Run to victory
BRIDGEVILLE — Austin Miele knows he needs to do a better job of hanging on to the football.
But his resiliency is not in question.
The Mars sophomore fullback fumbled four times Friday night — only one was recovered by Chartiers Valley — but he also rushed 29 times for 175 yards and a touchdown in the Planets' 15-6 win over the host Colts in a WPIAL Class AAA first-round playoff game.
"Chartiers Valley's players were out there going after the ball and Austin is still a very young player," Heinauer added. "But he learned a lot tonight."
Miele didn't dwell on the fumbles. Instead, he focused on making up for them.
"It definitely bothered me," he said. "But you just have to go back out there and get after it."
One of Miele's most important carries of the night was of the unconventional variety.
Leading 8-6 and facing a fourth-and-2 from their own 43-yard line, the Planets lined up in punt formation.
But the snap went directly to Miele, who gained 12 yards to the Colts' 45. A personal foul penalty on Chartiers Valley following the play moved the ball to the 30-yard line.
Four plays later, Miele got the call again on fourth-and-6 and gained seven yards.
"We've got to get the ball in his hands," said Mars coach Scott Heinauer of Miele. "Even at the beginning of the season, when he was playing wingback, we made sure he got his touches."
Senior quarterback John Brake capped the drive with a 2-yard scoring run and Christopher Karns' extra point gave the Planets a 15-6 lead with 4:45 left in the game.
The Colts (7-3), who struggled on offense much of the night, mounted a drive that took them to the Planets' 9, but a personal foul penalty pushed the ball back to the 25.
"Our kids were out there playing hard and I don't think there was anything that deserved a flag," said Colts coach Chris Saluga.
On fourth down, Joe Pacella's 42-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left and the Planets took over with 2:24 to go and easily ran out the clock.
The Mars defense successfully shut down Chartiers Valley freshman quarterback Wayne Capers, who ended the game with 17 rushing yards, 109 passing yards and an interception.
He did score his team's only points on a 1-yard sneak with 5:30 left in the third quarter.
But at halftime, Capers had rushed the ball 11 times for minus-seven yards and had completed just 2 of 5 passes for 3 yards."We did a good job of keeping him off balance," said Heinauer. "We mixed up our blitzes and I think that was the key.""In the first half, it was a combination of things," Saluga said of his team's inability to move the ball. "We had some errors and shot ourselves in the foot. But we win as a team and lose as a team."Miele's 6-yard touchdown run with 2:23 left in the first half was followed by Chris Herold's two-point conversion run for an 8-0 lead."If we see an opportunity to go for two, we're going to take it," said Heinauer.Mars (7-3) will play Blackhawk, a 35-7 winner over Ringgold, next week in the quarterfinals at a time, date and site to be determined.Mars 15, Chartiers Valley 6<B>Mars 0 8 0 7—15Chartiers Valley 0 0 6 0—6M CV</B>13 First Downs 1048-195 Rushes-Yards 36-858 Passing Yards 1092-8-0 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 8-18-1203 Total Yards 1944-1 Fumbles/Lost 4-04-40 Penalties-Yards 4-40<B>Second Quarter</B>M — Austin Miele 6 run (Chris Herold run), 2:23<B>Third Quarter</B>CV — Wayne Capers 1 run (run failed), 5:30<B>Fourth Quarter</B>M — John Brake 2 run (Christopher Karns kick), 4:45<B>Individual Statistics</B><B>Passing:</B> Mars, John Brake 2-8-8-0. Chartiers Valley, Wayne Capers 8-18-109-1.<B>Rushing:</B> Mars, Garrett Smith 6-5, John Brake 11-8, Austin Miele 29-175, Corey Slater 1-0, Seth Geyer 1-7. Chartiers Valley, Jim Riley 8-50, Wayne Capers 21-17, Beau Carson 6-28, Sean Lapcovic 1-(-10).<B>Receiving:</B> Mars, Corey Slater 1-4, Austin Miele 1-4. Chartiers Valley, Jim Riley 1-2, Beau Carson 4-68, Rob LaMonde 1-28, Dan Karabasz 1-(-1), Brian Rodavich 1-12.
<a href="http://video.butlereagle.com/gridiron/gridiron.html" target="_blank">Check out video highlights of this Game of the Week on our GRIDIRON site!</a>
