SHENANGO TWP— Longtime Mars football coach Scott Heinauer said it best.

"Our offense revolves around the fullback. He's going to get the ball,"the coach said.

And when that fullback is Billy Bair, the opposition is going to get in trouble.

Bair totaled 342 yards in all-purpose yardage — including six touchdowns and 254 yards rushing — as the Planets defeated Shenango, 55-20, Saturday night.

The senior running back now has 659 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing through three games — all Planet victories — despite the team returning only one starter along the offensive line.

"I'm not surprised with the way they're playing,"Bair said of his offensive line. "Those guys were successful through seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth grade ... They can be successful here."

The Planets rushed for 436 yards as a team and generated 510 yards of offense. Shane Kaclik contributed 123 yards rushing on nine carries, including a 77-yard TDgallop in the first half.

Yet when Shenango quarterback Ryan Tanner broke free for a 40-yard scoring run early in the third quarter, the Wildcats trailed only 34-20.

"We needed a stop at that point. We needed a few stops, actually, but that was the point we had a chance to get back in the game,"Shenango coach Ryan Mayo said.

But the Planets said no.

On Mars' next possession, Bair rambled 35 yards to the Shenango 19, a personal foul after the tackle handing the Planets a first-and-goal from the 8-yard line.

On fourth down from the 5, Bair broke two tackles and lunged into the end zone. Mars was never challenged the rest of the night.

"We had him stopped, but the kid is a great back,"Mayo said. "I haven't seen anybody better."

Bair's goal is to reach 2,000 yards rushing this season. He's well ahead of that pace. Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Miami of Ohio and Akron are some of the bigger colleges looking at him so far.

"I'm going to wait until after the season before I figure all that out,"Bair said.

Defensively, Mars allowed Tanner to throw for 132 yards in the first half. He did not complete a pass in the final two quarters, however.

Mars had six quarterback sacks — two by Ed Gaw on successive plays, one each by Ben Howcroft, Nolan Nearhoof, Brody Maughan-Evanson and Kevin Randolph.

Kaclik and Garrett Smith had fumble recoveries.

"We wanted to put pressure on their quarterback,"Heinauer said. "Since he is a former receiver, I didn't think he'd have the patience of somebody who's been playing quarterback for a long time.

"He scrambled away from us a few times. That, and our pass defense, are things we have to work on."

The running game?That's just fine, thank you.

"Billy's had a lot of big games, but, yeah, this one ranks up there,"Heinauer said. "I had to get him out of there in the fourth quarter. I don't want to get him hurt.

Bair only had one carry for 13 yards in the final period.

Besides the 254 yards and five touchdowns rushing, Bair caught a 48-yard scoring pass, had two receptions for 70 yards, and 18 yards on a punt and kickoff return.

"We expect to have games like this every night,"Bair said. "Our forte is running the football."

Mars 55, Shenango 20

Mars 20 14 14 7—55Shenango 7 6 7 0—20M S16 First Downs 955-436 Rushes-Yards 29-7774 Passing Yards 1323-7-0 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 8-15-0510 Total Yards 2092-1 Fumbles/Lost 2-25-40 Penalties-Yards 6-41

First QuarterM — Billy Bair 21 run (kick failed), 9:10M — Bair 1 run (Chris Karns kick), 6:36S — Aaron Maxwell 48 pass from Ryan Tanner (Mark Alberti kick), :13M — Shane Kaclik 77 run (Karns kick), :00

Second QuarterM — Bair 36 run (Karns kick), 4:16M— Bair 48 pass from John Brake (Karns kick), 1:40S — Andrew Watson 18 pass from Tanner (kick failed), 1:11

Third QuarterS — Tanner 40 run (Alberti kick), 8:51M — Bair 5 run (Corey Slater run), 4:42M— Bair 57 run (kick blocked), 3:18

Fourth QuarterM — Brake 8 run (Karns kick), 7:08

Individual Statistics

Passing: Mars, John Brake 3-7-74-0. Shenango, Ryan Tanner 8-15-132-0.

Rushing: Mars, Billy Bair 23-254, Shane Kaclik 9-123, John Brake 4-8, Anthony Ciafre 3-52, Chris Herold 1-(-1). Shenango, Ryan Tanner 16-(-4), Anthony Koscioskzo 7-74, Andrew Morici 2-10, Ricky Mathews 1-1, Joe Colavecchia 1-3, TEAM1-(-6), Nick Ludovici 1-(-1).

Receiving: Mars, Billy Bair 2-70, Shane Kaclik 1-4. Shenango, Andrew Watson 5-76, Aaron Maxwell 3-56