ADAMS TWP — Mars football needed heroics just to make it a game.

But the 18-point second-half comeback to tie things in the fourth quarter was not enough for a victory Friday night, Sept. 25, as a late Trinity touchdown doomed the Fightin’ Planets to a 27-21 defeat at Mars Athletic Complex.

The winning score came with 3:17 remaining on the clock, as senior Trinity running back Owen Gardner plunged across the goal line from 1 yard out. However, the Hillers’ score was blemished when Cooper Cincinnati’s extra point attempt was blocked.

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This give the Fightin’ Planets (1-4) a chance to win the game with a touchdown drive. However, two drives in the final three minutes ended in two fourth-down stops by Trinity.

Gardner’s score gave Trinity the lead for good and took the wind out of Mars’ sails after a sequence of 18 straight points by the Fightin’ Planets, which erased a 21-3 Trinity lead.

“We just didn’t play a complete game of football,” Mars head coach Zachary Benedek said. “We came out slow in the first half, and in the second half we were the team that we know we are and we controlled the whole second half.”

The tying Mars touchdown came on a 5-yard run by Jameson Garvin, who finished the day with 115 yards rushing on 30 carries. The comeback was completed when quarterback Nate Walker snuck into the end zone for the two-point conversion to tie the game.

“I just told them (after the game), who we are as a team is how we finish,” Benedek said. “We’re halfway through the season and we’ve had four tough losses, so it's how they respond to it. We can either let it nip us in the bud, or we can go and finish the season playing really hard.”

The game got off to the roughest possible start for Mars, as Braden Berdar put the Hillers on the board with an 89-yard opening kickoff return for a touchdown.

Two more big offensive plays from the Hillers boosted them to a 21-3 lead late in the first half — a 75-yard touchdown pass to Chase Kostelnik in the first quarter, and a 48-yard touchdown run by quarterback Owen Samogala late in the second.

Mars finally broke into the end zone with a 61-yard pass from Walker to Smyth Dunaway with 41 seconds left before halftime. Walker completed 10 of 26 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown.

A series of Trinity mistakes allowed the Planets to creep back into the game. The Hillers were bitten by badly timed penalties, including three for defensive pass interference which either gave Mars crucial yardage or, in one case, nullified an interception.

Mars’ game-tying drive also came as a result of a Trinity mistake, when Samogala fumbled the ball and the Planets recovered at the 25.

Another unfortunate break occurred just before halftime, when Samogala completed a 27-yard pass to Kostelnik to reach the Planets’ 3-yard line, but was unable to spike the ball to stop the clock before time ran out.

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Ultimately, Samogala’s offense proved to be the difference. The junior quarterback finished the game 8 of 11 with 193 yards and one touchdown, along with 54 yards rushing on seven carries and a touchdown.

The Planets will try again for their second win in Week 6 on the road against Shaler.

Trinity 14 7 0 6 — 27

Mars 3 7 3 8 — 21

First Quarter

T — Braden Berdar 89 kickoff return (Cooper Cincinnati kick) 11:46

M — Gus Coffield 44 field goal 5:18

T — Owen Kostelnik 75 pass from Owen Samogala (Cincinnati kick) 4:59

Second Quarter

T — Samogala 48 run (Cincinnati kick) 2:09

M — Smyth Dunaway 61 pass from Nathan Walker (Coffield kick) 41.8

Third Quarter

T — Coffield 27 field goal, 5:35

Fourth Quarter

M — Jameson Garvin 5 run (2-point run) 9:00

T — Owen Gardner 1 run (kick blocked) 3:17

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Trinity, Owen Gardner 13-36, Owen Samogala 7-54, Daniel Glass 3-8, Cooper Cincinnati 1-7, Teagan Barr 1-5. Mars, Jameson Garvin 30-115, Nathan Walker 1-10, Ray Chase 3-5.

Passing: Trinity, Owen Samogala 8-11-193-0. Mars, Nathan Walker 10-26-170-0.

Receiving: Trinity, Chase Kostelnik 4-132, Braden Berdar 3-66, Daniel Glass 1-(-8). Mars, Smyth Dunaway 3-79, Brady Brennan 3-51, Liam Corcoran 3-22, Jameson Garvin 1-18.