ADAMS TWP — Deploying his defense with a 31-point cushion, Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz had a certain number in mind — the same one that was lit up on Armstrong’s side of the scoreboard for the 41 minutes prior.

“One more stop,” he urged senior linebacker Cole Yoshioka, offering a high-five with his focus fixed on zero. “One more stop.”

The Planets unit followed suit on the ensuing River Hawks series — and the one after that — to blank their visitors, 38-0, in a Greater Allegheny Conference gridiron matchup Friday night.

Armstrong (5-3, 2-2) entered the clash averaging 36.8 points per outing, good enough for the third-best scoring average in WPIAL Class 4A. Mars (6-2, 4-0) allowed the River Hawks just six plays in plus territory and made sure they didn’t top 100 yards from scrimmage until there were less than five minutes to play.

“That shutout lets everyone know that we’re serious,” Yoshioka said. “Our defense is serious.”

Seniors Jacob Maple and Aidan Alessio had interceptions, and the team dropped at least two more against what has otherwise been an effective spread attack.

“This game, I think we proved our defense to be one of the top defenses in the WPIAL, to be honest,” Maple said. “Our guys just executed. We did great.”

Xander Painley and Maple also notched sacks, while the River Hawks punted after three plays on six occasions, including four in a row to start the second half.

“We just couldn’t get in rhythm,” Armstrong coach Frank Fabian said. “They just kept us from getting first downs. We’re kind of like a tempo offense — once we get one first down, it turns into (more). ... There was too many three-and-outs, credit to them. They just had us off-balance all night on offense.”

The Planets’ offense was slowed initially, as well. As normal, senior tailback Evan Wright was the one to provide the spark — a 48-yard receiving touchdown on the first play of Mars’ fourth offensive series. Junior quarterback Luke Goodworth surpassed Sam Morrissey’s record single-season passing mark of 1,446 yards when he hit Maple for another aerial score with 1:24 to go before the midway point.

Senior Connor Hartle’s punt block just over two minutes into the third frame set up another quick touchdown for Wright, this time from 13 yards out. Wright eclipsed 1,000 yards on the ground on the night, becoming the sixth Planets rusher since 2005 to have at least two 1,000-yard campaigns.

Wright hit pay dirt again and sophomore Ayden Yocum added on in the fourth quarter for Mars, which entered play having put up a classification-best 41.1 points per game.

“As long as we’re scoring points, the defense can go unnoticed,” Kasperowicz said. “It doesn’t matter, as long as we’re playing hard, physical defense.”

Early on, a Chase Jablonski interception provided the River Hawks a great opportunity to strike first, setting the visitors up at the Mars 22-yard line. Maple picked Jaydon Oliver off two plays later.

“We had exactly what we wanted,” Fabian said. “They corner blitzed. We thought that might be the case. It’s a freshman playing quarterback. He saw some stuff tonight he hasn’t seen before.”

Mason Childress recovered Hartle’s punt block and added a 23-yard field goal. Armstrong had beaten the Planets, 55-31, last year.

“They have a great offense, and they kind of embarrassed us last year a little bit up at their place,” Kasperowicz said. “That stung. Our guys remembered that, so we came out and played a great team effort.”

Armstrong 0 0 0 0 — 0

Mars 7 7 10 14 — 38

First Quarter

M — Evan Wright 48 pass from Luke Goodworth (Mason Childress kick), 1:44

Second Quarter

M — Jacob Maple 35 pass from Goodworth (Childress kick), 1:24

Third Quarter

M — Wright 13 run (Childress kick), 9:39

M — Childress 23 field goal, 1:39

Fourth Quarter

M — Wright 44 run (Childress kick), 10:31

M — Ayden Yocum 20 run (Childress kick), 3:04

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Armstrong, Alex Patton 8-35, Jaydon Oliver 14-19, Kyan Kline 4-17, Joe Bartolowits 1-6, Rex Harmon 1-(-1). Mars, Evan Wright 25-143, Ayden Yocum 6-47, Luke Goodworth 1-(-7).

Passing: Armstrong, Jaydon Oliver 10-23-113-2. Mars, Luke Goodworth 11-19-193-1.

Receiving: Armstrong, Ian Olsen 5-68, Kyan Kline 2-22, Chase Jablonski 2-18, Alex Patton 1-5. Mars, Evan Wright 2-49, Aidan Alessio 2-48, Jacob Maple 1-35, Cole Yoshioka 2-28, Ethan Kresinski 1-21, Liam Hein 2-8, Ayden Yocum 1-4.