McKeesport Triumphs Over Mars, Advances in WPIAL Playoffs
Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs
Ryan Thielet | November 9, 2024
The McKeesport Tigers dominated the Mars Fighting Planets with a decisive 35-7 victory to advance in the WPIAL playoffs. Mars struck first with a passing touchdown, but McKeesport quickly responded with a touchdown of their own, kicking off a streak of 35 unanswered points. The Tigers scored two more times in the first half, closing the half with a 21-7 lead. McKeesport’s offense continued their momentum in the third quarter, adding two more touchdowns to secure the final score of 35-7, with no points scored in the fourth quarter.
The Fighting Planets started the game with the ball and scored on their first drive. Mars took an early lead with a 71-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Gabe Hein, their only lead of the game, with 11:02 left in the first quarter. The Tigers quickly answered, with sophomore Penn State commit Kemon Spell scoring a touchdown to tie the game at 8:55. The next score came on the final play of the first quarter, when Anthony Boyd powered in a rushing touchdown, putting the Tigers up 14-7 heading into the second quarter.
The second quarter was largely a defensive battle, as the Tigers shut down Mars entirely. McKeesport scored the only points in this quarter with a quarterback sneak by Brady Eastman, extending the lead to two touchdowns with 5:25 left in the half. With Mars struggling on offense and the Tigers unable to add more, the score held at 21-7 going into halftime.
The Tigers continued their dominant play in the third quarter, scoring two touchdowns, both by Kemon Spell. The first came at the 9:38 mark with another rushing touchdown, extending the lead to 28-7. The second touchdown was a big 56-yard run by Spell with 6:00 left in the quarter, pushing the lead to 35-7. This would be the final score of the game. The fourth quarter saw no additional scoring as the Tigers’ defense stopped the Mars offense on multiple fourth downs, forcing turnovers and securing the 35-7 victory for the Tigers.
The McKeesport Tigers will advance to the semifinal round of the WPIAL playoffs, where they will face Thomas Jefferson next week. The Tigers previously faced TJ earlier in the season in a game that came down to the final play in overtime, where they narrowly lost. This time, they hope to change the outcome and advance to the finals.
Mars finishes their season with a record of 6 wins and 6 losses, a drop from last year’s 10-3 finish. They will look to improve and come back stronger next season.
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