By Rich Rhoades

CLARION – Karns City and Cameron County punched tickets to the second round of the PIAA state playoffs with wins last week.

The Gremlins notched their first-ever state playoff win with a 32-14 victory over District 5 champion North Star. They advance to meet WPIAL (District 7) champion Aliquippa this Friday night at Pine-Richland High School in Gibsonia.

Cameron County moved into the state playoffs with an 18-8 win over Clarion in the District 9 Class A Championship game last Saturday in Brockway for its second title and first since 1999. The Red Raiders meet District 10 champion Farrell Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

Here’s a closer look at both games:

CLASS AA

FRIDAY

Karns City (12-1) vs. Aliquippa (11-2), Pine-Richland H.S., Gibsonia, 7 p.m. (Directions)

Karns City Stats, Karns City Roster, Karns City Schedule

GIBSONIA – Going into last week’s games, the Gremlins and Quips were ranked fifth and seventh respectively by the Pennsylvania Football News.

One could quibble with that ranking now, but it’s the postseason and it really doesn’t matter. Plus, it would hard to believe that the Gremlins have any kind of significant advantage over the WPIAL champions with plenty of rich football history.

The Quips avenged their 27-12 regular-season loss to top-ranked Beaver Falls and beat the Tigers in last Saturday’s WPIAL Championship game at Heinz Field, 8-6, thanks to an early fourth-quarter safety on a blocked punt.

Their title was their 13^th in the WPIAL and 600^th win in team history. To say the Quips have a rich history would be an understatement. Former Quips include Hall of Famer Mike Ditka along with other NFLers in Sean Gilbert, Ty Law, and current Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Karns City, fortunately, doesn’t have to deal with any of those players now. The Gremlins will face a run-oriented squad under head coach Mike Zmijanic. Senior halfback Maurice Carter has rushed for 1,248 yards, including 111 yards and a touchdown against Beaver Falls last week.

Carter, at 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, also blocked the punt that turned into the deciding two points.

Going into last week, junior quarterback Rasheem Jones had passed for 837 yards and six scores on just 99 attempts. Junior receiver Rashad Kenney had 448 yards receiving.

Karns City notched its first-ever state win in seven tries with last week’s win over North Star. The Gremlins scored 32 unanswered points after falling behind 7-0 to start the game. Quarterback Anthony Stimac rushed for 140 yards on five carries with a touchdown. That puts him very close to a double-1,000-yard season. He has 964 yards rushing with 15 TDs and 914 yards passing with 17 TDs.

The Gremlins got solid defensive play with four interceptions of North Star quarterback Cory Kaltenbaugh. Dan Wolf and Josh Callender each had two picks.

The only common thread between these opponents, sort of, is Riverside. Aliquippa beat Riverside, 36-7, earlier this year. Riverside beat Moniteau at the end of the regular season, 12-7, and Karns City avenged an earlier loss to the Warriors with a 42-9 win in the District 9 Championship game.

The winner of Friday’s game advances to the state semifinals on Dec. 5 or 6 against either District 10 champion Wilmington or District 6 champion Central-Martinsburg at a site and time to be announced.

CLASS A

FRIDAY

Cameron Co. (12-1) vs. Farrell (11-2), Memorial Field, Clarion U., 7 p.m. (Directions)

Cameron Co. Stats, Cameron Co. Roster, Cameron Co. Schedule

CLARION – The last and only other time the Cameron County Red Raiders advanced to the state playoffs it was certainly a wild ride.

The Red Raiders edged District 10 champion Sharpsville, 21-20, before losing to District 6’s Bishop Carroll, 35-34, in double overtime.

Head coach Tony DeFillipi’s squad starts their state playoff ride on Friday hoping it’ll last at least as long as 1999 when it takes on District 10 champion Farrell, a school located near Sharon.

The Steelers won their first District 10 title since the mid-1980s in last week’s 28-7 rout of Linesville. Since then, they moved to the WPIAL, won a couple of state titles in 1995 and 1996 and came back to District 10.

It’ll be interesting to see how Farrell affects the trend involving the annual state playoff matchup in Class A between D-9 and D-10. All-time it’s 10-8 in District 9’s favor, but D9 has won five of the last six state playoff meetings, including Kane’s win over Mercyhurst Prep last year.

But Farrell appeared to be a cut above the rest of D-10’s Class A field this year. After losing two straight games to non-Class A teams Mercer and Sharon to start the season, the Steelers, under second-year coach Jarrett Samuels, have won 11 straight games, outscoring opponents, 441-68. They’ve allowed just seven points in their last four games.

Last week, the Steelers got 183 yards rushing from senior running back Terrell Jackson on 10 carries and scored on runs of 48 and 94 yards. Quarterback Danny Odem scored two touchdowns, one on a fumble return on defense. The Steelers forced five Linesville turnovers in beating it for the second time this year.

On the year, Jackson has rushed for 918 yards and 12 touchdowns, while Odem is 36 of 71 for 824 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions. He has also run for 310 yards and eight scores.

Three other rushers have gone over 300 yards on the season for the Steelers. Lamont Hailstock has 482 yards and five scores, Malcom Hailstock adds 466 yards and seven touchdowns and Donte Pinkins has 429 yards and six scores.

Cameron County grinded out a win over Clarion last week using a power running game that gained 304 yards. Andy Lippert continued his strong late season surge by rushing for 115 yards on 13 carries with two touchdowns. That put him over 1,000 yards for the season at 1,073. Randy Schatz (868) and Andrew Kesterholt (763) also raised their rushing numbers.

The Red Raiders will likely try to offset the Steelers athleticism and speed with ball control and strong play from their line. If it comes down to needing to pass, the Red Raiders could be in trouble, considering they threw the ball. Quarterback Jason Blose has thrown just 74 passes all year, including only two attempts last week.

But considering the weather, that’s what needed to be done and it’s a formula that could be needed once again.

Friday’s winner advances to the state semifinals against either Clairton of the WPIAL or Windber of District 5 Dec. 5 or 6 at a site and time to be announced.