Mars takes advantage of Montour’s mistakes in Northwest Nine victory

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 16, 2017 | 12:51 AM

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The mindset was simple: make Montour’s mistakes matter.

“Every opportunity we tried to grab,” said Mars senior Anthony Greico, who recovered two fumbles Friday night in a sloppy 26-15 victory over Montour in the Northwest Nine. “We did everything we could to win.”

Mars capitalized on quite a few.

Montour was penalized 15 times for 117 yards, lost three fumbles and threw an interception. Maybe the most costly mistake was a fumbled punt return with 7 minutes left as Mars clung to a shrinking eight-point lead.

Montour would have had a chance to tie, but instead Mars’ Christopher Check added a 21-yard field goal to seal the win.

“We were on the ropes,” said Greico, who recovered the fumbled punt at Montour’s 7-yard line. “They’re going to come down and try to score. It could have changed the game, but it hits off his stomach.”

The miscues were uncharacteristic, said Montour coach Lou Cerro, noting the team entered with just six penalties and no turnovers.

“I don’t know if they got too hyped up because we’re finally at home? I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter,” Cerro said. “You can’t do what we did and be successful.”

Montour (2-1, 2-1) and Mars (3-1, 2-1) are in a four-way tie for second place with New Castle and Highlands in the Northwest Nine standings. South Fayette (4-0, 2-0) leads.

Mars’ offense managed just 188 yards from scrimmage Friday and saw top rusher Garrett Reinke sidelined with an ankle injury, but benefited much from starting seven possessions in Montour territory.

“You can’t beat a team like Mars when you have 15 penalties and four turnovers,” Cerro said. “And the penalties and turnovers we had were at the worst times.”

Mars started the second half with a powerful 17-play, 91-yard touchdown drive that was revived near midfield by a roughing-the-punter penalty. The 15-yard personal foul penalty came on fourth-and-10 near midfield. Nine plays later, Mars quarterback Tyler Kowalkowski ran 2 yards into the end zone to lead 16-7 with 3:47 left in the third.

The drive included 14 rushes. Ten were by backup fullback Teddy Ruffner, who finished with 82 yards on 18 carries. He scored a 2-yard touchdown early in the fourth to lead 23-7. Mars dominated possession after halftime. Montour’s offense had just one possession in the third quarter. It included three plays, a penalty and a punt.

“We’re happy with what we do,” said Mars coach Scott Heinhauer, who uses a run-heavy offense. “We wanted to come out in the second half and grind it out. That’s exactly what we did. We got a score and tried to break their spirit and their will. I think that happened.”

Ruffner, a 5-foot-8, 160-pound freshman, was forced into a featured role in the second half after Reinke was sidelined with an ankle injury. Heinhauer said Reinke could have returned, but the team was cautious.

“He’ll be the heir apparent here,” Heinhauer said of Ruffner. “He runs the ball hard. If you run the ball hard and you’re low … I think you’ll be fine.”

Mars’ first touchdown was a 15-yard pass from Kowalkowski to Thomas Sheehy to lead 9-7 in the second quarter.

Montour leaned heavily on its defense to keep the game close. Mars had first-and-goal from the 3-yard line in the first quarter but stopped Reinke on four consecutive carries. The last play started inside the 1.

In the second quarter, Mars had first down at Montour’s 11 and settled for a 32-yard field goal by Check.

“The defense played their butts off,” Cerro said. “They kept us in the game and gave us an opportunity to try to win the game, and then we fumble a punt. … You can’t do that, and you can’t make selfish penalties.”

Montour led 7-0 after a 64-yard touchdown pass from Kavon Morman to Brandon Lipford. The Spartans didn’t score again until the fourth when Morman scrambled 15 yards to the end zone with 8:21 left.

Montour’s defense forced a quick punt on Mars’ next possession only to see it slip away.

“I’m running down the field and I see this kid drop it,” Greico said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ He dives on it, another player crushes him and we jump on the ball. It was surreal for sure.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Mars, Montour