ADAMS TWP — Total domination.

That's the best way to describe the play of the Mars football team over the last three weeks.

In that span, the Planets outscored their opponents 145-28 and have outgained 1,245 yards to 528.

The last two games have come against Tri-County North foes Cornell and Union-New Castle, who have combined for a 1-11 record. Both teams remain winless in conference play.

Which is where Neshannock comes in.

The Lancers (0-6, 0-5), like Cornell and Union, haven't won a conference game this season. The team's latest setback was a 49-21 loss to Shenango.

Mars (5-1, 4-1) will look to make the Lancers its fourth straight victim when the teams meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Mars Stadium.

The 21 points Neshannock scored last Friday were more than the team managed in the first five weeks combined (15).

The ability to score three touchdowns in one game was due in large part to a change in the Lancers offense.

For the first few weeks of the season, Neshannock ran its base offense from a two-tight end, power-I formation.

Last week, the Lancers threw a different look at Shenango, which involved rotating quarterbacks Josh Brown and Chester Kirkwood.

"We used Josh out of the shotgun because he's more of a passer," said Neshannock coach Rob Nogay. "Chester is a better runner. I think we'll use both of them for the rest of the season."

The Lancers also had the services of junior tailback J.T. Graham, who had been injured since the first week of practice.

Graham added some punch to his team's ground game with 139 yards and a touchdown.

"Neshannock's like the last few teams we have played," said Mars coach Scott Heinauer. "They're a good solid team, but have made some mistakes that have caused them some trouble. If they stop making mistakes, they could be pretty good."

But Nogay knows that to have a chance against the Planets, the Lancers defense must rise to the occasion.

And that's easier said than done.

Mars has scored 32 offensive touchdowns in six games, led by a ground game that's averaging 293 yards rushing per game.

Junior fullback Bill Bair has tallied 1,240 yards rushing and 20 total touchdowns.

That has taken a lot of pressure off of quarterback D.J. Cannon, but the senior has been very effective when asked to make plays this season.

Cannon is 24-of-48 for 559 yards along with five touchdowns and one interception.

Nogay said his defense will be well aware of Cannon's presence.

"We're hoping to show him a few different looks," he said. "Hopefully, we can confuse him a bit."

The Lancers' strength on defense is their linebacking corp.

The team plays a 4-4 defense and returned three starting linebackers from 2005 in Kirkwood and juniors Emmanuel Mitsos and Jordan Pitzer.

Even with their three straight wins, the Planets do have room for improvement.

Heinauer saw this first hand last week when, after one quarter of play, the heavily-favored Planets were in a scoreless tie with Union.

Mars responded by scoring 28 points in the second quarter.

"We finally woke up in the second quarter," Heinauer said. "Hopefully, that's the way we'll start this game."