McCANDLESS TWP -- Mars junior quarterback Luke Goodworth could only think of the consequences of losing his cool.

That’s why Goodworth was able to stay chill Friday night at Lt. J.C. Stone Field. Mars’ offense couldn’t do much right in the second half and the Planets were seconds away from losing to North Catholic.

“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty frustrated,” Goodworth said. “But I thought about what the consequences were of losing my cool last week.”

On the final drive, Goodworth found a leaping Aiden Alessio for a 20-yard touchdown with 10 seconds remaining to give Mars a 17-14 victory and the team’s first Greater Allegheny Conference championship since 2015.

“I have to give credit to my quarterback Luke Goodworth. We saw the window wasn’t there,” Alessio said. “We worked away and did a little scramble drill and it worked to perfection.”

Things weren’t easy for Mars (8-2, 5-0) against a stout North Catholic defense. During the first four games of the Planets’ current five-game winning streak, Mars scored 38 or more points per game. The Planets threw two interceptions against the Trojans, had a punt blocked and were stopped on fourth-and-2 from the North Catholic 10-yard line with two minutes left.

“The game plan never changed,” Alessio said. “We wanted to be as aggressive as possible. We wanted to stick to what we practiced all week long. That’s the only plan we had.”

From the first drive, the Planets’ drive showed they had the capability to move the ball. Finishing those drives with points was the hard part. The Trojans stopped Mars’ first drive of the game, a 14-play, 66-yard march with an interception by Brady Koziara.

“It’s a testament to our coaches and our kids that we put together a nice plan and executed it,” North Catholic coach Chris Rizzo said. “There are some things between the 40s we would like back. The kids executed the plan and we were able to go out and compete.”

The Planets’ second drive ended differently. Mars moved the ball 55 yards in nine plays, highlighted by a game-high 38-yard run by Wright. Wright, who finished with a game-high190 yards rushing on 36 carries, capped the drive with a 1-yard scoring run to put Mars ahead 7-0 with 52 seconds left in the first quarter.

North Catholic (5-5, 4-2) couldn’t get on track offensively. The Trojans went three-and-out after Wright’s touchdown. Mars extended its lead to 10 on the next drive when Mason Childress added a 22-yard field goal.

North Catholic cut the lead to three, 10-7, less than 30 seconds later. The Trojans ran a reverse pass that allowed Kaden Sarver to find a wide-open Jack Fennell down the sideline on a 71-yard catch and run score. Fennell, who rushed for 98 yards on 15 carries, was the elixir to Mars’ ball-control gameplan.

He also scored on a 54-yard run to give North Catholic a 14-10 lead with 7:16 left in the third quarter. After Fennell’s touchdown, the Trojans prevented Mars from scoring on four consecutive drives.

But the Planets kept forcing punts. Mars would eventually take over at the Trojans’ 40 with 47 seconds remaining. Goodworth was able to stay calm and find Alessio to give Mars’ program another conference title.

Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz never gave up on the plan.

“We had to keep our heads down, keep going out there and making stops and get the ball in our offenses’ hands,” Kasperowicz said. “It was a matter of time. That’s why you play 48 minutes.”

Mars will be assured of a home WPIAL Class 5A playoff game next week. That will give the Planets a chance to end another drought. Mars has lost its last seven playoff games since beating Ringgold 35-0 in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals on Nov. 13, 2015.

“It’s exciting,” Goodworth said. “We have great fans. It will be good to have a home game in a great atmosphere.”

Mars 7 3 0 7-17

North Catholic 0 7 7 0-14

First Quarter

M - Evan Wright 1 run (Mason Childress kick), :52

Second Quarter

M - Mason Childress 22 field goal, 3:24

N - Jack Fennell 71 pass from Kaden Sarver (Rylee Kumer kick), 3:03

Third Quarter

N - Fennell 54 run (Kumer kick), 7:15

Fourth Quarter

M - Aide Alessio 20 pass from Luke Goodworth (Childress kick), :10

Rushing: Mars, Evan Wright 36-190, Ayden Yocum 10-33, Eric Kasperowicz 3-19, Mason Childress 1-7, Luke Goodworth 2-(-1). North Catholic, Jack Fennell 15-98, Danny Franco 3-6, Kaden Sarver 2-(-3).

Passing: Mars, Luke Goodworth 14-24-124-2. North Catholic, Kaden Sarver 5-17-113-0.

Receiving: Mars, Aiden Alessio 4-52, Liam Hein 6-40, Blake Yates 1-11, Cole Yoshioka 1-7, Evan Wright 1-(-1), Eric Kasperowicz 1-(-3). North Catholic, Jack Fennell 2-76, Brady O’Hara 2-35, Brady Koziara 1-19, Ryker Kennedy 1-(-3).