This is one in a series of previews of this Friday night's high school football games.ADAMS TWP — While watching film of New Castle in preparation for Friday's Northwest Nine Conference football game, Mars coach Scott Heinauer noticed a theme.He saw Marcus Hooker ... everywhere.“He plays quarterback, wide receiver, running back and is in their secondary on defense,” said Heinauer of the senior. “He's the best player in the conference by far.”Hooker (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) has verbally committed to play at Ohio State University. His older brother, Malik, played for the Buckeyes (2014-16). After starting at safety last season, he entered the NFL Draft and was taken 15th overall last spring by the Indianapolis Colts.“He (Marcus) is their dominant player, but they have other guys,” said Heinauer. “He was injured in their game against Highlands (Sept. 8) and they still won (48-47).”“Simply put, the kid is a ballplayer,” said New Castle coach Joe Cowart. “We can pretty much put him anywhere. He soaks it all in and is learning the aspects of all positions.”Hooker was in action last week and rushed for three touchdowns to help the Red Hurricane to a 42-7 conference win over Indiana. Junior running back Josh Thomason added 108 rushing yards and three scores.New Castle may have the best single athlete entering Friday's game, but the Hurricane will be hard-pressed to match Mars' overall skill as a team, especially with the return of junior fullback Garrett Reinke. He spent the last six quarters on the sideline with an ankle injury, but is expected to play this week.The emergence of freshman Teddy Ruffner, who took Reinke's place in the backfield, will allow the Planets more flexibility with personnel.Ruffner rushed for 222 yards and three touchdowns in Reinke's absence, including 130 yards and two scores in last week's 21-10 win over Highlands.“At the start of the season, we were looking to spell Reinke with a wingback, but Teddy has shown he is capable of doing that,” Heinauer said. “Garrett will start at fullback this week. Teddy can come in and play some at fullback when Garrett spells our wingbacks (Andrew Moyer, Chuck Green and Davis Bayne) because they play defense, too. Garrett is strictly an offensive player.”“Our rush defense has not been up to par,” admitted Cowart. “Certainly, when you look at what Mars throws at you, any deficiencies we have in that area will be highlighted.”Mars junior safety Thomas Sheehy set a school record last week with four interceptions of Highlands quarterback Seth Cohen.“We did some different things with our line and linebackers and he (Cohen) was rushed,” said Heinauer. “The one time, their receiver ran a different pattern than he was supposed to. We were cognizant of the fact that they were going to throw the ball a lot. Other than their game against Ambridge, they were throwing the ball 75 percent of the time.”Mars, New Castle and Montour are tied for second place in the conference with records of 3-1. The Planets have already defeated Montour this season, 26-15 in Week 3. New Castle lost to Montour, 42-21 in Week 1.“This is the biggest game of our year,” said Cowart. “We're not shying away from that fact.”The Planets beat New Castle, 34-7, last season.Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Mars Athletic Complex.