SHENANGO TWP, Lawrence County - On a night when the play was as sloppy as the rain-soaked field at Shenango's Pop Johnston Stadium, the Mars football team still managed to flex its muscles.

Paul Ferrese rushed for 196 yards and two touchdowns, and teammate Josh Keil ran for two and caught one as the Planets overwhelmed the Wildcats, 36-13, Saturday night.

It wasn't a flawless win, however, as the Planets committed three turnovers and were penalized 12 times for 90 yards.

"It seemed like we got called for every penalty there is out there (Saturday)," said Mars coach Scott Heinauer. "I don't know what was going on with that.

"We made some mistakes," he added. "The rain didn't help us out, but you just have to go out and play."

The Wildcats (1-6, 1-4) had cut the Planets' lead to 23-13 late in the third period on a 1-yard touchdown run by junior Spencer Haben.

But the fourth quarter belonged to the Planets, with Ferrese and Keil scoring on runs of 70 and 18 yards, respectively.

"We worked on stopping their run all week long," said Shenango coach Brian Cooper. "And I think we had guys in position to do that, but they just didn't make the plays."

Mars quarterback D.J. Cannon had an up-and-down evening.

He threw two interceptions and completed just seven of 20 pass attempts, but did throw for 201 yards, 76 of them coming on a scoring strike to Keil that gave the Planets a 21-7 cushion late in the first half.

His counterpart, Shenango's Rocco Colavecchia, played with a broken bone in his non-throwing hand, but it didn't stop the junior from putting up 214 passing yards and a touchdown in defeat.

Colavecchia injured the hand two weeks ago against Mohawk. He wore a cast on it Friday night.

"We thought there was a chance he might be able to play this week, but we weren't sure until Thursday," said Cooper.

"We weren't planning on (Colavecchia) playing quarterback tonight," said Heinauer. "We were caught by surprise there."

With all the numbers the Planets put up in the game - they finished with a season-high 497 yards of offense - it was a special teams play that deflated the Wildcats' balloon the most.

With Mars leading 21-7 early in the second half, Shenango punter Frank Reino stood at the back of his own end zone on fourth down. The senior had to leap into the air to snag a high snap and his left foot landed out of bounds for a safety.

"That safety pretty much took us out of it," said Cooper. "But our kids didn't quit and they kept playing hard."

Following Keil's first score of the evening, an 8-yard run to cap the opening drive of the game, Colavecchia hooked up with Zach Anderson on an 18-yard pass on the Wildcats' first drive to even the score at 7.

Ferrese's 16-yard scoring run was followed by Cannon's long pass to Keil in the second quarter, accounting for Mars' two-touchdown lead at the break.

The Planets (4-3, 4-1) forced five turnovers in the game, including interceptions by Carroll Smith and Tim Frye.