An 8-1 record and a share of the Tri-County North Conference title is what the 2006 season has brought so far for the Mars football team.

But if the Planets want to be remembered as a truly great team, it will be for what they do from this point forward.

That journey begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday when Mars hosts Kittanning in a WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff game.

With last week's 21-8 win at Mohawk, Mars earned a home playoff game. But 8-1 Kittanning is anything but a first-round pushover.

"You can't sit here and say that we wish we could play this team or that team," said Planets coach Scott Heinauer. "There's no rhyme or reason to it. You've got to play who they give you."

Like Kittanning, the Planets have used an early loss to inspire a long winning streak.

Since losing a 41-35 shootout to Shenango on Sept. 15, Mars has won six straight games, outscoring its opponents 234-42 along the way.

The Planets' run for seven straight wins will be tested by a mammoth ground attack that is churning out more than 300 yards per game for the Wildcats.

"You think Mars likes to run the football?" asked Heinauer. "Kittanning throws less than we do."

The Planets allowed a 100-yard rushing performance in a game for the first time this season last Friday when Mohawk's Travis Schubert carried 22 times for a total of 114 yards.

"I think a lot of that had to do with the field conditions," Heinauer said of Mohawk's field, much of which was under water long before the game began. "When you're playing in mud, that takes away your quickness. Any agility you have isn't going to help you out in mud.

"A 270-pound lineman is going to push around a 180-pound kid on the other side of the ball a lot easier when the field conditions are bad," added Heinauer. "But we're not going to have to worry about that this week because we now have turf."

One reason why the Planets may be glad for last week's poor conditions is that D.J. Cannon tweaked his ankle in the third quarter after being pushed out of bounds following a 9-yard run near midfield. Had the ground been dry, the injury may have been worse.

As it turned out, Cannon returned after sitting out half a series.

"You don't see many serious injuries in games that are played in mud," Heinauer said. "Everybody's out there just slipping around."

Cannon is 104 yards shy of reaching the 1,000-yard passing plateau for the second straight year. He's added eight touchdown passes and only two interceptions.

A big reason for Cannon's success, and the overall success of the Planets this season, has been the play of senior wingback Josh Keil.

Keil has been the definition of balance for the Mars offense, catching 18 passes for 419 yards and rushing 62 times for another 458 yards.

The former quarterback has six scores on the ground and has caught four of Cannon's touchdown passes.

"Just look at the stats," said Heinauer. "That tells you what he means to this offense."

Mars will be trying to avoid repeating its performance in last year's playoffs, when the Planets were ousted by Burrell after a 36-7 first-round defeat.

Mars' last home playoff game was played Nov. 2, 2001, when the Planets defeated Steel Valley, 20-16 in a first-round game.

The Mars-Kittanning survivor will face the winner of the Greensburg Central Catholic-Shenango game.

PLANETS' ORBIT

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The Planets have won six straight games since a loss to Shenango. Mars' schedule and results appear below.

Date....Opponent....Final9/1....Laurel....32-209/8....Riverside....20-139/15....Shenango....35-419/22....New Brighton....35-09/29....Cornell....49-1410/6....Union-New Castle....61-1410/13....Neshannock....34-010/20....Summit Academy....34-610/27....Mohawk....21-8