Kiski Area rides workhorse back Kenneth Blake to win over Mars

By: Shawn Annarelli
Friday, October 18, 2019 | 11:09 PM

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The Kenneth Blake Show hit the road to Mars, and he turned in a winning performance with his offensive line’s help to keep Kiski Area’s playoff hopes alive.

Blake had 45 carries for 196 yards and the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes left to secure the Cavaliers’ 10-7 victory over the Planets.

“This feels great because we put in the work all week,” Blake said. “Our coach stayed on us, and we came here ready and beat them by doing our thing. It feels good to get this (win).”

Kiski Area (4-5, 3-3) coach Sam Albert gave Blake a game off two weeks ago against Woodland Hills and played him for one quarter against McKeesport last week in anticipation of relying on him to grind out a section win.

“I’ve never been prouder of a group of kids,” Albert said. “They fought from the very first (play), and if somebody doesn’t offer Kenny Blake, it is beyond me. He is an unbelievable football player.”

After being stuffed in the first half three times on fourth-down conversion attempts in Planets territory, the Cavaliers turned to Blake with 1 minute, 44 seconds left on fourth-and-3 from Mars’ 4-yard line.

He took a direct snap in the wildcat, sprinted right and dove across the goal line while being hit by two defenders to put Kiski Area on top.

“You can only stop them on so many fourth downs,” Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. “We knew who was going to get the ball. It wasn’t a secret it was going to be (Blake), but he’s a really good player. He’s the best athlete on their team. We just didn’t make the play, but our defense played well overall.”

Mars (5-4, 3-3) would have secured a playoff berth with a win but struggled offensively.

The Planets had 61 yards from scrimmage with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter when quarterback Quinn Fuller connected with running back Nick Spotti for a 60-yard touchdown pass to give Mars a 7-3 lead.

“I think we played well from the defensive side of the ball, and from the offensive side, we didn’t play well,” Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. “We have to establish drives, and we didn’t do that. We talked about it at halftime to get drives together and get consistency, which did not happen.”

Mars fumbled four times in its run game, losing two, one of which set up its first points of the game, a third-quarter 26-yard field goal by Cavaliers kicker Cody Dykes.

“We can’t make those mistakes because the fumbles and the turnovers put our defense in holes,” Heinauer said. “You can’t expect your defense to rise to the occasion every single time. … We were happy to hold them to a field goal, but I’m still proud of our kids for hanging in there.”

Mars nearly came back to tie the game on a seven-play, 48-yard drive. Planets kicker Blake Edwards attempted a 35-yard field goal, which was wide left.

Kiski Area will host Armstrong in Week 9, and Mars will play at Hampton with playoff spots still on the line.

Tags: Kiski Area, Mars