If it seemed as if Mars was penalized so much last night that the Planets were flagged even while in the locker room at halftime, that's because they were.

Mars had 14 penalties for 122 yards, including 5 yards for delay of game after school officials reset the clock when halftime homecoming festivities went on too long. But Austin Miele and the Planets' defense were good enough to overcome the deluge of yellow flags that seemed to be falling with greater frequency than the steady rain.

Miele had 27 carries for a career-high 220 yards and scored both touchdowns as Mars beat Franklin Regional, 14-0, in a Greater Allegheny Conference showdown at the Mars Athletic Complex.

"It felt like we were playing a couple extra guys out there," Miele said, referring to the officials calling so many penalties. "But we just tried to keep our composure.

"I think our line just came out and set the tempo, pushed them off the ball."

It was the third shutout this season for the Planets (4-2, 2-0), who have allowed a total of 14 points in their past four games.

But the other shutouts were against teams that are a combined 2-10.

This blanking came against Franklin Regional (4-2, 1-1), a team that can be lethal in running the spread offense and came into the game averaging 25.2 points per contest and featured an 825-yard passer in Stephen Liberatore and a 676-yard rusher in Chad Bowman.

Liberatore was held to 6-for-14 passing for 49 yards, and Bowman had 92 yards on 18 carries.

"This is a very big victory for our football team," Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. "We knew this is one of the top teams in our conference and that we'd have to be prepared. I didn't know if the 14 points was going to hold up."

Miele, who entered the game fifth in the WPIAL in rushing with 767 yards, had touchdown runs of 13 and 29 yards (one in each of the first two quarters) while amassing 175 yards on only 13 carries in the first half alone.

It was the first career 200-yard game for Miele, who needs 13 yards to reach 1,000 for the season.

"Miele is a heck of a runner," Panthers coach Greg Botta said. "He runs downhill hard, breaks tackles. We did a really poor job of tackling, especially in the first half."

Mars had 225 yards of offense and 11 first downs at halftime to Franklin Regional's 54 and four.

"We just didn't come out to play in the first half," said Bowman, who left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury he said afterward was merely a "tweak."

Miele also came up with a key fumble recovery after the Panthers had drive to a first-and-goal inside the 5 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

"That just kills you," Botta said. "That would have been a momentum booster. Things were finally going our way, and that burst the bubble right there."

It was a devastating blow to a Franklin Regional team that took more than seven minutes off the clock on a drive lasted 13 plays -- plus a couple Mars penalties, of course -- but that resulted without points.

That made it no different than any of the other Franklin Regional possessions.

"[Defensive coordinator] Dave Goodworth does a good job with these kids, and I'm happy with the way they performed," Heinauer said.

"To shut out a team that is this explosive says something."

The Planets, who held a 349-114 advantage in total yardage, assumed sole possession of first and control of the Greater Allegheny race only two games into the conference season.

"We knew they were the other powerhouse in the conference and that we had to come out and take it to them," Miele said.

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