ADAMS TWP — The Mars football team gave up 523 yards of offense in its 41-35 loss to Shenango last week.

But it's the belief that the Wildcats had an unfair advantage that has Mars football coach and athletic director Scott Heinauer most concerned.

Heinauer said a parent of a Shenango player filmed a Mars practice last week, then gave the tape to Wildcats coach Brian Cooper.

The Shenango coach said in a phone interview Monday night that he did receive a tape of a Mars practice, but he did not watch it.

"I immediately destroyed it," Cooper said.

Heinauer said a man showed up at a practice at midweek claiming to be a scout from Ohio University who was interested in taping Planets quarterback D.J. Cannon.

"He said they were looking at him as a possible recruit," Heinauer said.

Following the practice, Heinauer became suspicious of the alleged scout.

"The next day, I called Ohio University and asked if they had sent a scout to our practice," Heinauer said. "They said no."

The Mars defense had trouble containing Shenango quarterback Rocco Colavecchia, who threw for 442 yards and four touchdowns in the victory against the Planets.

Heinauer and Cooper discussed the situation Friday night as their teams prepared to play.

Cooper said he notified the Shenango High School administration about the situation and the school in turn consulted the WPIAL.

"We gathered as much information as we could and gave it to the WPIAL," said Shenango athletic director Jan Budai. "We're waiting for their response.

"But I vouch for Coach Cooper," Budai added. "He is an honest guy, and I believe him. This was just a bone-headed thing for a parent to do. But nobody from this school was involved. Nobody."

Still, Heinauer has his own suspicions.

"We had four turnovers in the game," said Heinauer. "And I'm not saying the tape was the reason for them., but I do know that we threw some new things into our game plan for (last) Friday's game, and none of them worked.

"I've never been involved in something like this," he added. "A guy shows up posing as a scout and says he wants to look at my quarterback. You know, I want to help my kids out.

"This was very deceitful and you just don't do something like this," Heinauer continued. "If the situation was reversed, I would have contacted (Shenango) and let them know what the situation was before the game was played."

Cooper said he understands why Heinauer is so upset.

"But I would hope he'd appreciate my honesty," Cooper said. "He asked me about it before Friday's game, and I told him the truth.

"We won the game," Cooper added. "Any way you look at it, people are going to think we cheated. But I never watched that tape."

Heinauer admits he's not sure what action Mars could take. To his knowledge there is no precedent.

"But I am going to send a letter to all the teams in the Tri-County North, letting them know what's going on," said Heinauer. "I'm not going to be able to trust anybody that I don't know who comes to our practices."

Tim O'Malley, executive director of the WPIAL, could not be reached for comment.