AMBRIDGE — To know it's coming is one thing.

Stopping it is another matter.

Hopewell's ground attack churned out 426 yards and five touchdowns on 57 carries as the Vikings rolled past Mars 33-0 in a WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal playoff Friday night at Ambridge High.

Sophomore Rushel Shell led the way with 262 yards and three scores.

"You have to do the little things right, like making tackles and capitalizing on turnovers," said Planets coach Scott Heinauer. "We didn't do that tonight. Hopewell is a better football team."

Trailing 21-0 at the start of the third quarter, Mars began an apparent rally when Kevin Randolph recovered Shell's fumble at the Hopewell 44-yard line.

Planets quarterback D.J. Delucia connected with Seth Geyer on an 11-yard pass, followed by three rushes by Randolph for a combined 13 yards down to the Vikings' 20.

But on first down, Delucia looked for Geyer again — only to be picked off by Shell.

On the next play, Shell raced through the Mars defense for a 91-yard score.

Ryan Carson's extra point hit the left upright, but the Vikings had a commanding 27-0 lead with 8:51 left in the quarter.

Austin Miele, Mars' 1,000-yard running back who had hamstring problems the previous two weeks, dressed but didn't play.

"We weren't sure how his hamstring was," said Heinauer. "He said he wanted to give it a shot, but if a kid's hurt, he's hurt.

"You take the fastest kid for us out of the game, it makes it tough," he added. "We were a little handicapped without Austin in there."

With Miele out, Randolph shouldered the brunt of the rushing burden and got off to a solid star, gaining 38 yards on his first seven carries.

But with Hopewell up 14-0 early in the second quarter, the Planets employed the passing game

Delucia, Geyer and Eric Guzak combined to complete 2-of-11 passes in the game for 28 yards and three interceptions.

"Our defensive coordinator, Mike Commesso, does a real good job of preparing our guys," said Hopewell coach Dave Vestal. "To pitch a shutout against a good football team, that says a lot."

Shell opened the scoring from 28 yards out late in the first quarter.

Hundenski then intercepted Delucia and the former finished what he started, scoring from 2 yards out to give the Vikings a 14-0 lead with 9:04 left in the first half.

Shell scored on a 12-yard run later in the second quarter for a 21-0 edge.

Mars (7-4) reached the Class AAA quarterfinals for the second straight season.

"Nobody picked us to win our section this year and we did," said Heinauer. "That's a major feat for this program. We just have to find a way to take that next step."

Hopewell (11-0) will face Hampton in the WPIAL semifinals next Friday.

Hopewell 33, Mars 0Mars 0 0 0 0 — 0Hopewell 7 14 12 0 — 33M H8 First Downs 2129-73 Rushes-Yards 57-42628 Passing Yards 682-11-3 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 3-5-0101 Total Yards 4941-1 Fumbles-Lost 2-24-27 Penalties-Yards 10-105

First QuarterH — Rushel Shell 28 run (Ryan Carson kick), :31

Second QuarterH — Matt Hundenski 2 run (Carson kick), 9:04H — Shell 12 run (Carson kick), 2:51

Third QuarterH — Shell 91 run (kick failed), 8:51H — Matt Hundenski 42 run (pass failed), 5:15

Individual StatisticsPassing: Mars, D.J. Delucia 2-7-28-2, Seth Geyer 0-1-0-0, Eric Guzak 0-3-0-1. Hopewell, Matt Hundenski 3-5-68-0.

Rushing: Mars, Seth Geyer 3-3, D.J. Delucia 3-(-15), Randy Seebacher 3-(-2), Kevin Randolph 11-48, Ben Bair 4-29, Eric Guzak 4-(-10), Josh Pinkerton 1-20. Hopewell, Rushel Shell 30-262, Matt Hundenski 7-73, Brendon Taylor 6-42, Malcolm Lay 2-11, Cody Mutkus 5-21, Zach Romah 3-13, Nolan Harmotto 2-1, Brett Smith 2-1, TM 0-2.

Receiving: Mars, Cameron Malewski 1-17, Seth Geyer 1-11. Hopewell, Mark Ross 2-64, Rushel Shell 1-4.