Mars running back Bill Bair highlighted

A recent Post-Gazette article featured Mars running back Bill Bair. Bair has rushed for more than 2,000 yards this season, which just may be an area record.

A 5-foot-11, 190-pound halfback, Bair finished the regular season with 2,112 yards on 219 attempts, possibly the best regular season in WPIAL history -- at least the best in the past three decades.

The Post-Gazette was the first to keep WPIAL statistical leaders, starting in 1979. Since then, the only running back to gain 2,000 yards in the regular season was Laurel Highlands' Jim Smith, who had 2,026 on 308 carries in 1989. Smith had a 10-game regular season while Mars (8-1) played only nine regular-season games.

Although there are no statistics to prove it, no one is known to have rushed for 2,000 yards in the regular season before Smith.

On top of that, Bair finished the regular season with 204 points, which ties Rochester's Essex Law for the most since 1979.