By Chris Rossetti

KARNS CITY – If Karns City couldn’t go the District 9 playoffs for the first time since 1996, it was going to make sure Clarion’s road in the postseason would be a little more difficult knocking the Bobcats from the No. 2 seed in the Class A bracket to the No. 4 seed with a 30-27 win Friday night at Karns City.

The Gremlins (4-6) dominated the first half building a 17-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 23-7 halftime lead before holding off a gallant Clarion second-half comeback that was fueled by the play of senior quarterback Danny Walters.

Walters accounted for 355 of Clarion’s 421 yards of offense and all four touchdowns. He ran 22 times for 136 yards and two scores and was 12 of 32 passing for 219 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Nearly all of Walter’s rushing yards (101) and both ground touchdowns came in the second half, and he also threw for 100 yards and a score in the half.

That helped Clarion (5-5) twice rally within three points in the half – 23-20 was the other time – but two failed on-side kicks kept the Bobcats from getting any closer.

Karns City turned the first on-side kick recovery into a 1-yard Jerod Hutchison touchdown run with 3:40 left that seemed to seal the game only to have to recover another on-side kick after Walters scored on a 5-yard run with 1:32 left in the game.

In the first 12 minutes, the game never looked like it was going to come down to on-side kicks in the fourth quarter.

Karns City led 14-0 less than five minutes into the game thanks to touchdown runs of 45 and two yards from Glenn Toy with the second score coming after the Gremlins blocked a Clarion punt at the Bobcat 10-yard line. Adam Garing then added a 22-yard field goal to make it 17-0 with 1:04 left in the first quarter.

The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter – Clarion got a 58-yard screen pass for a score from Walters to Kris Burkhart and Alex Kinkela scored on a 5-yard run for Karns City – and Clarion came up short on a drive that at one point was down the Karns City 15-yard line late in the half allowing the Gremlins to hold a 16-point halftime lead.

But two Karns City turnovers inside the Clarion 10-yard line in the second half allowed the Bobcats back in the game.

First, Bryce Straffin intercepted a Tyler Slagle halfback option pass in the end zone in the third quarter leading to a 13-play, 80-yard drive that ended when a scrambling Walters hit a wide open Burkhart along the sideline for a 5-yard scoring pass cutting the lead to 23-13 after a failed two-point conversion.

Then, Benton Reichard recovered a Kinkela fumble at the Clarion 9-yard line leading to a nine-play, 91-yard scoring drive that ended when Walters scored on a 35-yard run with 8:37 left making it 23-20.

Following that touchdown, Clarion tried an on-side kick that the Gremlins recovered leading to the Hutchison touchdown.

But Clarion answered back with a quick eight-play, 54-yard drive that took just 2:04 and ended on Walters’ second scoring run of the night.

Outside of the interception, Slagle had a solid night for Karns City with 14 carries for 92 yards. He was one of four Gremlin backs over 70 yards, as Karns City ran for 367 yards. Quarterback Dylan Hipple had 79, Kinkela 74 and Toy 73. Toy also had an interception on defense.

For Clarion, Burkhart had four catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns and added six carries for 15 yards. Camron Kirkland had five catches for 87 yards and six carries for 28 and Marcus Smerker three for 51 while rushing six times for 38 yards.  

NOTES – Clarion hasn’t won at Karns City since 1999 … As the No. 4 seed, the defending champion Bobcats will most likely face Cameron County in the opening round of the D9 Class A playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium … Karns City, the three-time defending D9 Class AA champ who has been to the last four AA title games, had its first losing season since going 2-7 in 1995.

KARNS CITY 30, CLARION 27

Score by Quarters

Clarion 0 7 6 14 – 27

Karns City 17 6 0 7 – 30

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

KC – Glenn Toy 45 run (Adam Garing kick), 10:27

KC – Toy 2 run (Garing kick), 7:04

KC – Garing 22 field goal, 1:04

Second Quarter

C – Kris Burkhart 58 pass from Walters (Cameron Slike kick), 5:12

KC – Alex Kinkela 5 run (Garing kick blocked), 3:38

Third Quarter

C – Burkhart 5 pass from Walters (Burkhart rush failed), 1:05

Fourth Quarter

C – Walters 35 run (Slike kick), 8:37

KC – Jerod Hutchison 1 run (Garing kick), 3:40

C – Walters 5 run (Slike kick), 1:32

            C         KC

First Downs    21        17

Rushes-Yards  41-202 46-367

Passing Yards 219      -1

Passing: Comp-Att-Int            12-32-1            1-6-1

Total Yardage 421      366

Fumbles-Lost  7-1       1-1

Punts-Avg.      3-27.0  2-35.0

Penalties-Yards           4-30     2-17

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Clarion: Danny Walters 22-136, Marcus Smerker 6-38, Camron Kirkland 6-28, Kris Burkhart 6-15, Team 1-minus 15. Karns City – Tyler Slagle 14-92, Dylan Hipple 6-79, Alex Kinkela 9-74, Glenn Toy 6-73, Jerod Hutchison 5-22, Brandon Bowser 2-16, Cody Coyle 1-14, Team 3-minus 3.

Passing – Clarion: Walters 12-for-32, 219 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception. Karns City: Hipple 1-for-5, minus 1 yard; Slagle 0-for-1, 0 yards, 1 interception.

Receiving – Clarion: Kirkland 5-87, Burkhart 4-81, Smerker 3-51. Karns City: Toy 1-minus 1.

Interceptions – Clarion: Bryce Straffin. Karns City: Glenn Toy.