JEFFERSON TWP — Minutes into the game, Knoch lost 1,000-yard running back Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin to a sprained ankle.

Quarterback Ky Kenyon and the Knights' defense were still there.

At the end of the night, so was their perfect record.

Kenyon rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns, threw for 181 yards and two more scores while Mars was limited to five first downs Friday night as Knoch rolled to a 28-3 Greater Allegheny Conference football victory at home.

The Knights (9-0, 6-0) ended the regular season perfect for the first time in school history.

“So much goes into that,” Knoch coach Mike King said. “These kids have been cool, calm and collected all year. I was nervous as all heck at halftime.

“The kids just looked at me as if to say, ‘We got this.'”

And they did.

Mars (6-3, 3-3) will join the Knights in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs, claiming the fourth spot in the Greater Allegheny by virtue of Highlands' 37-15 triumph over Hampton.

“They made the big plays tonight. That was the difference in the game,” Mars coach Scott Heinauer said of Knoch. “That's a darn good football team.”

The Planets struck first in the contest as a 61-yard run by Alex Smith set up a 25-yard Ryan Gralish field goal late in the first quarter. Smith got behind everybody and was streaking toward the goal line when Dakota Bruggeman caught him from behind at the Knights' 15-yard line.

Mars never threatened to score again. Besides that Smith run, the Planets managed only 77 yards of offense all night.

The 3-0 lead looked to stand up at least through halftime — until Kenyon connected with Alex Strezeski with a pass down the left sideline for an 80-yard scoring play with 1:35 left before intermission.

Strezeski was left uncovered and Kenyon hit him right in stride.

“Ever since we were sophomores, Alex and I have come out here every Sunday to work on our timing patterns,” Kenyon said. “I always feel comfortable when I see him open.

“When Andrew went down, I thought our offense would stay the same. We'd move Ben (Tackett) over and just keep on going.”

King saw it differently.

“Take Andrew out of there and we have to shift a lot of people around,” the coach said. “It took us until the second half for our adjustments to work out.”

They worked out rather quickly.

On the first snap of the second half, Kenyon raced 70 yards for a touchdown on a quarterback draw.

“The blocking was unreal on that play,” Kenyon said. “The line blew open some holes and the receivers' blocking downfield, Dakota, Ben Tackett, Mac Megahan ... those guys scored that touchdown.”

Heinauer said that was the score “that broke our back.”

“Knoch took control of the second half. They dominated play from that point,” he said.

Kenyon added a 44-yard scoring run and a 31-yard TD pass to Megahan in the fourth quarter.

The quarterback took his team's 9-0 record in stride.

“We'll enjoy it now, but we have to get ready for a game next week,” he said. “Everyone's 0-0 at that point, and if we go 0-1, this isn't going to mean very much.”

Strezeski tipped a pass that was intercepted by Bill Gebhart for Knoch's lone takeaway defensively. But the Knights controlled the line of scrimmage and did not allow a pass completion in the contest.

Mike Cunningham had a pair of quarterback sacks in the first half and Sean Wasko had a few tackles for loss.

“Our defense has been there all year,” King said. “Mars is a tough, sound football team and they shut them down. That was a huge part of this game.”