ADAMS TWP — Friday's Northern Conference game against Armstrong was not only a chance for Mars to bounce back, it gave quarterback Tyler Kowalkowski a chance to rebound as well.

In last week's 36-15 loss to Penn Hills, Kowalkowski completed none of his first 11 attempts while throwing two interceptions.

“The offense's performance last week, it was embarrassing,” said Kowalkowski. “I was eager to get back out here tonight. It was a tough week of practice, the coaches were hard on us. We just worked hard and executed tonight.”

Kowalkowski set the tone early. Two of his first five pass attempts went for touchdowns and the Planets cruised to a 42-15 victory at the Mars Athletic Complex.

The Planets' ground game often takes center stage in the team's Wing-T scheme, but head coach Scott Heinauer knew the passing game had to get back on track. Kowalkowski delivered just that, completing nine of 13 passes for 248 yards and three scores.

“We'd like Tyler to get better protection at times,” he said. “He took a lot of shots last week, but he's a warrior and stood in there. That's what quarterbacks do. No question, he's a good quarterback.”

Leading 21-8 late in the second quarter, the Planets had just picked up a first down at their own 40, but a steady rain was falling and time was running out. Kowalkowski dropped back and hit a wide open Josh Grell, who raced to the end zone for the third touchdown pass of the game. The point-after from Blake Edwards put Mars up 28-8 with 17 seconds left before halftime.

“That play call surprised me a bit,” admitted Kowalkowski, “but I saw it as a chance to get No. 3 (touchdown pass) and I got it. I have some great athletes out there to throw to.”

“We figured they (the River Hawks) would not be looking for us to pass in that situation,” said Heinauer. “We knew that play would be open. Scoring right before the half, that was big.”

Kowalkowski had put the Planets up 14-0 earlier in the first half with scoring strikes of 28 and 23 yards to Tom Sheehy and Andrew Recchia, respectively.

Armstrong (3-2, 1-1) had no passing game to speak of — quarterback Jalen Price was 0-of-11 with three interceptions in the game — and the team's chances were reduced to the running of Price and running back Isaac Ridinger. The latter sprinted 73 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter. A two-point conversion run cut Mars' edge to 14-8, but the reprieve was brief for the River Hawks.

Garrett Reinke capped a 10-play march on Mars' next drive with a 1-yard scoring run.

Halftime lasted over an hour due to a lengthy lightning delay. Reinke (43 yards) and Drew Schlegel (30) both had long scoring runs in the third quarter to cap the scoring for Mars (4-1, 1-1). Reinke rushed for 119 yards in the game.

Ridinger tallied 125 on the ground, though 73 came on the touchdown run.

“We had a couple of breakdowns on defense, gave up that long run, but I thought the defense played well overall,” said Heinauer.

Schlegel intercepted two passes in the game and Recchia had one.

Mars travels to Shaler next Saturday for another Northern Conference showdown.

On the last play of the first half, Armstrong offensive lineman Zach Crissman sustained an injury. After remaining on the field for 15 minutes, he was taken to a hospital via ambulance.

Armstrong 8 0 0 7 — 15

Mars 14 14 14 0 — 42

First Quarter

M — Tom Sheehy 28 pass from Tyler Kowalkowski (Blake Edwards kick), 5:33

M — Andrew Recchia 23 pass from Kowalkowski (Edwards kick), 4:02

A — Isaac Ridinger 73 run (Jacob Aretz run), 2:33

Second Quarter

M — Garrett Reinke 1 run (Edwards kick), 10:08

M — Josh Grell 60 pass from Kowalkowski (Edwards kick), :17

Third Quarter

M — Reinke 43 run (Edwards kick), 8:22

M — Drew Schlegel 30 run (Edwards kick), 1:45

Fourth Quarter

A — Josh Shaner 6 run (Logan Bowser kick), 2:05

Individual Statistics

Rushing:Armstrong, Isaac Ridinger 14-125, Jalen Price 13-70, Paul Cypher 1-0, Cole Brown 2-5, Josh Shaner 5-37. Mars, Garrett Reinke 18-119, Teddy Ruffner 9-37, Tyler Kowalkowski 4-3, Drew Schlegel 3-36, Nicholas Ferro 2-(-6), Evan Thompson 2-0, Joey Tepke 1-1, Christian Kay 3-3.

Passing:Armstrong, Jalen Price 0-11-0-3. Mars, Tyler Kowalkowski 9-13-248-0.

Receiving:Mars, Mitchell Wright 1-7, Andrew Recchia 2-52, Tom Sheehy 3-53, Garrett Reinke 1-40, Josh Grell 1-60, Drew Schlegel 1-36.