HAMPTON TWP — Mars head football coach Scott Heinauer brought a chunk of the Planets' practice field with him to Hampton.

Before the game, he sprinkled the grass and dirt along the sideline and said to his players, “Listen, this is it. You practice on this. You may never practice ever again on this.”

His players went out and bought themselves at least another week of practice on the grass and dirt.

Isaiah Johnson scored from the 5 on Mars' possession in overtime and Robby Carmody intercepted a pass in the back of the end zone on Hampton's overtime chance to give the Planets a 20-14 road win.

The victory clinched a spot in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs for Mars (6-3, 5-3).

“This was possibly my last game as a senior,” said Mars defensive tackle Marshall Robinson. “We had to get it, and we had to win. We had confidence all the way through, and we finished.”

Hampton (8-1, 7-1) chose to throw the ball on its overtime possession, needing just a touchdown and an extra point to win.

On first down, Grabowski's pass was on target, but was slapped away by Mars' Jake Rosswog to save a touchdown.

After another incompletion, Carmody grabbed a tipped pass and sprinted out of the end zone with the ball held high in the air as whistles blew.

“I knew as soon as it was in the air, the game was over,” Carmody said. “I knew I could get there, and I was happy to do it.”

Hampton coach Jacque DeMatteo defended his decision to throw the ball instead of run it in overtime.

The Talbots averaged just three yards per carry in regulation.

“I thought it was a good call,” DeMatteo said. “It was a good call. It gave us the best chance to win.”

Mars dominated the time of possession in the first half as Hampton ran only 12 offensive plays, but the Talbots led 7-0 at the break.

A 49-yard pass play from Nick Grabowski to Alex Bianco set up a 3-yard TD run by Grabowski for the only score of the first half.

Still, Mars had done enough things, particularly along the defensive line, to be confident.

“We thought if we didn't make mistakes, we had a good chance against them,” Heinauer said.

“We have a good defense, they have a good defense,” Heinauer said. “The kids played hard. I'm excited about this win.”

Mars did play a relatively clean game. The Planets had just one penalty for five yards and did lose a fumble in the second half that led to Hampton's go-ahead score.

Mars pulled into a tie when Ori Rinaman capped a 13-play, 57-yard drive with a 1-yard run.

Hampton, though, responded after the Planets' fumble at midfield, marching 50 yards in nine plays, capped by a 27-yard touchdown pass from Grabowski to Jack Werling.

Mars needed a miraculous catch from Nathan Sablowski along the sideline late to keep its hope alive,

Rosswog tossed up a pass that was batted around by Johnson and Hampton defenders Nate Hyre and Shane McMillen before finally falling into the hands of Sablowski for a 33-yard gain on third-and-12.

Four plays later, Rinaman rumbled into the end zone from the 4 to knot the game at 14-14 with 1:02 remaining in regulation.

Rinaman finished with 73 yards rushing on 24 carries. Isaiah Johnson added 72 yards on 17 carries for Mars.

Hampton quickly worked down to the Mars 16 and had a chance to win on a 33-yard field goal by Sam Werling, but it was blocked.

Mars converted a 38-yard pass from Rosswog to Carmody and had its 49-yard field goal blocked to force overtime.

Despite the loss, Hampton is still the Greater Allegheny Conference champion, a fact DeMatteo didn't want to get lost in the wake of the defeat.

“If you were to ask me at the very beginning of the season, 'Coach, would you take 8-1 and be conference champs?' I'd say, 'Heck yeah and then some,'” DeMatteo said. “I'm very proud of our kids.”

And Heinauer is proud of his in a season of promise that was threatened by injury and tough losses.

It also keeps the playoff streak alive for the Planets. The last time they missed the postseason was 2004.

“I'm excited for our kids,” Heinauer said. “We always talk about what kind of legacy are you going to leave. If we missed the playoffs — it's been 10 years. They were 8 years old when all that was going on. It was important. Fortunately the streak is still alive and those kids, they gutted it out.”