And you thought Mars likes to run the football.

The Planets will encounter a team that likes it even more when they travel to Neshannock for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Friday.

The Lancers, who have attempted 14 passes in five games, are one of two teams with perfect 3-0 records in the conference (Laurel being the other).

Both the Planets and Lancers are coming off Tri-County North wins last week; Mars defeated Summit Academy 41-0 while Neshannock beat Riverside 17-10.

While Mars has one big-play back in Paul Ferrese, Neshannock has three such players.

Seniors Matt Barge, Matt Dean and Joe Moses have all rushed for 100 yards in a game this season. Barge and Moses accomplished the feat in last week's win, both gaining 102 yards.

Through five games, Barge leads the team with 553 yards on the ground, followed by Moses (365) and Dean (266).

Neshannock runs a double tight end offense with a full house backfield.

"Joe is a fullback," said Lancers' coach Rob Nogay. "He's basically a north-south runner. Whereas (Dean and Barge) are finesse backs. Dean has had several long touchdown runs for us this season."

The trio has the luxury of running behind a seasoned offensive line. Of the seven starters up front, six are seniors.

"We're fairly big on the line for the conference we're playing in," said Nogay. "I'd say our average size up front is about 220 pounds."

When the Lancers do stray from their conventional running game, they like to run bootleg and option plays with senior quarterback Brad Levine.

"We were fortunate enough in games against Riverside and Shenango (a 28-0 win) that we didn't have to attempt a pass," said Nogay. "But I think we are going to have to put the ball up a bit more down the stretch and I have all the confidence in the world that Brad will be up to the task."

The Lancers know the key to stopping Mars is stopping Ferrese.

"(Mars) comes right you and we have to be prepared to stop the run," said Nogay. "Ferrese is their go-to guy. We will key on stopping him first and go from there."

"This football game is between two teams that want to control the clock," said Mars coach Scott Heinauer. "One team is going to succeed and that will be the team that wins the game."

Neshannock's only loss this season came against Freedom (16-10) in a non-conference contest. It was the only time all season the Lancers have surrendered more than 13 points in a game.

Heinauer plans to rotate sophomore quarterbacks Josh Keil and D.J. Cannon for the third consecutive game.

"Josh is a better runner and D.J. has a better arm," he said. "So they both have abilities that can help this team and we plan to take advantage of that."

Mars place kicker and punter Tim Wirtz, who missed the last two games to a knee injury, will return to action against the Lancers.