NEW BETHLEHEM – Andy Martino’s 10-yard touchdown run with 43 seconds left in the game lifted Brockway to a 14-7 win over Karns City and along with it the District 9 Class AA Title Friday night at Redbank Valley High School.

The title is the first for the Rovers (7-4) since 1987 and avenged losses to Karns City (9-2), who had won three straight titles, in the last two District 9 Class AA championship games.

"We were real pleased with our effort," Brockway head coach Ray Reckner said. "These kids (our seniors) have worked real hard the last three years. I have to give the kids a lot of credit. I don’t know what got in them the last three weeks. But I have to give the kids a lot of credit, they are playing real well right now."

With the win, Brockway moves into the PIAA playoffs for the first time in school history. The Rovers will play District 10 champion Slippery Rock, a 17-7 winner over Sharon Friday night. Legendary Clarion-Limestone mentor Clyde Conti now coaches Slippery Rock.

"We have never been in the inter-district play before," Reckner said. "This is going to be something new for our kids. Hopefully we can represent the district well.

"As for Slippery Rock, what do you know it is our good old buddy Clyde Conti. Clyde and I go back a long way. I know Clyde know what I do, and I know what Clyde knows. We go back a long way. He is a real good guy."

While Brockway will set its sights on Slippery Rock next week, this week the Rovers had their eyes focused on a Karns City team that had given the Rovers fits the last two seasons while winning the District 9 title handily.

But this year it was Brockway’s turn to shine.

Martino’s touchdown capped a remarkable Rover rally in a fourth quarter that saw Brockway score twice in the final 4:15 to overcome a 7-0 Karns City advantage.

"I have to give Brockway credit, they did a nice job," Karns City head coach Ed Conto said. "We wore down in the fourth quarter. We just got basically got tired in the end. That cost us."

Karns City led 7-0 late in the fourth quarter when the Gremlins punter Erik Fuhrer booted a 52-yard punt that stuck the Rovers back at their 24-yard line with 6:42 left in the game. At this point things looked bleak for Brockway.

But the Rovers responded with a 12-play 76-yard drive that was added by a 15-yard penalty on Karns City to tie the game at seven. Seth Rhed got the game-tying touchdown on a 1-yard plunge with 4:15 left in the game.

The big plays of the drive were a 15-yard penalty against Karns City that gave Brockway a first down at the Rover 48 and a 36-yard run by Jeremy Sickeri that put the ball at the 5-yard line. A 4-yard run by Martino got the ball to the one, and Rhed did the work from there.

With the momentum clearly swung to Brockway, the Rover defense made sure that is where the momentum stayed forcing Karns City to a three-and-out at its 23-yard line.

This time Fuhrer’s punt was not nearly as good, as he shanked a 19-yard boot to the Karns City 42.

So with 2:31 seconds left on the clock, the Rovers were 42 yards away from the district title.

A 4-yard run by Jon Cantafio got them to the 38-yard line, and an 8-yard run by Martino gave Brockway a first down at the Karns City 30.

Sickeri then broke free on a 17-yard run to the 13 setting up a first-and-10 with just over a minute left in the game.

After Martino was stopped for no gain, Sickeri went for three yards putting Brockway in a third-and-7 situation at the 10-yard line with about 50 seconds left to play.

The Rovers then decided to play for the field goal, but Martino took a play that was designed to go up the middle and bounced it outside. He raced two Karns City defenders for the goal line, and at the last second dove forward, ball outstretched just crossing the line inside the pylon for the go-ahead touchdown.

"The play call was 38-dive to keep the ball in the middle of the field," Reckner said. "We were playing for the field goal. We just wanted to make the kick. If we got the touchdown it would be a plus. When he busted it to the outside I was thinking he better get it in or we would have an angle (for the field goal). He got it in the end zone. So the play was designed to go up the middle, and he busted it outside. That was on his own."

Karns City had one last chance to tie the game when Brockway’s short kickoff gave the Gremlins the ball at the Karns City 47 with 39 seconds to play.

But Cantafio intercepted Fuhrer’s pass at the 17 with 32 seconds left. The Rovers then ran two plays to gain the first down and win the game.

The win probably, at least on the statistics sheet, went to the team that deserved it the most.

Brockway outgained Karns City 308 yards to 76 yards. The Rovers ran 81 plays to the Gremlins 32. Brockway had 22 first downs to Karns City’s four. And in the second half Brockway outgained Karns City 167 yards to one and held the Gremlins without a second-half first down.

"I just have a couple words here," Karns City head coach Ed Conto said. "Their line outplayed our line. They controlled the line of scrimmage, and that is won the game."

"We totally dominated all aspects of the game," Reckner said. "We played well, but that doesn’t always mean you win the ball game."

