarterback is Junior Luke Goodworth, who stepped in for Eric Kasperowicz Jr., their starting quarterback last time these two clubs played, but suffered a shoulder injury in the offseason, which kept him away from throwing passes this season. He remains a decisive factor on the team as a wide receiver, safety, and punt returner. Goodworth has thrown for 1,632 yards through his first 9 games, averaging 181.3 yards per game. On the ground, they've been just as impressive. Evan Wright, their star senior running back, has rushed for 1,356 yards through his first 9 games, averaging 150.7 yards per game. He's gotten over 100 yards in each matchup this season and has netted 29 total touchdowns. Right there, that is 331 yards of average offensive production from just those two guys. Their defense has held up their end of the bargain, as they average just 14 points allowed per contest, with their two games where they gave up the most points coming to Montour and Moon, which were their two non-section losses on the season. The Planets were in the orbit of their first section Championship since 2015, in their second year under Head Coach Eric Kasperowicz, who turned this team from 1-9 two years ago to 6-5 last year, to knocking on the door of 8-2 this year. 
 

The Game: Mars got the ball first and quickly brought the punt team out after the Trojans' defense forced a 4th and 2 immediately. The snap on the punt was terrible, and the punter took the ball to the near sideline for the first down. The drive would continue down to the Trojans 16-yard line, where the pass by Goodworth was INTERCEPTED by Brady Koziara, who read the junior quarterback like a book and gave North Catholic the ball at their own 9. That was just the 4th pick thrown by Goodworth this season, and it gave the Trojans some early momentum. Jack Fennell ripped off an 18-yard run to begin the drive, but they stalled out 3 plays later and were forced to punt from the own 25. Mars got the ball at their own 48 with 4:33 to go in the first quarter. They ran nine consecutive rushing plays, culminating in a 1-yard touchdown run by Evan Wright (7-0 Mars). From there, North Catholic got the ball, but they didn't have it for long as they suffered their first 3 and out of the night. The Planets took the ball back at their own 37 and orchestrated another long drive, which ended with a big stop by the Trojans defense on 3rd down, which brought up a 15-yard field goal attempt by junior kicker Mason Childress who nailed it (10-0 Mars). That drive was not just long; it was exhausting. It spanned 15 plays and took 8 minutes and 22 seconds of game clock. North Catholic's offense had plenty of time to strategize for their next drive, and they put it to good use. On the first play from scrimmage for the Trojans on their next drive, which started at their own 29, Sarvar handed the ball off to Jack Fennell, who ran towards the near sideline. There, he flipped it to Gavin Kamody, who was running back in the opposite direction. Kamody flipped it back to Sarvar, who looked downfield and had Fennell as open as the desert plains, and the throw found him, and Fennell ran the rest of the way for the brilliant 71-yard touchdown (10-7 Mars). Mars and North Catholic both had 3-and-out drives afterward, which left the Planets with the ball with 1:03 remaining in the first half. They rattled off 6 more plays, but it wasn't enough to get any points on the board as time ran out on the scoreboard, which read Mars 10 North Catholic 7. In the first half, Mars ran 47 plays to the Trojans' 11. The Planets also dominated time of possession in a way North Catholic has not seen all year; Mars had the ball for 20 minutes and 26 seconds, while the Trojans possessed it for 3 minutes and 25 seconds. After all of that, North Catholic was still down by just 3 points. 

