HERMAN — It almost became the shot heard 'round the WPIAL.

The Summit Academy football team led Mars 28-27 with 6:26 left in the game Saturday afternoon before Bill Bair rambled 39 yards for the game's final touchdown.

Following a two-point conversion pass from John Brake to Shane Kaclik that put the Planets ahead 35-28, the Knights mounted one final drive.

But facing a fourth-and-goal from the Planets' 7, Summit quarterback LaRon Green, who completed 13 of 24 passes for 346 yards in the game, saw a potential fifth touchdown pass sail over the fingertips of Theo Betts in the end zone.

The Planets (7-1, 7-0) easily ran out the remaining time on the clock and preserved their undefeated Tri-County North Conference record.

"Give Summit credit," said Mars coach Scott Heinauer. "I said it before and I'll say it again, they're getting better and better."

"Our kids were up for this game and I thought they played very well," said Summit coach Steve Sherer.

Bair ended the game with 155 yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns rushing and another one on a 52-yard punt return in the third quarter that tied the game at 20.

With an 8-yard run in the first quarter, Bair became just the 36th player in WPIAL history to reach the 4,000 career-rushing yards plateau.

"There's a lot of great names on that list," said Bair after the game. "And I'm just glad to be part of it."

"Billy earned every yard he got today," said Heinauer. "Our team thrives on him and he's done everything we've asked of him.

"We may never have another 4,000-yard rusher at Mars," he added. "It's a great achievement."

It was Bair who got the Planets on the scoreboard with a 4-yard run in the second quarter after the Knights (4-4, 4-3) had jumped out to a 14-0 lead.

Summit recovered an onside kick on the opening kickoff and on the very first play from scrimmage, Green connected with Terrence Davis for a 38-yard scoring pass.

David Lawrence's two-point conversion run put the Knights up 8-0 with just 11 seconds gone from the clock.

Summit attempted another onside kick and got the ball back when Shawn Quarles made the recovery, though Mars would soon after take over on downs.

The Knights went with the short kickoff the entire game.

"Riverside did it to us," Sherer said of the Knights' 64-26 defeat to Riverside Oct. 6. "We got it from them. We knew we couldn't stop Mars, so our premise was to end the game with more possessions than them."

Green's arm led to six more points on the Knights' first possession of the second quarter when senior running back David Lawrence turned a screen pass to the right side into an 86-yard scoring play that gave his team a 14-0 lead with 8:44 left in the first half.

After Bair's short scoring run, the Knights' aerial attack struck again.

This time it was back to Davis and a 67-yard touchdown pass, which the receiver caught near midfield, broke toward the left sideline and juked Bair at the 5-yard line before scoring.

"We knew they had speed," said Heinauer. "That's their forte. "And they put our kids in a position where they had to make a tackle and we didn't do it."

John Brake threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Shane Kaclik to pull the Planets to within 20-14 at halftime.

Bair's punt return in the third quarter was followed by his second 4-yard scoring run of the game with 1:48 left in the period.

Chris Karns, who had missed the extra point on the previous touchdown, drilled his fourth attempt and Mars led 27-20.

Green and Co. weren't done yet.

With 9:16 left in the game, the Knights took over at Mars' 29-yard line and found pay dirt six plays later when Green rolled to his right and found Chris Pollard in the corner of the end zone.

Lawrence added his second conversion run of the game and the Knights led 28-27.

But Bair, who found it difficult to break the big run the entire game, did just that moments later.

Another short kickoff was fielded by Mars at the Knights' 39-yard line.

Bair broke the play over right tackle and sprinted untouched for the 39-yard score.

The defeat puts a damper on the Knights' playoff hopes. Summit has to defeat Cornell on Friday and hope to be picked as the WPIAL Class AA wild card.

Mars can clinch its first outright conference title in at least 30 years by defeating Mohawk on Friday.

<B>Mars 0 14 13 8—35Summit Academy 8 12 0 8—28M SA</B>15 First Downs 1448-239 Rushes-Yards 27-7837 Passing Yards 3462-5-0 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 13-24-1276 Total Yards 4243-1 Fumbles/Lost 1-02-25 Penalties-Yards 9-65<B>First Quarter</B>SA — Terrence Davis 38 pass from LaRon Green (David Lawrence run), 11:49<B>Second Quarter</B>SA — Lawrence 86 pass from Green (run failed), 8:44M — Bill Bair 4 run (Chris Karns kick), 3:18SA — Davis 67 pass from Green (run failed), 2:52M — Shane Kaclik 5 pass from John Brake (Karns kick), :39<B>Third Quarter</B>M — Bair 52 punt return (kick failed), 10:09M — Bair 4 run (Karns kick), 1:48<B>Fourth Quarter</B>SA — Chris Pollard 11 pass from Green (Lawrence run), 6:26M — Bair 39 run (Kaclik pass from Brake) 6:18<B>Individual Statistics</B><B>Passing:</B> Mars, John Brake 2-5-37-0. Summit Academy, 13-24-346-1.<B>Rushing:</B> Mars, Bill Bair 29-155, Shane Kaclik 8-41, John Brake 6-(-4), Anthony Ciafre 3-49, Team 2-(-2). Summit Academy, LaRon Green 15-35, Theo Betts 7-13, David Lawrence 3-28, Chris Pollard 1-3, Team 1-(-1).<B>Receiving:</B> Mars, Bill Bair 1-32, Shane Kaclik 1-5. Summit Academy, Terrence Davis 4-172, Chris Pollard 4-61, David Lawrence 3-92, David White 2-21.