ADAMS TWP In his final game at the Mars Athletic Complex, Austin Miele's performance was, well, record-breaking.

The senior fullback shattered the school record for rushing yards in a single game, churning out 440 yards on 29 carries and scoring three touchdowns as Mars crushed Hollidaysburg, 52-20, in a the first round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs Friday night.

The previous mark was 408 yards by Brad Mueller in 2002.

“This was my last home game and I was running as hard as I could,” said Miele, who scored on runs of 2, 37 and 24 yards, with the last score putting Mars up 31-14 midway through the third quarter.

“Austin battled some injuries earlier this season, but when Austin is Austin and our line plays well, we can make things happen,” said Planets coach Scott Heinauer.

“We knew he was close to the record tonight,” he added. “Hollidaysburg had their first-team defense in, so we let him go for it.”

The Planets will face West Allegheny, a 35-14 winner over Trinity, in the quarterfinals next Friday at a site and time to be determined.

The Planets (9-1) found themselves down early before leaning on Miele to take control of the game.

A fumbled snap by Mars quarterback Eric Guzak fumbled snap was picked up by Hollidaysburg's Nick Shrift and returned 80 yards for a touchdown.

After a bad snap on the extra-point attempt turned into a successful two-point conversion, the Golden Tigers led 8-0 with 4:25 left in the opening period.

On Mars' fourth possession, Miele ripped off consecutive runs of 10, 35 and 31 yards, setting up his own 2-yard scoring plunge on the first play of the second quarter.

“We were down and we knew we just had to step up and make plays,” said Miele. “The line opened up some huge holes tonight and I was able to get into the secondary and make some cuts.”

The Planets took the lead when Miele broke three tackles on a 37-yard touchdown run on the team's next possession.

“Miele's a great football player,” said Tigers coach John Barton. “We didn't tackle well tonight, but he deserves some credit for that. He's elusive and strong.”

A key sequence came near the end of the first half.

The Tigers (6-4) drove 49 yards in eight plays aided by personal foul and pass interference penalties on Mars before sending Andrew Dick out to attempt a 25-yard field goal.

The snap was high and the Tigers took a 21-yard loss on the play.

The Planets took over on downs at their own 29 with 2Z\x minutes left in the half.

Miele's 11- and 53-yard runs, followed by a 10-yard scramble by Guzak, helped set up Ryan Gralish's 23-yard field goal just before intermission as the Planets took an 18-8 lead.

The Planets' defense held Hollidaysburg's record-setting quarterback Chad Barton to 44 passing yards in the first half.

“Their spread offense concerned me this week,” admitted Heinauer. “But we were able to shut them down early.”

“We had some miscues on offense and there were certainly plays that we didn't make early on, but the fact remains that we couldn't stop them (Mars),” said Coach Barton.

Seth Geyer raced 80 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter, putting Mars up 24-8.

The Tigers responded with a short scoring pass from Barton to Luke Rhodes to make it 24-14, but the Planets scored the next 28 points.