SLIPPERY ROCK — Whether it was on offense, defense or special teams, Dwayne Martin was everywhere.

North East must have thought there were two guys wearing No. 34 for the Grove City High football team Saturday afternoon.

Martin caught three passes for 88 yards, rushed for 27, had two long kickoff returns, an interception and had a handful of huge tackles on defense to lead the Eagles to a 35-20 win over NorthEast in the first round of the District 10 Class AA playoffs atSlipperyRock University.

"I always knew I had the talent," Martin said. "It was just a matter of figuring out what was holding me back."

Nothing held Martin back on this day.

n He made a huge tackle on a second-down play in the first half to help stall a North East drive. Grove City scored on its possession.

• His kickoff return to the North East 21 set up the Eagles' third touchdown of the half for a 21-7 lead.

• On Grove City's first offensive play of the second half, he caught a pass fromMike Burk over the middle and raced 41 yards for a touchdown that put the Eagles up 28-13.

• And late in the game, he read a halfback option pass perfectly for an interception to dash any hopes for Grapepickers' comeback.

"I've been saying this all year that the kid has the ability to play like that all the time," said Grove City coach Jeff Bell. "It's just a matter of getting him in the right frame of mind. He just came out today and made some great plays for us."

Martin's all-around play helped open things up for the always steady Chris Clark.

The senior fullback gained 160 yards rushing on 21 carries and scored on runs of 30 and 7 yards in the first half to put the Eagles up 21-13 at the break.

In the second half,Mike Burk used his arm to shatter North East's hopes.

In addition to his connection to Martin, Mike Burk hit his brother, Justin Burk, in stride for a 31-yard scoring pass that put the Eagles up 35-13.

NorthEast added a late score, but the outcome had long since been decided.

"We came out and played very well," Bell said. "We made some good adjustments at halftime."

The Grove City offensive line also played well.

The Eagles rushed for 296 yards on 51 rushing attempts.

Caleb Kolb added 38 yards and CaseyShay, who came into the game with just 27 yards on the ground all season, rolled up 31 yards on just three carries in the playoff opener.

"You know, those guys up front are hardly ever mentioned, but they played great," Bell said of center CalebBroerman, tackles Jordan Gruber and Caleb David, guards Garret Herald and Nick Miller and tight end Jason Ferderber.

Bell also mentioned the blocking of the receivers, Justin Burk and Austin Kimes and — that guy again — Martin.

Because of that, Grove City didn't punt the entire game.

"When you don't have to punt, you usually win the football game," Bell said.

Grove City will face Harbor Creek, the Region 4 champion, at 7 p.m. Friday at VeteransStadium in Erie in the Class AA semifinals.

Grove City 35, North East 20

NorthEast 7 6 0 7—20Grove City 7 14 14 0—35NE GC14 First Downs 2142-157 Rushes-Yards 51-29682 Passing Yards 1195-13-2 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 4-8-1239 Total Yards 4152-1 Fumbles/Lost 1-10-0 Penalties-Yards 7-45

First QuarterGC — Chris Clark 30 (Jason Ferderber kick), 9:34NE — Robbie Hart 13 pass from Curtis Bailey (Troy Budziszewski), 3:58

Second QuarterGC — Clark 7 run (Ferderber kick), 10:45GC — Mike Burk 1 run (Ferderber kick), 6:36NE — Bryan Kirsch 1 run (Budziszewski kick), 2:01

Third QuarterGC — Dwayne Martin 41 pass from Mike Burk (Ferderber kick), 10:27GC — JustinBurk 31 pass fromMike Burk (Ferderber kick), 5:39

Fourth QuarterNE — Louis Neff 1 run (Budziszewski kick), 5:03

Individual Statistics

Passing: NorthEast, Curtis Bailey 5-12-82-1, Jeff Carniewski 0-1-0-1. Grove City, Mike Burk 4-8-119-1

Rushing: North East, Curtis Bailey 4-59, Jeff Carniewski 11-46, Bryan Kirsch 14-35, Louis Neff 9-17, Troy Budziszewski 3-1, Team 1-(-1). Grove City, Chris Clark 21-160, CalebKolb 7-38, Casey Shay 3-31, Mike Burk 9-31, Dwayne Martin 5-27, Phil Schneider 4-13, JustinBurk 1-0, Kirby Buchanan 1-(-4)

Receiving: North East, Jeff Carniewski 2-44, Robbie Hart 2-26, Bryan Kirsch 1-12. Grove City, Dwayne Martin 3-88, Justin Burk 1-31