COLLIER TWP — Isaiah Johnson went out early with a back injury.

His Mars teammates made sure the Planets stayed in the WPIAL Class AAA football playoffs Friday night at Chartiers Valley.

Johnson, Mars junior fullback with 1,600 yards rushing this season, suffered a back injury late in the second quarter and had to leave the game with his team up, 7-0. The Planets went on to post a dominant 35-0 victory over Ringgold.

Mars (10-1) will face Central Valley in the semifinals next Friday. The Planets are in the WPIAL semifinal round for the first time since 2010.

“It's a new level for this team. None of these guys have gone this far before,” Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. “Isaiah's fine and he'll be back for that game.

“As for tonight, we have other guys who can play. We still played the same way, we still blocked the same way.”

The Planets forced a three-and-out from Ringgold on the game's first possession. The Rams' punt was short and deflected off the leg of a Mars player. Ringgold recovered the ball at the Mars 20.

On second-and-goal from the 7, Ringgold running back Chacar Berry was nailed for a 3-yard loss by Alex Tumminello. The Rams took a holding penalty on third down and missed a 38-yard field goal attempt.

Ringgold (9-2) never threatened to score again as the Planets pulled away.

“We didn't expect to win like this,” senior receiver Eli Brooks said of the final margin. “We're down to the final eight in the WPIAL tonight. But it's nice. We'll take it.”

Ringgold was limited to 90 yards on the ground and completed just six of 19 passes. Speedy running backs Chacar Berry and Brenden Small were held to 53 and 38 yards rushing, respectively.

“We controlled things up front and that's what we wanted to do,” Heinauer said.

A 63-yard punt by Sam Morrissey helped the Planets flip field position in the second quarter.

Johnson scored on a 3-yard run to cap a short 37-yard drive once Mars got the ball back.

“That 80-yard or whatever punt changed the course of play at the time,” Ringgold coach Nick Milchovich said. “That was a huge play in this game.”

Morrissey said the wid helped his punting and passing at times.

“The wind played a big factor tonight,” Morrissey said. “I just caught that punt pretty good and we got a bounce.

“Throwing the ball with the wind, I could take something off it and the ball would still sail. As they always do, my line gave us time to make some plays in the passing game.”

Morrissey threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to John Castello to cap a 15-play, 82-yard march before halftime.

Brooks scored on a 63-yard run to begin the third quarter.

Morrissey connected with Brooks for a 40-yard bomb down the right sideline with 7:36 left in the third period.

Freshman Garrett Reinke broke free for a 47-yard touchdown run with 9:25 left in the game to conclude the scoring.

Reinke added a two-point conversion run to get the mercy clock running.

“Our coaching, our offense, our defense ... We just didn't play well tonight,” Milchovich said. “And Mars played a tremendous game. They deserve to move on.

“We hurt ourselves with penalties, particularly with that holding call early after we recovered that muffed punt. We missed an opportunity right away.”

Brooks had 168 combined rushing and receiving yards for the Planets to go with his two touchdowns.

“Guys on this team are used to stepping up,” Brooks said. “When we messed up that punt, the defense stepped up and held them out.

“When Isaiah got hurt, Garrett Reinke came in and scored a touchdown. He's only a freshman and he's the future here. That kid can play.”

Max Chizmar intercepted a pass for the Planets to end the first half.

Ringgold had attained a first down at the Mars 33 in the half's closing seconds.

Ryan Astbury, Nathan Sablowski and Nick Schriver had quarterback sacks for Mars.

Mars 35, Ringgold 0

Ringgold 0 0 0 0 — 0

Mars 0 14 13 8 — 35

R M

9 First Downs 15

35-90 Rushes-Yards 35-179

66 Passing Yards 120

6-19-1 Comp.-Att.-Int 8-12-1

156 Total Yards 299

0-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-1

7-65 Penalty Yards 1-5

Second Quarter

M — Isaiah Johnson 3 run (Caleb Brake kick), 8:49

M — John Castello 12 pass from Sam Morrissey (Brake kick), :34.1

Third Quarter

M — Eli Brooks 63 run (Brake kick), 11:41

M — Brooks 40 pass from Morrissey (kick blocked), 7:36

Fourth Quarter

M — Garrett Reinke 47 run (Reinke run), 9:25

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Ringgold, George Martin 54-(-3), Chacar Berry 15-53, Brenden Small 10-38, Darius Tyree 1-4, TEAM 1-(-10), Nic Rigano 2-0, Bo Haines 1-8. Mars, Sam Morrissey 2-(-7), Isaiah Johnson 13-43, Eli Brooks 6-89, Max Chizmar 1-5, Garrett Reinke 5-49, Nate Rosswog 3-7, TEAM 3-(-3), Luke Morrissey 1-(-4), Davis Bayne 1-0.

Passing: Ringgold, George Martin 6-19-66-1. Mars, Sam Morrissey 8-12-120-1.

Receiving: Ringgold, Dalton Holt 1-9, Chacon Berry 3-42, David Carpenter 1-8, Branden Newman 1-7. Mars, Nathan Sablowski 3-34, Eli Brooks 3-79, John Castello 2-7.