ADAMS TWP — Following his team's loss in its first conference game of the season, Mars head football coach Scott Heinauer is now concerned with one thing — how the Planets respond.

Mars (3-1, 0-1) is preparing for a big mid-season Northern Conference matchup against Armstrong (3-1, 1-0) Friday at the Mars Athletic Complex.

The Planets and Penn Hills both entered last week's encounter with perfect 3-0 records. It was the Indians who escaped with their undefeated record in tact with a 36-15 victory.

Heinauer has not seen his team lose the first two conference games of a season since 2003. When asked what his team needs to do to get back on track, he said, laughing, “Don't play Penn Hills.” He then spoke seriously about the challenge facing his team.

“Armstrong runs a lot of power sets on offense,” he said. “They don't have many plays, but the ones they do have are very good. They don't pass the ball a whole lot, but are technically sound.”

Junior running back Isaac Ridinger rushed for just 214 yards last season and had a big role in the Hawks' solid start to this year, rushing for nearly 500 yards in four games. But he may be unable to go with an ankle injury.

“His backup is Paul Cypher (5-foot-7, 160 pounds), who is more of a speed guy,” said Armstrong coach Frank Fabian. “Isaac brings both power and speed.”

Senior Jalen Price is a first-year starter at quarterback. He threw two touchdown passes last week.

“His best attribute is his decision-making ability,” Fabian said. “He's reading something on every play and has been a pleasant surprise for us.”

Mars will face the River Hawks without two key players. Wingback/linebacker Chuck Green and offensive lineman Russell Snow are both out after leaving last week's game with an injury.

“We're not sure yet who will be in their place, but it's next man up. That's how it's got to be,” said Heinauer. “The key is to not turn the ball over. We turned it over the first two weeks of the season and fortunately, we won. We had no turnovers (in a 35-7 win over Greensburg Salem), then turned it over three more times last week. Other than that, I thought we played pretty well against Penn Hills. We just have to regroup.”

Garrett Reinke leads the Planets — and all of Butler County — with 608 rushing yards.

“I am extremely impressed with him,” said Fabian. “I love the way he runs.”

The River Hawks' other wins came against Indiana (26-20) and Hampton (29-15). The lone defeat was a 21-17 setback to a solid Chartiers Valley squad Sept. 7.