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By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – It’s the rematch everyone’s been waiting for.

Second-seeded Karns City (10-1) meets top-seeded Moniteau (10-1) in the District 9 Class AA title game at 7 p.m. Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

In the first meeting between these teams this season, Moniteau won a hard-fourth 35-34 decision Oct. 17 at Karns City. That loss ended the Gremlins 27-game KSAC win streak, the second longest in history, while also ending Karns City’s 17-game regular-season win streak. It was sweet revenge for Moniteau, which fell to the Gremlins 50-14 in last season’s District 9 Class AA title game, and went a long way toward the Warriors winning their first-ever conference title.

Karns City will try to win the rematch, the fourth straight year that the two Butler County rivals will meet twice in the same season. Karns City has swept both games from Moniteau in each of the last two seasons after the teams split a pair of games in 2005 with Moniteau winning 10-7 in the D9 Class AA semifinals.

This is Karns City’s third straight trip to the District 9 Class AA title game and the Gremlins 11^th trip since the game was first played in 1987. Karns City is 6-4 in D9 title games.

Moniteau, meanwhile, is making its third trip in the last four years to the D9 Class AA title game. The Warriors lost the previous two including a 22-20 loss to Brookville in 2005, which was Moniteau’s first-ever District 9 title game appearance.

Both teams have high-scoring offenses with Moniteau averaging 38.6 ppg and Karns City 34.2 ppg which ranks first and third respectively in District 9.

The defenses aren’t bad either. Moniteau is allowing 10.8 ppg, which ranks third in District 9, and Karns City gives up 11.2 ppg, which ranks fourth.

Both squads also have experienced signal callers.

For Moniteau, senior Tyler Armagost, a three-year starter, is behind center. This season, Armagost is second in District 9 in passing yards with 1,796. He has completed 53.7 percent of his passes (94 of 175) with 19 touchdown passes and just six interceptions. He has also run for 374 yards and eight scores. In his three-year career, Armagost has 5,162 yards passing and 52 touchdowns while throwing just 22 interceptions. He has also run for 872 career yards and 21 scores.

Karns City counters with two-year starter Anthony Stimac, who has led the Gremlins to a two-year mark of 22-2. This year, Stimac is 49 of 107 passing for 774 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. A dual-threat, he is adding a team-high 734 yards rushing with 12 touchdowns and ranks 11^th in District 9 in rushing and second among quarterbacks. In his career, Stimac has thrown for 2,478 yards with 35 touchdowns and 17 interceptions while also running for 1,321 yards and 23 scores.

While both teams have offensive weapons outside of their quarterbacks, Moniteau probably has more “star” power on offense.

The Warriors have the second-leading rusher in District 9 in junior James Shope, who has 133 carries for 1,228 yards and 18 touchdowns while adding 13 catches for 113 yards and a score. In just two seasons, Shope has 2,239 career rushing yards and 30 touchdowns.

Justin Sanderson is adding 83 carries for 534 yards and six scores for Moniteau, and Tony Campbell has emerged as the top receiver in District 9 with a district-leading 926 receiving yards on 38 catches with 14 touchdowns. Clayton Casper adds 23 grabs for 459 yards and two scores.

While Karns City doesn’t have a 1,000-yard rusher to match Shope, the Gremlins do have five runners with at least 300 yards including Anthony Stimac.

Markus LaVan is the leading yard getter among the running backs with 78 carries for 535 yards and three touchdowns. He has added two receiving scores. Josh Callender is a dual threat with 354 yards rushing and four touchdowns and 12 catches for a team-high 149 yards and four scores. Josh Stimac adds 357 yards rushing three touchdowns, and Jake Wagner had 300 yards rushing and two scores and 93 yards receiving and a touchdown. Dan Wolf (6 catches, 109 yards, 2 TDs), Cody Williams (5 catches, 136 yards, 3 TDs), Brandon Collier (8 catches, 122 yards, 2 TDs) and Cory Larkin (4 catches, 76 yards 2 TDs) give Anthony Stimac plenty of options to throw to.

On defense, Armagost, a linebacker, is one of Moniteau’s studs with 88 tackles, 12 sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He ranks fourth in District 9 in sacks and 19^th in tackles per game (8.0). Jacob Boy leads the district in sacks with 21 while adding 56 tackles, and Sanderson has 10 sacks and 58 stops. Victory Santoyo has picked off a team-high five passes, which ties for fourth most in District 9.

Karns City’s defense is a lot like its offense in that no one players stands above the rest. Levi Buck ranks eighth in District 9 with nine sacks and has 39 tackles, while Earl Everetts has a team-high 49 stops while adding five sacks. Williams, Shane Dillon and Nick Sypulski also each have three sacks for the Gremlins. LaVan has a team-high four interceptions to go with 37 tackles, and Stimac has two picks and 25 stops.

NOTES – Karns City is just 1-3 in its last four District 9 title-game appearances. The Gremlins are trying to reach 11 wins for the just the third time in school history. Karns City went 11-1 in 2001 losing to Sharon in the opening round of the PIAA Class AA playoffs and was 12-1 last season before losing to eventual state champion Jeannette in the first-round of the PIAA playoffs. This season marks the third straight year Karns City has at least 10 wins and the sixth time in school history the Gremlins have won at least 10 times in a season … Moniteau’s 10 wins are a school record surpassing an 8-0-1 season in 1959. The 1959 season and this year are the only two seasons where the Warriors have won at least eight times. In fact, prior to this year, Moniteau had not won at least seven games in a season since going 7-2 in 1960. And 1959, 1960 and 2008 are the only three seasons Moniteau has won at least seven games … The winner of this game takes on the winner of Friday night’s Langley at North Star game in the PIAA playoffs.