Some football teams survive the WPIAL quarterfinals. Mars and Central Valley owned them.

While the Planets crushed Ringgold 35-0 last week, the Warriors had no trouble in eliminating Hampton 42-9.

Now Mars (10-1) and Central Valley will face each other with a trip to Heinz Field on the line. Their Class AAA semifinal game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ambridge High School’s Moe Rubenstein Stadium.

The Warriors (10-1) are the defending WPIAL champions. After losing 17-14 in the season-opener to Montour, they have reeled off 10 straight wins, most of them in dominating fashion.

“This is the best team we will have faced,” said Planets’ coach Scott Heinauer. “Nobody jumps out at you like (former Warriors) Robert Foster and Jordan Whitehead did, but they have a lot of talented guys. They run some (two tight end) sets, some spread, some I-formation stuff....they do a lot of different things, can score a lot of different ways and that can cause some problems.”

Central Valley coach Mark Lyons has a mutual respect for the Planets.

“Mars, you talk about a steady program,” he said. “They always play tough football.”

The Warriors are led on offense by a trio of seniors. Quarterback Chris Callaghan has passed for 1,985 yards with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions and has connected with wide receiver Kurt Reinstadtler 39 times for 864 yards and five scores. Kyle Vreen has rushed for 1,146 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Central Valley adds to the challenge faced by its opponents by often going for two points after scoring a touchdown. The Warriors have successfully converted 19 two-point attempts this season.

“You always have to take away either the run or the pass,” said Heinauer. “We believe that we have to stop the run first. We did that last week and Ringgold became frustrated and they started to panic.”

Mars senior wingback/receiver Eli Brooks has tallied 912 yards from scrimmage (408 rushing and 504 receiving) and 11 total touchdowns. Junior fullback Isaiah Johnson is the Planets’ workhorse in the ground attack with 1,654 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Central Valley has caused 36 turnovers, eight of them (six interceptions and two fumble recoveries) from defensive back Maurice Sims.

“The turnovers have been big,” said Lyons. “We work on it in practice and our guys run to the ball well. If you run to the ball on every play, you’re bound to cause some turnovers sooner or later.”

Heinauer knows ball security is vital to his team’s chances, but is planning on turning the tables on the Warriors.

“If we force them into a mistake, we have to make them pay for it and score,” he said. “That’s big at any point in the season, but especially now.”

Since Central Valley was formed from a consolidation of Center and Monaca high schools in 2010, the Warriors have qualified for the district playoffs every year. Including this year, they have gone a combined 66-12.

“We got off to a good start after the merger and just caught fire,” said Lyons. “We’ve had good players who buy into the system.”

The last time these two teams met was in a WPIAL quarterfinal in 2013, with Central Valley winning 35-21.