The Mars Area High School football team won six of nine regular season games during its debut in Class AAA.

"The difference between Class AAA and AA is that the teams are bigger and more physical," Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. "It's that simple. And the reason we lost three games is that we didn't play as physical as our opponent."

Heinauer realizes the same will be true for tomorrow's WPIAL Class AAA playoff game at Chartiers Valley.

"We proved we can play with these guys by winning six games," Heinauer said. "And we can be successful in the playoffs, but we must play a physical style of ball."

Mars tied with Indiana for second place in the Greater Allegheny Conference with a 3-2 record, but the Planets were designated a third-place team because of its 21-0 loss to the Little Indians.

"That game is a perfect example," said Heinauer, who led Mars to WPIAL Class AA playoff berths six of the previous seven years. "It was a game we could have won, but we didn't play physically."

Chartiers Valley is making its sixth consecutive playoff appearance and earned home-field advantage for only the second time in school history. The Colts placed second in the Big Seven Conference and enter the game with a 7-2 overall record.

"It was a really neat experience to host a playoff game last year," Chartiers Valley coach Chris Saluga said. "Very few of our [current] players were actually on the field for that game, but they were on the sideline or in the stands.

"They could sense the enthusiasm and pride of community and the excitement of bringing a playoff game to Chartiers Valley. They are all excited about playing at home."

Saluga wasn't surprised to draw Mars in the first round.

"We figured it would be Montour or Mars," Saluga said. "We didn't scout either team, but I made a DVR of the Mars-Highlands game [which appeared on TV on Sept. 25]. I watched it a couple times over the weekend, thinking that we might play Mars."

Saluga was impressed with Mars, despite that 26-7 loss to Highlands, the No. 2 seed.

"I'm very impressed with what they've done," Saluga said. "You have to respect the fact that Mars won six games in their first season after moving up a class."

Saluga was also concerned with defensing an offense that isn't used much.

"Mars runs the wing-T, an unconventional offense," Saluga said. "You don't see that offense much anymore. You have to stay focussed on defense to defense the wing-T."

Mars is averaging 24.9 points per game and allowing 13.7 per game.

Chartiers Valley is averaging 25.4 points per game and allowing 11.1 per game. The Colts also recorded three shutouts in consecutive games earlier in the season.

"I'm very impressed with Chartiers Valley's defense," Heinauer said. "They're big and they move to the ball well."

Chartiers Valley runs a spread offense with freshman Wayne Capers calling the signals.

"We called on Wayne when [senior] Santino Coury was lost for the season with a knee injury," Saluga said. "Santino got hurt at the beginning of the second quarter of our game against Ringgold [on Oct. 3]."

Despite the loss of Coury, Chartiers Valley held on for a 17-16 win against Ringgold.

"It was a gut-check for the kids, a low moment of the season," Saluga said. "The kids handled the situation well. Fortunately, we clinched a playoff berth early. That gave us a chance to give Wayne some more time at quarterback."

Heinauer knows the feeling of losing a star player. Senior tailback Shane Kaclik was hurt during a 36-21 win against Franklin Regional also on Oct. 3. He's now out probably for the season with mono.

"Losing Shane really hurt, but sophomore Austin Miele has stepped in and done a fine job," Heinauer said.

The winner of the Chartiers Valley-Mars game will face the winner of the game between No. 3 seed Blackhawk and Ringgold in the quarterfinals.The game

• Who: Mars Area (6-3) vs. Chartiers Valley (7-2).

• When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

• Where: Chartiers Valley's Colts Stadium.

• The skinny: An interesting Class AAA matchup in the WPIAL playoffs. Mars moved up to Class AAA this year and goes against the Colts, which were second to Thomas Jefferson in the Big Seven Conference.