Mars running back Bill Bair runs to daylight in his final high school football game, a WPIAL playoff contest against Aliquippa in 2007. Bair still holds school records for rushing yards in a single season and in a career. He will be inducted into the Mars Athletic Hall of Fame next month.

SHALER TWP — Bill Bair showed a lot of promise as an underclassman running back for the Mars football program.

Beginning with his junior year, that potential exploded all over opposing defenses. By the time his scholastic career was over, Bair had rushed for 4,702 yards and 65 touchdowns, both school records that still stand.

The 2008 graduate will be inducted into the Mars Athletic Hall of Fame in September.

While the honor is an individual one, Bair knows he had a lot of help along the way.

“My offensive line was awesome,” he said. “I never would have put up the numbers I did without them. If you watch the film, you can see, the holes they opened up were massive.”

This is the first in a series of six articles profiling the Mars Athletic Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018.

Read the full profile in Sunday’s Butler Eagle.