Before the season began, Mars football coach Scott Heinauer claimed Laurel would be the team to beat in the Tri-County North Conference.

The Planets will get a chance to do just that Friday night.

Coming off their first victory of the season, the Planets (1-2 overall, 1-0 in the section) will try to make it two conference wins in a row when the Spartans show up for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Mars Stadium.

"They are 2-1 right now, which means they've done things well," said Heinauer of Laurel, which defeated Riverside last week 23-13. "Their players work together very well on offense and defense."

A key to the game will be the match-up of Mars' rushing attack against the Spartans' defense.

The Planets are averaging 193 yards on the ground, led by fullback Paul Ferrese's 435 yards.

The junior has accounted for all six of the Planets' touchdowns this season, with the average distance being from 39 yards out.

"They are well-coached and have really good team speed," said Laurel coach Jerry Holzhouser. "They keep coming after you. So you know they're not going to quit.

"They run the Wing-T," added Holzhouser. "And that's an offense that can cause a lot of problems for a defense."

"We like to run the football," said Heinauer. "We always have. We plan on throwing only when we have to."

Laurel's defense is led by senior defensive end Mike Burkett, senior defensive tackle Bill Jones and senior linebacker Pat Powell.

The group has surrendered just four offensive touchdowns in three games.

"A lot of the kids are playing exclusively on defense," said Holzhouser. "But the biggest thing is they have been doing well in practice and improving."

Unlike Mars, the Spartans (2-1, 1-0) make most of their plays through the air on the arm of Ray Pollum.

The quarterback has tallied five scoring strikes in the last two games, three of them to Corey Collins.

"He's a savvy kid," said Holzhouser of his signal caller. "He reads defenses well and has been making smart decisions with the football."

After giving up just 94 passing yards in the first two games, the Planets surrendered 208 in last week's win over Union.

Heinauer will be looking for a better performance from his special teams.

Last week, the Planets had two punts blocked and a low snap that caused punter Tim Wirtz to fall on the ball on another occasion.

The Spartans blocked a punt last week that resulted in a safety.

"We made some adjustments in that part of our game," said Heinauer. "And we're confident that things will be fine when we line up to punt the football."

Returning from injuries to play on the Planets' offensive line are guards Corey Williams and Scott Brettell and tackle Pete King.