Scott Heinauer

ADAMS TWP — On Friday night, the Mars football team will renew an old rivalry.

Make that a really old rivalry.

Between 1921 and 1943, Mars faced Butler 19 times, with the Golden Tornado dominating the series 15-2-2. It has been 67 years since the last meeting in 1943, which ended in a scoreless tie.

Mars last defeated Butler in a 6-0 decision in 1926.

The Planets (5-1) enter the contest riding a five-game winning streak after a 21-0 shutout of Highlands last week.

Butler (0-6) is winless under first-year coach Jim Rankin. The Tornado lost to North Hills last week 34-0.

Rankin, who tallied a record of 144-66-2 in 18 seasons at North Allegheny and won WPIAL and PIAA titles with the Tigers in 1990, took over a Butler program that went 0-9 last season.

"It's easy to criticize, but people don't understand," said Mars coach Scott Heinauer. "Jim Rankin is a good football coach. His record speaks for itself. They are running the Wing-T, just like we do. It takes some time for kids to learn this offense. People just need to be patient."

Heinauer knows a bit about turning a program around. He began coaching at Mars in 1992 after the Planets had gone a combined 9-50-1 in the previous six seasons.

After a 1-9 record in his first year, Heinauer guided the Planets to a 7-4 mark and a WPIAL Class AA playoff spot in 1993.

"You don't set a timetable. You just hope the kids start to believe, and winning a few games starts that process," said Heinauer. "But Jim doesn't need me to tell him that. He's been around a lot longer than I have."

As for Friday's game, Heinauer knows the Tornado bring more than their record into the contest.

"They're playing a lot of young kids," he said. "But they have more athletes than we do. We're a small (Class) AAA school."

Mars senior fullback Austin Miele left last week's game with an ankle injury, but Heinauer said he'll be ready to go against Butler.

Miele is on the doorstep of his third straight 1,000-yard rushing campaign. He currently has 860 yards and has scored 11 touchdowns.

A player Heinauer will be counting on down the stretch this season is senior wingback-linebacker Seth Geyer, who scored his first touchdown of the season last week on an 18-yard pass from Eric Guzak.

Geyer has 21 touches on offense for 138 yards, but his role includes much more than that.

He is one of the Planets' captains, along with Miele and lineman Dylan Bear.

"He's a great asset running and blocking," said Heinauer of Geyer. "And he makes so many tackles on defense.

"He missed our two scrimmages and the first two games with a broken thumb," Heinauer added. "He just got the cast taken off and is getting back into the swing of things."

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Art Bernardi Stadium in Butler Township.