ADAMS TWP — Just as Mars’ offense began to look ordinary, Bethel Park football’s Ja Vaughn Moore was anything but.

During the second quarter of the Black Hawks’ lopsided 49-13 win Friday night, Moore, a senior tailback, had three successive carries that all went for scores — the latter two from lengthy distances.

Those three surges, along with David Dennsion’s 7-yard plunge later in the frame, were part of 35 unanswered Bethel Park (2-0) points. Aside from a hurried one-minute drill capped by a 35-yard Mason Childress receiving score late in the initial half, the host Planets couldn’t punch back.

“We had issues tackling,” Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “We had guys in position at times, I know, and missed some tackles. There was times where we didn’t have guys in position, and that’s on us as coaches.”

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The Planets (1-1) mustered a pedestrian 217 yards of total offense, a stark difference from the 523 they had in Week 1’s road win over Orlando’s Boone High School. Mars had negative-5 yards for the second half, which yielded a trio of three-and-outs.

On the night, senior quarterback Luke Goodworth was limited to 144 passing yards and junior wideout Gabe Hein had just one grab for 8 yards.

“Our defensive coaches took that very personal, as far as the plan,” Black Hawks coach Phil Peckich said of not allowing the Planets’ attack a repeat performance. “They knew the task was tall. They have really good players on that side of the ball. They’re coached really, really well.”

The Planets’ ability showed during their first series, a six-play, 55-yard romp that was capped by Goodworth’s first touchdown pass to Childress, a 24-yarder. The teams then traded three-and-outs before Bethel Park quarterback Tanner Pfeuffer hit Mitchell Paschl for a 52-yard strike on the first play of their team’s second possession.

A dozen-play drive followed for Mars, but senior running back Eric Kasperowicz was stacked up at the goal-line for a turnover on downs with 1:14 left in the opening quarter.

“I’d make that call 100 out of 100 times,” Coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “We didn’t get it.”

Peckich sensed a shift at that moment. Soon after, Dennison’s 63-yard jet sweep set the stage for Moore to power in from 7 yards out on the next play, which polished off a six-play, 99-yard march.

“We were able to take that sudden change, get the ball out of our end zone backed up and execute that into points for a major swing,” Peckich said.

The Planets quickly punted the ball back and Moore scored again, traversing the field and spinning past the defense during a 79-yard effort. Mars crossed midfield on the ensuing series, but was turned away on a fourth-and-2 from the Black Hawks’ 39. Moore bowled over a would-be tackler at the tail end of a 58-yard house call on the next play.

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Moore finished with 11 totes for 195 yards and three touchdowns. He appeared to cramp up on a kick return shortly before halftime and didn’t return to the contest. Pfeuffer and Dennison added rushing scores for good measure in the final 24 minutes.

“I think they dominated the line of scrimmage, and we couldn’t make plays when we needed to,” Coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “We’ve got to go watch the film and figure it out for next week.”

The Planets’ road doesn’t get any easier, the elder Kasperowicz pointed out. They host another WPIAL Class 5A school in North Hills Friday and visit defending state champion Aliquippa after that.

“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” he said. “Winning as big as we did (last week) in such dramatic fashion, I think, might’ve been a bad thing. Our kids might’ve thought they were a little bit better than they are.”

Bethel Park 6 29 7 7 — 49

Mars 7 6 0 0 — 13

First Quarter

M — Mason Childress 24 pass from Luke Goodworth (Childress kick), 9:18

BP — Mitchell Paschl 52 pass from Tanner Pfeuffer (Luke Yimin kick missed), 5:38

Second Quarter

BP — Ja Vaughn Moore 7 run (Yimin kick), 10:57

BP — Moore 79 run (Yimin kick), 8:58

BP — Moore 58 run (Yimin kick), 6:31

BP — David Dennison 7 run (Dennison run), :57

M — Childress 35 pass from Goodworth (Childress run failed), :24

Third Quarter

BP — Pfeuffer 3 run (Yimin kick), 3:42

Fourth Quarter

BP — Dennison 28 run (Yimin kick), 11:10

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Bethel Park, Ja Vaughn Moore 11-195, David Dennsion 17-138, Tyler Miller 5-13, Tanner Pfeuffer 4-9, Brayden Buckner 4-7. Mars, Eric Kasperowicz 15-46, Ayden Yocum 7-29, Luke Goodworth 4-(-2), TEAM 1-(-2).

Passing: Bethel Park, Tanner Pfeuffer 6-10-116-0. Mars, Luke Goodworth 11-19-144-0.

Receiving: Bethel Park, Mitchell Paschl 1-48, David Dennison 2-36, Clancy Orie 2-26, Jack Bruckner 1-11. Mars, Mason Childress 3-73, Eric Kasperowicz 3-29, Liam Hein 2-24, Blake Yates 1-18, Gabe Hein 1-8.