Mars eliminates West Allegheny

Mars' sensational running back, Austin Miele, followed up his epic rushing performance of last week with another splendid showing Friday night.

Miele gained 184 yards on 29 carries and scored twice — once on a run and once on a pass reception — as the Planets eliminated West Allegheny from the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs with a 29-3 victory at North Allegheny.

Seth Geyer scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns on runs of 16 and 21 yards to seal the victory for Mars (10-1), which advances to the semifinals against Montour, a 36-14 winner over Indiana last night.

Miele, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior and the WPIAL's second-leading rusher, gained 114 second-half yards as Mars pulled away from a 9-0 halftime lead with a 20-point fourth-quarter scoring spree.

"Our offensive line did a great job up front," Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. "At halftime, I told our guys that West Allegheny is not going to go away. We needed to grind it out and get another score."

Instead, it was West Allegheny (7-4) that scored, though the Indians could manage only a 26-yard field goal by Stephen Amic after advancing to the Mars 9 before a drive stalled.

Mars clung to a 9-3 lead before Geyer's 16-yard scoring run with 10:29 left gave the Planets a 15-3 advantage, and interceptions by Jacob Wright and Josh Pinkerton kept West Allegheny's offense off the field for much of the fourth quarter.

Following Pinkerton's pick, Geyer capped a short drive with a 21-yard scoring run before Miele concluded Mars' fourth-quarter splurge with a 10-yard touchdown run with 2:14 left.

"I was running hard," Miele said. "I didn't want this to be my last game."

Miele, who also plays linebacker for Mars, was coming off a WPIAL playoff-record 448 yards rushing in a first-round victory over Hollidaysburg on Nov. 5. Against West Allegheny, he scored twice, the first time on a 14-yard pass from Eric Guzak that gave Mars a 6-0 second-quarter lead.

"Our offensive line just came out and pushed them back," Miele said. "They were bigger, but our guys were more determined."

Mars led at halftime, 9-0, after Ryan Gralish kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

West Allegheny coach Bob Palko kept his players huddled on the field for a long time following the conclusion of the game. He encouraged them. He patted them on their shoulder pads.

And he smiled.

"It's high school football. We didn't make plays," Palko said with a big grin. "It's not like one play decided this. When you've been in the high school playoffs and you've coached games through the years, there's nothing wrong with tipping your hat. They were more physical than us. They were the better team."

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