Plum offense pours it on Mars, 49-21

September 26, 2020 Last Updated: September 26, 2020 10:28 AM High School

Above, Mars quarterback Quinn Fuller hands off the ball to running back Teddy Ruffner during the first quarter of Friday's game against visiting Plum. At left, Ben Chizmar looks for running room against the Mustangs defense. Ruffner finished with 186 yards rushing on 29 carries, but the Planets fell to 2-1 with a 49-21 loss at home. Plum improved to 3-0.

Planets surrender 431 total yards in setback at home

ADAMS TWP — It was an uncharacteristic night for the Mars football team.

Usually stout on defense, the Planets struggled to stop Plum and its plethora of weapons.

Quite simply, it was a plum night for the Mustangs, who ran wild.

Plum rushed for 323 yards and amassed 431 yards in the game on the way to a 49-21 win over Mars at the Mars Athletic Complex Friday night.

“We have to get better. That's all,” said Mars coach Scott Heinauer. “We didn't play real well defensively. You can't fall behind against a team like that because they are going to make you pay for it.”Plum (3-0) averaged 8.6 yards per play and didn't face its first third down until late in the first half.The Mustangs had two 100-yard rushers: Billy Guzzi with 120 yards on 12 carries and Erych Moore with 102 yards on 10 rushes.“There's so many weapons we have this year,” said Plum coach Matt Morgan. “We had Logan Brooks catch three touchdowns last week and he didn't have a ball thrown to him today. That's the kind of unselfishness we have on this team right now and what makes this team special.”When Plum wasn't running it well, the Mustangs were throwing it well.Quarterback Ryan Hubner tossed three touchdown passes and also rushed for one for Plum.“It's all clicking right now,” Morgan said. “Let's hope we can keep it rolling.”Both teams were rolling on offense early.Teddy Ruffner gained 54 yards on the opening drive for Mars and capped it with 1-yard touchdown run to give the Planets a 7-0 lead.After Plum tied it at 7-7, Ruffner scored again from the 3 to hand Mars a 13-7 lead.Ruffner had 93 yards rushing on the first two Mars possessions.Ruffner finished with 188 yards on 29 carries and three touchdowns.The turning point in the game, however, came after Mars fell behind 14-13. The Planets drove down to the Plum 21 and faced a third-and-8 when quarterback Quinn Fuller tried to throw a quick screen to Jake Wooldridge.But the pass got away from Wooldridge and was ruled a lateral. Plum recovered.Mars never did.“It is what it is,” Heinauer said. “You have to keep fighting. You can't give up. That's what we talked about. You can't feel sorry for yourself. You can't feel bad for yourself.”After that turnover, Plum built a 35-13 lead.Reed Martin caught a pair of touchdown passes from Hubner and Maximos Matolcsy also caught a scoring strike from Hubner to build that lead.Mars (2-1) had one glimmer in the second half when Ruffner plowed in from the 4 and Fuller found Anthony Vargo for a 2-point conversion pass to cut the Plum lead to 35-21.The good feelings for the Planets didn't last long.Hubner scrambled 31 yards for a touchdown just a minute later to extend the lead to 21. Guzzi capped off the win later with a 10-yard run.Now Mars is faced with an uphill climb in the next four weeks.“You have four games left and you have to win them all now,” Heinauer said. “You put yourself in a bad situation. Only two teams make the playoffs (from the section). We'll go back to the drawing board. You gotta win the rest. Stay healthy and keep fighting.”

Plum 7 14 14 14 — 49Mars 7 6 0 8 — 21First QuarterM — Teddy Ruffner 1 run (Eli Wright kick), 8:04P — Billy Guzzi 2 run (Reed Martin kick), 5:33Second QuarterM — Ruffner 3 run (kick blocked), 11:12P — Martin 7 pass from Ryan Hubner (Martin kick), 8:17P — Martin 10 pass from Hubner (Martin kick), :23Third QuarterP — Maximos Matolcsy 20 pass from Hubner (Martin kick), 11:04P — Erych Moore 7 run (Martin kick), 7:20Fourth QuarterM — Ruffner 4 run (Anthony Vargo pass from Quinn Fuller), 11:54P — Hubner 31 run (Martin kick), 10:04P — Guzzi 10 run (Martin kick), 4:17Individual StatisticsRushing:Plum, Billy Guzzi 12-120, Erych Moore 10-102, Ryan Hubner 5-79, Reed Martin 3-7, Jake Miller 2-7, Vincent Febbraro 3-5, Dom Beyer 2-3.Mars, Teddy Ruffner 29-188, Anthony Vargo 4-20, Ben Chizmar 7-16, Hayden Mayer 2-(-1), Quinn Fuller 4-(-19)Passing:Plum, Ryan Hubner 8-11-96-0, Jake Miller 1-2-12-0.Mars, Quinn Fuller 2-10-46-1, Teddy Ruffner 1-1-40-0Receiving:Plum, Reed Martin 4-34, Nick Lamia 2-14, Zach Fields 1-25, Maximos Matolcsy 1-20, Erych Moore 1-15Mars, Jake Wooldridge 1-40, Chris Dvorak 1-33, Teddy Ruffner 1-13

Above, Mars quarterback Quinn Fuller hands the ball off to running back Teddy Ruffner during the first quarter of Friday's game against visiting Plum. At left, Ben Chizmar looks for running room against the Mustangs' defense. Ruffner finished with 188 yards rushing on 29 carries, but the Planets fell to 2-1 with a 49-21 loss at home. Plum improved to 3-0.