BLAWNOX — Football can be a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately game, and Mars coach Scott Heinauer knows it.

So all week in practice, Heinauer preached physicality for Friday's game against Fox Chapel to prove his players' mettle.

They got the message.

The Planets powered their way to 386 yards rushing on 57 carries — Shane Kaclik had 208 of those yards on 30 carries and AustinMiele 163 yards on 14 — to pull away in a 35-14 nonconference decision at James Burk Memorial Stadium.

Mars (3-1) had a pair of wins over Moon and Plum, but those teams were a combined 0-6 entering Friday.

"(Fox Chapel) was a team that was 2-1 just like us. ... Who we are, we didn't know, but it's all a clean slate now,"Heinauer said.

"All week in practice, we talked about being physical, physical, physical, physical. I was proud of our kids. They played as good a football game offensively and on the offensive line as we could have played," he added.

The Planets smacked the Foxes early and often, jumping out to a 14-0 lead after their first two possessions.

Mars needed 11 offensive plays — 10 rushing — to roll up 139 yards. Kaclik capped a seven-play, 65-yard drive by catching a 4-yard scoring pass from John Brake, then Miele scored on a 15-yard run after a four-play, 74-yard drive.

The Foxes (2-2) did mount an 11-play drive between the Planets' scores, but a fumble on the Mars 20-yard line ended the threat.

"They went down the field twice on us," said Foxes coachBryan Deal. "They were very physical in every aspect and they did a great job.

"We were down five starters on defense, but I don't want to use that as an excuse. We just couldn't stop them," he added.

The Foxes did make things interesting in the second quarter when they went on a 14-play, 72-yard drive and pulled to within seven points with 37 seconds left before halftime.

On a fourth-and-5 at the Mars 6, Mike Heisel caught a pass from Cody Hirsch and stretched across the goal line for a touchdown.

The Foxes kept the drive alive twice when a third-and-5 play netted three yards, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Mars tacked on 15 more yards and a fresh set of downs.

Then, on the eighth play, Kirsch hit Colin Hartford on a 19-yard slant pass on third-and-16.

The Foxes opened the second half with the ball and drove from their own 20 to the Mars 42 before being forced to punt. Fox Chapel had converted third-and-14 and third-and-8 plays into first downs.

"I think the kids kind of relaxed a bit," said Heinauer.

On the Planets' first drive of the second half, they reasserted themselves, rushing nine times for 85 yards before a 1-yard keeper by Brake gave them a 21-7 lead with 3:53 left in the third quarter.

Mars made it 28-7 when Brake added another 1-yard scoring run with 11:33 remaining in the game.

"That was a bit of a concern, with Fox Chapel scoring before halftime. But for us to come back, we were showing some backbone," Heinauer said.

With regular starting quarterback Jullian Salerno back in the game, the Foxes needed six plays to go 65 yards before Salerno scored on a 1-yard keeper with 9:41 to play.

Later in the quarter, Mars' Randy Seebacher intercepted a Salerno pass and returned it to the Fox Chapel 32.

Nine plays later, Kaclik scored on a 1-yard run with 1:09 left to account for the final score.

Notes: Fox Chapel quarterbacks combined for 177 yards, completing 21 of 28 passes. ... Miele also intercepted a pass from Salerno.