All together now
ADAMS TWP — Late in the second quarter of Mars' football game against Indiana Friday, Planets defensive lineman Chase Lambert raised his pink-sleeved arms and picked off a tipped pass at Indiana's 5-yard line.
Lambert made it to the 3, and one play later Max Chizmar scored.
Everyone made plays for Mars during a resounding 49-14 Northwest Nine Conference victory at Mars Athletic Complex.
“It's a dream come true,” Lambert said about grabbing his first varsity interception. “I always love getting interceptions. I had one last year on JV against Greensburg Salem. It's amazing. The feeling is unexplainable.”
Lambert, a sophomore, was part of a defense that held Indiana to 89 yards.
“We had to get the job done,” he said.
While Lambert and the rest of Mars' defense stifled the Little Indians (3-5, 3-4) with three interceptions, the Planets' offense was out of this world.
Isaiah Johnson led the charge by scoring four of Mars' first five touchdowns, including one from 36 yards out with 8:09 to play in the first quarter.
He finished with 167 yards on 18 carries.
“He's the pulse,” Mars coach Scott Heinauer said of Johnson. “He's our team. He's the guy that's going to get the ball. We know he can run the football, and he's been getting better and better and better as we're going.”
Johnson wasn't the only one running the rock. Max Chizmar ran seven times for 64 yards and two touchdowns, while Garrett Reinke gained 66 yards on six rushes and also found pay-dirt.
“Those other kids can run the ball, too,” Heinauer said. “They don't get as much of a chance. Reinke's pretty much the guy in waiting, and Max does a great job. He's physical, he does a lot of blocking, but he can run the ball, too.”
Indiana's only first-half score came on a 90-yard kickoff return by Chad Truman with 3:25 left in the second.
The Indians scored their second touchdown against Mars' reserves on a nine-yard pass from Luke Thomas to Jacob Clark in the fourth.
“We just got to get better at little things,” Indiana coach JohnAllen Snyder said. “Tonight was a macrocosm of micro things.”
Mars (7-2, 6-1) did not go into the game taking Indiana lightly.
“We needed to come out and play a good, hard football game,” Heinauer said. “We were concerned because Knoch was up 14 (two weeks ago), and, boom, all of a sudden Indiana's winning 21-14. We felt we needed to put the gas on right away.”
The Planets are carrying that same attitude into the final week of the regular season, even with a secured playoff spot.
“You're never at ease,” Heinauer said. “We got to go and win the next game. We win the next game, we assure ourselves that we're in second place (in the conference).
“We can't leave any doubts for anybody.”
