CENTER TWP., Beaver County - Mars quarterback D.J. Cannon completed 10 passes for 182 yards in the Planets' 24-21 loss to Center Township at Sarge Albert Stadium Friday night.

Unfortunately for the Planets, he also threw two interceptions.

Senior running back Paul Ferrese fumbled the ball late in the fourth quarter, leaving an opportunity for the Beaver County squad.

The Trojans capitalized and managed to take a 24-21 lead on a 32-yard field goal by junior kicker Garrett Tonio with only 17 seconds remaining in the game.

That sealed the fate for the Planets as they suffered their second tough loss in as many weeks.

"You have got to make the big play when it counts," Mars coach Scott Heinauer said.

The Planets started the game off strong defensively by recovering a fumble deep in Trojans territory. Three plays later, running back Josh Keil scampered into the end zone from 2 yards out.

On Mars' ensuing drive, it marched the ball 51 yards on 13 plays and scored again on a 1-yard sneak from Cannon.

The Trojans managed to get things rolling offensively midway through the second quarter, when they gained three first downs on eight consecutive running plays.

Junior running back Jeff Ciccone earned the Trojans' first touchdown on a 13-yard run.

"Center is a good team, they've got some very good running backs," Heinauer said.

Mars came out gunning in the second half. Wide receiver Bill Cress caught a 15-yard pass from Cannon, giving the Planets 21-7 lead.

Things started to go downhill for the Planets in the final period of play when Cannon threw a pass that was tipped and ended up in the hands of Center cornerback Jesse Harcar.

The Trojans (1-1) scored four plays later, cutting Mars' lead to only seven points on a 3-yard run by quarterback Carl Farrow.

Ciccone scored his second touchdown of the game on a 42-yard run, knotting the game at 21 with only 3:23 left in the game.

Mars ran six offensive plays before turning the ball over for the final time with less than two minutes left.

"After we got the ball back, we talked real quick and we said, 'let's not do anything stupid. Let's just get this down into field goal range and see what happens,'" Center coach Larry Taddeo said.

That is exactly what they did. Center ran six plays covering 68 yards before junior kicker Garrett Tonio split the uprights, sparking a celebration in the stands.

Mars simply had no time left to counter.

"We made some big plays tonight," Heinauer said. "When it looks like things aren't going our way, we've gotta suck it up and start making some plays."

Mars (0-2) will open Tri-County North play next Friday by hosting Union-New Castle.