North Catholic's first drive of the 2nd half had an early promise with a first down throw by Sarvar to Brady Koziara for 19 yards, followed a play later by a 29-yard run by Jack Fennell but fizzled out after not getting an extra set of downs following those two big first downs. Mars had a quick 3 and out after that, which gave the Trojans the ball at their own 46 with 7:28 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Fennell took the handoff, moved to his left, dipped, weaved, and accelerated past the defenders. He Could Go All The Way, Touchdown! 54-yard Touchdown explosion by Jack Fennell gives the Trojans the lead for the first time in the game at 14-10! On the next drive for Mars, Eric Kasperowicz lined up at the quarterback, but remember, he can't throw because of his injury, but he can indeed still run. Wright and Kasperowicz tag-teamed it up to the 47-yard line, which brought up 4th and 3 for the Planets. They brought Goodworth back under center as they looked to be going for it on 4th and 3, but instead, Goodworth took the snap and looked to punt it. It's BLOCKED by Brady O'Hara, who outstretched his big paws and followed that ball to the 27-yard line where the Trojans would begin their next drive! 5 plays later, North Catholic faced a 4th and 9 from the 16-yard line, but his pass was incomplete. Mars' next drive was a productive 7-play drive, but it sputtered out after the Trojans shut down Evan Wright at the 49-yard line. Mars punted the ball back to the Trojans, who took possession back with 9:33 to go in the 4th quarter. North Catholic gave it up quickly off a 3 and out, giving the Planets excellent field positioning at the 26-yard line. Mars got a first down to the 13-yard line, but they took a holding call before the next snap, which brought it back to a 1st and 20 from the 23. Just 2 plays later, it was 3rd and 8. Goodworth took the snap and fired a pass to his right that was INTERCEPTED by Reid Rinker! A remarkable read by the impressive sophomore gave the Trojans the ball back with 1:56 remaining. Mars was down to just two timeouts, so all North Catholic needed to do was get a first down, and it would be all but over. They turned to Fennell, who was stuffed for a 1-yard gain, then just a 2-yard gain, followed by a 2-yard loss, and all of a sudden, it was 4th and 9, and Mars, having spent their two timeouts still had time left to work with. Brady Koziara punted the ball to the 39-yard line on the North Catholic end of the field, giving Mars a great opportunity with 47 seconds remaining to get a possible touchdown. The first play was an incomplete pass, but it was followed by an 12-yard first-down completion and an 8-yard completion, bringing the Planets down to the 19-yard line, where Goodworth spiked the ball to stop the clock with 17 seconds to go. On the next play, Goodworth stepped back in the pocket and, with time, launched a strike into the endzone where Aiden Alessio was wide open for the touchdown. Mars took the lead 17-14. North Catholic had 8 seconds to make something happen on the ensuing drive, but it was of no avail, as the Planets prevailed and won the section championship of the Greater Allegheny Conference. 

Offensive Takeaways: The offense in this game was good but not great. They had 238 yards of offense on just 38 plays over 11 drives; 5 of those drives were 3 and outs. They had several missed opportunities, with the drive after Brady O'Hara's punt block coming to mind first. Kaden Sarvar was 6 of 18 for 126 yards passing, with 71 of those yards coming on the touchdown throw to Jack Fennell. On the ground, Fennell rushed for 108 yards on 15 carries, averaging 7.2 yards per carry. Brady O'Hara had two catches of his own for 35 yards. This offense is painfully inconsistent and can't score on sustained drives. Both of their touchdowns tonight came on 1-play touchdown drives. That's not sustainable, especially in the playoffs. Hopefully, Jason Siket will feel good enough this week to play offensive snaps in their game this Friday, the 3rd. He was excellent as a wide receiver in the Trojans win over Hampton 3 weeks ago and can do nothing but help if he can be in that same role again this week. The prescription for the North Catholic offense: consistency. 

Defensive Takeaways: The defense had a lot riding against them in this game, and they played great overall. They were on the field for about 2/3rds of the game and gave up 347 yards on 81 plays. 347 yards doesn't sound good on paper, but Mars was circling all night, but they only touched the endzone twice; unfortunately, twice was all the Planets needed. The defense collected two picks in this contest by Koziara and Rinker, which put the offense back with the ball in their hand at critical inflection points in the game. Mars' touchdown to take the lead at the end of the game should not taint anyone's impression of the defense's stellar performance throughout. The outstanding Danny Franco had another fantastic game, earning 7.5 tackles, including a tackle for a loss. He's led by example this season and continues to as they head into the playoffs. Brady Koziara had 6.5 tackles, including 2 for a loss, adding to his interception in the first quarter for yet another excellent night for the senior. Brady transferred from Central Catholic to North Catholic, where he had many friends that he went to school with at St. Kilian's just 3 years earlier. He's been a great fit in the building and on the football field, but unfortunately, the WPIAL sticks its nose into everyone's business as usual, and by rule, Brady will not be able to play in the postseason. He's a big reason his team is in the playoffs, and he will be a big reason for their motivation to win come this Friday. If the defense can continue to force turnovers and do a better job shutting down the run, they will be in good shape. 

Moving Forward: North Catholic played probably their most complete game this season, but their biggest downfall was their inability to find consistency on offense. If they can fix that to having multiple sustained drives that end in points, it will be a North Catholic win this Friday. The Trojans are the 7 seed in the WPIAL 4A Bracket and will play #10 Trinity this upcoming Friday, the 3rd of November, at South Fayette High School at 7 o'clock. We look forward to seeing you there! Let's Go Trojans! 

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