ELLWOOD CITY - The game started late and so did the defenses.

A wild first quarter that saw 25 total points scored by the Mars and Riverside football teams later turned into a defensive struggle.

And the Mars defense turned in the biggest stop of the game Friday night to preserve a 26-20 road win and its playoff hopes.

"We have to be proud," said Mars coach Scott Heinauer. "We could have rolled over, but we didn't."

The Planets converged on Riverside running back Alex Vucelich on a fourth-and-1 play at the Mars 18 with less than a minute remaining in the game, throwing the back for a loss and the Panthers into despair.

Riverside quarterback Joe Desanzo, who was 16-of-27 passing for 162 yards, crumpled to the ground, his head held in his hands as the measurement came a good yard and a half short.

The play secured a 14-point fourth quarter for Mars that turned an eight-point deficit into a six-point lead.

And it also set up a playoff-like game against Mohawk next week. With the win, Mars improved to 4-2 in the Tri-County North, 4-4 overall, and is tied with Mohawk for the third and final playoff spot.

"What matters is the winner of that game goes," Heinauer said. "We came through when we needed to come through."

Judging by the events of the first quarter, it looked like neither defense would come through.

There were three plays of more than 50 yards in the quarter. Mars had two of them to set up its two touchdowns in the frame.

Alec Mundy rumbled 53 yards to set up a nine-yard touchdown run by Dave Pisarcik, who set up a short touchdown run by Paul Ferrese minutes later when he ran 75 yards to the Riverside 7.

The Panthers (3-5, 2-4) weren't outdone. Jake Wickline squirted out of the grasp of four Mars defenders on a 58-yard touchdown run to close out the wild first quarter with Riverside up 13-12.

"In the first half, we didn't play defense worth anything," Heinauer said. "We were in a scoring contest. It was unbelievable."

Riverside scored its first touchdown when Vucelich fumbled at the Mars 1 at the end of an 18-yard run and teammate Ben Douglas fell on it in the back of the end zone.

After the frenetic first 12 minutes, things calmed down.

Mars made several adjustments to contain Desanzo, who was able to run for 51 yards on nine carries to go with his solid passing numbers.

"We changed some stuff," Heinauer said. "We brought some different people (on pass rush) and we did some stunts up front that were able to work. We needed to put pressure on him.

"He's a great athlete. We got scared every time he ran with the football because he could score touchdowns," he added.

After struggling for only 34 yards on 11 carries in the first half, Ferrese got going in the second half for Mars.

The Butler County leader in scoring, Ferrese finished with 122 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns.

But the biggest offensive blow for Mars came through the air.

Sophomore quarterback D.J. Cannon found Pisarcik wide open down the left sideline for a 22-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter that cut the Riverside lead to 20-18.

Ferrese scored his second touchdown with 3:29 remaining in the game on a nifty 24-yard run and Pisarcik slid into the end zone on the two-point conversion attempt to close out the scoring.

The Mars defense did the rest.

"Our kids came out and sucked it up," Heinauer said. "Our kids did a great job."

Heinauer will need one more great job from his team to get back to the postseason for the third straight year.

"It's another big one," the coach said.