ADAMS TWP - Be it by land or by air, the Neshannock football team couldn't stop anything Mars did on Friday night.

The Planets (3-3, 3-1) moved closer to returning to the WPIAL Class AA playoffs with a 42-14 win.

Quarterback D.J. Cannon led the Mars attack, passing for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

When the Planets weren't scoring through the air, the ground game was just as effective.

Billy Bair ran for a game-high 116 yards and two touchdowns. The sophomore averaged 19 yards per carry, breaking runs of more than 30 yards three times.

"He's been coming along," Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. "He's been getting better and better. He gets his shoulders square to the hole. He makes great cuts. He's the running back of the future."

The current starter, Paul Ferrese, jumped out to 93 yards by halftime, but saw limited action in the second half, finishing with 95 yards. Ferrese put the Planets on top with his 39-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

"Paul Ferrese is still a good running back," Heinauer said. "There's no question about that."

Cannon, who missed almost all of last week's win over Summit Academy after sustaining a shoulder injury on the first series, came alive in the second quarter.

Cannon found Tim Frye down the sideline 12 seconds into the second quarter for a 65-yard touchdown pass.

"Our rushing game really opened it up," Cannon said. "It wasn't that hard because we had almost three guys (rush for) over 100 yards."

Bair's first touchdown came from 39 yards away when Cannon found Frye six minutes later for a 24-yard touchdown to put the Planets ahead, 28-0, at halftime.

"He's a big-play guy," Cannon said of Frye, who came in to play quarterback last week because of the Cannon injury. "He's got great athleticism, great hands. He goes and gets the ball and makes plays."

Frye and Bair weren't the only players making big plays for Mars. The Planets defense held Neshannock's vaunted passing game and quarterback P.J. Horne to 9-of-15 and 153 yards. Last season, Neshannock (3-3, 2-2) attempted two passes in a 27-18 win over Mars.

"We wanted to get back at them pretty bad," Cannon said.

Despite its inability to stop Mars, which never punted after its first possession, Neshannock coach Rob Nogay said the outcome could have been different if his team had taken advantage of its opportunities.

Neshannock kicker Mike Snow missed a 37-yard field goal wide right with 2:20 left in the first half.

"We came out and made a couple mistakes," Nogay said. "It could have been a little bit different with the field position.

"It was tough. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a few times. It's all stuff that we can correct. It's getting a little late in the year for corrections, but we need to work on some stuff."

Mars travels to Shenango for a Saturday evening game while Neshannock travels to league-favorite Laurel on next Friday.