Mars earns playoff berth with 21-14 win over North Catholic
ADAMS TWP — Lending his weight to crutches in the trainer’s room, Mars sophomore quarterback Eric Kasperowicz blinked away tears and gritted his teeth.
More so than the stinging pain in his right ankle, he was already concerned with what’s to come for his Planets, who clinched a playoff berth with a 21-14 win over Greater Allegheny Conference foe North Catholic Friday night.
“I’m fine,” said Kasperowicz, who passed for a score and ran for another before being helped off with the injury in the final minute. “We played a good game. We’ve just got to get better for next week.”
It was the first time that the schools — which are separated by only five miles — had ever met on the gridiron.
“It’s a local rival,” Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “A lot of those kids (on the Trojans’ roster), I believe, are Mars kids, so it was a big, big game for these guys and this community to be able to get that win.
“Hey, we’re in the playoffs, and that’s all that matters.”
The younger Kasperowicz’ gutsy 34-yard rumble on a third-and-five keeper iced the victory with time running down. He was tracked down at the two-yard line by North’s Jack Fennell and tackled awkwardly, leaving fellow sophomore Luke Goodworth to kneel the clock out.
“If not, we would have had to probably punt it again and give them a couple last-second shots,” Coach Kasperowicz said. “He’ll be fine. He took a little hit there and we’ll see how he’s feeling ... He never quits and made the play there at the end to seal it for us.”
“I had to stay in bounds, keep the clock running, get that first down, and solidify the win,” Kasperowicz said.
It allowed the Planets to breathe a sigh of relief after a tense second half. The hosts had to win by at least seven points in order to guarantee a postseason spot.
Meanwhile, the Trojans battled absences caused by illness. For much of the last 24 minutes, the sophomore gamebreaker Fennell and senior Chase Arrington — both running backs — lined up in the backfield in the wildcat formation in the stead of sophomore starting signal-caller Jason Siket.
“We had a really tough week with the flu,” North coach Patrick O’Shea said. “We had some kids out there today, they were gutsy to even play.
“We knew on Wednesday that we had to have something else, because Jason was sick ... We had to have a couple of fallbacks and that was one of our fallbacks.”
Fennell led all rushers with 98 yards on the night, but none of his carries went for more than 18 yards after his first tote, which covered 31 yards.
“We knew coming in that 13 (Fennell) was their man,” Coach Kasperowicz said. “The less he touched the ball, the better. Once he was in wildcat, he got us a few times ... It was a good cat-and-mouse game.”
The Trojans pulled within a touchdown with 3:42 to play in the third period after Siket’s 12-yard strike to sophomore tight end Brady O’Hara on fourth-and-goal.
They used nine plays to go just 20 yards on their next series, which ended with a failed fake punt.
“It’s a one-play football game,” O’Shea said. “We just couldn’t make that one play. The kids wanted that one play. We wanted the one play as a staff, as a school, as one big family. But, we just couldn’t get it.
“And that’s just how life goes.”
After coaching for North for eight years — six as head coach, two as an assistant — O’Shea is retiring from the sidelines.
“It’s been an incredible blessing,” he said. “That’s just the words. It’s an incredible school, incredible families, and I’ve met some of my very, very best friends since we got here.”
Mars 14 7 0 0 — 21
North Catholic 0 7 7 0 — 14
First Quarter
M — Garrett Heatherington 25 run (Mason Childress kick), 6:12
M — Eric Kasperowicz 2 run (Childress kick), 1:31
Second Quarter
NC — Jason Siket 2 run (Rylee Kumer kick), 11:21
M — Gabe Hein 27 pass from Kasperowicz (Childress kick), 1:07
Third Quarter
NC — Brady O’Hara 12 pass from Siket (Kumer kick), 3:42
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Mars, Eric Kasperowicz 9-69, Garrett Heatherington 9-44, Evan Wright 10-41, Carlos Orr 1-(-7), TEAM 1-(-2). North Catholic, Jack Fennell 14-98, Chase Arrington 14-91, Gavin Kamody 1-7, Kaden Sarver 1-2, Jason Siket 13-(-4), TEAM 2-(-27).
Passing: Mars, Eric Kasperowicz 9-16-126-1. North Catholic, Jason Siket 7-9-72-1.
Receiving: Mars, Gabe Hein 7-90, Jacob Maple 1-32, Aidan Alessio 1-4. North Catholic, Jack Fennell 4-48, Gavin Kamody 2-12, Brady O’Hara 1-12.
