ADAMS TWP — Ringgold had no first downs in the first quarter.

There was no stopping the Rams in the final three.

Ringgold rolled up 22 first downs and 42 points in the last three quarters, erased a 7-point halftime deficit and posted a 42-31 WPIAL 4A football playoff win at third-seeded Mars Friday night.

“Sometimes things don't go your way,” Mars coach Scott Heinauer. “This is an eight-team bracket — eight good teams. Anybody can beat anybody.”

The Planets (8-3) scored two touchdowns in the final minute of the first half to take a 28-21 lead into intermission. Isaiah Johnson's 4-yard scoring run — his third touchdown of the night — capped a 59-yard drive and knotted the game at 21 with 46 seconds left in the half.

Ringgold (8-2) fumbled the ball away on the next play from scrimmage and Mars regained possession at the Rams' 30.

Noah Wright found Ben Perdziola in the far left corner of the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown strike on first down and the Planets took momentum into the locker room.

“I had a talk with our seniors at halftime,” Ringgold coach Nick Milchovich said. “I said it was up to them if we were going to continue this ride.

“We came out in the second half playing for practice on Monday.”

Ringgold had 14 first downs in the second half. George Martin threw for 257 yards and three touchdowns in the contest. He rushed for a pair of scores as well. Wright threw for 182 yards and two scores for Mars in the first half, but completed only one pass for five yards in the second.

Wright left the game with a lower body injury with 4:34 remaining and did not return. Tyler Kowalkowski entered the game facing third-and-6 from the Mars 24 and connected with Perdziola for 11 yards to extend the possession.

On fourth and 15, he found Perdziola for 20 yards near midfield. But two plays later, Dalton Holt intercepted Kowalkowski to seal the deal with 2:55 remaining.

Dalton had intercepted Wright to end the Planets' previous possession, returning the theft 16 yards to the Mars 38. That set up a 6-play scoring drive for the Rams that Martin ended with a 1-yard plunge and a 42-31 lead with 5:27 on the clock.

“Just too many mistakes tonight,” Heinauer said. “We can't throw interceptions. We can't turn the ball over.

“We gave up a long kick and punt return in the first half that kept them in the game. You can't do things like that in the playoffs.”

Brian Vandusen returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to knot the game at 14. Holt had a 77-yard punt return to bring the ball to the Planets' 10 in the first quarter, but Ringgold turned the ball over on downs.

Mars drove 76 yards with the game's first possession as Wright hit Johnson for a 23-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead. Early in the second quarter, Ringgold's Justin Mayer recovered a fumble at the Mars 35, setting up a short game-tying TD drive.

“I thought we controlled play through most of the first half, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot,” Heinauer said.

In the second half, Mars could not move the football, managing just three first downs.

The Planets did nothing with a Max Chizmar interception near midfield. Paul King sacked Martin at his own 2-yard line to force a Ringgold punt from its end zone.

Johnson returned the kick 15 yards to the Rams' 18.

Mars had to settle for a Caleb Brake 32-yard field goal and a 31-21 lead. Subsequent Ringgold scoring drives of 70, 65 and 38 yards turned the game in the other direction.

“We didn't do very much different. We just came out in the second half and played a lot more physical,” Milchovich said.

Mars defeated Ringgold in the quarterfinals last year, 35-0.

The Rams will move on to face New Castle — an upset winner over South Fayette — in the semifinal round.