Jaguars look to bounce back against Mars

By DEAN DELLAMALVA JR.

MVI Sports

Thomas Jefferson and Mars will meet in the first round of the WPIAL 4A football playoffs today at Jaguar Stadium. Perhaps no other matchup will feature a stronger tradition of success when it comes to making the postseason.

The Jaguars (5-1) are the defending PIAA champions and are making their 26th consecutive appearance in the playoffs and 32nd overall. The Fighting Planets (6-1) have made the playoffs 25 times with 16 straight appearances.

“It is a great accomplishment, especially this year with only two teams making it from each conference,” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said. “The mark of a good program is consistency and making the playoffs all those years certainly speaks to the consistency of these programs.”

“We’ve been fortunate, we pride ourselves on being in the playoffs,” Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. “It is something that is important to our football team and to our program. We take that streak to heart.”

Heinauer has been at the helm at Mars for 29 years, compiling 201 wins. Cherpak now owns a record of 276-47 in 26 seasons.

However, a big difference may be postseason success. While TJ has won three of the last four WPIAL titles, Mars has been sent home in the first round each of the last four seasons, including a 47-6 loss to Peters Township last year in Class 5A.

“One of the biggest factors last year for us was that we lost two of the last three regular season games heading into the playoffs,” Heinauer said. “We were on a bit of a downward spiral and that’s something we did not want to do this year. We wanted to end on a high note.”

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Friday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.