Despite the huge differential in the statistics sheet, Karns City was in a position to win the game late because of its defense and mistakes by Brockway.

The Gremlins took a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter on a 31-yard run by Fuhrer. Fuhrer’s touchdown came on a broken play where the Gremlin quarterback broke a tackle in the backfield and took off down the sideline for the touchdown.

The score capped a three-play, 63-yard drive for the Gremlins that was highlighted by two penalties against Brockway on the same play.

On the first play of the drive, Karns City’s Matt Carnahan gained three yards to the 40. On the play, Brockway was called for a live ball 5-yard facemask penalty and then a dead ball personal foul for a late hit. The two penalties go for 20 yards moved the ball to the Brockway 40. Fuhrer then completed a 9-yard pass to Noll Steiner setting up his touchdown run, the only score of the half.

Both teams wasted a great opportunity to put points on the board in the half as well.

Karns City’s came on the Gremlins second drive of the game when they moved the ball to the Brockway 14-yard line. With a first-and-10 at the 14, Karns City looked to be in good shape.

But the Gremlins then started to implode. First a 13-yard holding penalty moved the ball back to the 27-yard. Then Fuhrer was almost sacked at the Brockway 47-yard line. But as he was going down he threw the ball away. He was flagged for intentional grounding, so the Rovers got the sack back at the 47, and four more yards were tacked on because of the penalty. So Karns City’s first-and-10 at the Rover 14 was now a second-and-47 at the Karns City 49.

The Gremlins weren’t done going backward, as Fuhrer was stopped for negative two yards on the next play setting up a third-and-49 from the Karns City 47. After an incomplete pass, Fuhrer’s punt went to the Brockway 36 giving Brockway the ball 22 yards in front of where the Karns City started the series of downs.

Brockway’s opportunity to score came on the drive following the Karns City touchdown.

The Rovers methodically moved the ball from their 34 to the Karns City 4 in 14 plays.

On the 15^th play, Brockway was able to get the ball to the 1-yard line on a run by quarterback John Himes. But Himes fumbled the football at the one with Karns City falling on it at the 3-yard line with only a 1:19 left in the half.

Following the fumble, many on the Brockway side of the field started wondering how their team would react in the second half. Don’t count Reckner among them.

"We basically told them we believed we would come back in the second half," Reckner said. "We just needed to play the way we played the first half, because we thought we dominated the first half."

Reckner was right. Brockway did dominate the first half outgaining Karns City 141 yards to 75, but the scoreboard still showed the Gremlins up 7-0.

In the third quarter, that scoreboard didn’t change.

While Karns City’s offense wasn’t able to produce in the third quarter, the Gremlins went three-and-out on both of their possessions in the quarter, the Gremlins defense kept bending but not breaking against Brockway’s offense.

The Rovers first drive of the second half saw them move the ball to the Karns City 26-yard line. But on a second-and-11 from 27-yard line, Steiner, ending the threat, picked off Himes.

Then on Brockway’s second possession of the second half, the Rovers moved the pigskin from Karns City 49 to the Karns City 10.

But 40 seconds into the fourth quarter the Rovers were facing a fourth-and-6 from the10 and decided to send out Cantafio for a 27-yard field goal attempt.

Cantafio never got the try the field goal, as the snap was bad. Himes, the holder, was tackled back at the 21-yard line.

"We started to think it wasn’t our game," Reckner said. "We went for the field goal because we knew had to score twice if we were going to get the win. When there was the botched snap we started thinking ‘here we go’. But the kids didn’t quite. They could have easily could have gone in the bag."

Despite being given chance after chance to put the game away, Karns City’s offense kept getting stymied by the Brockway defense.

"We just couldn’t get anything going on the offensive line," Conto said.

B – 0 0 0 14 – 14

K – 0 7 0 0 – 7

KC – Erik Fuhrer 31 run (Fuhrer kick) 7:47

B – Seth Rhed 1 run (Jon Cantafio kick) 4:15

B – Andy Martino 10 run (Cantafio kick) :43

B K

First Downs 23 4

Rushes-Yards 70-264 22-53

Passing Yards 44 23

Passes: Comp-Att-Int 6-11-1 3-10-1

Total Yardage 308 76

Penalties-Yard 4-36 7-70

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-0

Rushing – Brockway: Jeremy Sickeri 20-112, Andy Martino 20-79, 1 TD, Jon Cantafio 14-55, John Himes 5-(-2), Seth Rhed 9-32, 1 TD, Team 2-(-12). Karns City: Matt Carnahan 9-23, Mike Stitt 2-4, Jordan Collins 3-11, Erik Fuhrer 6-13, 1 TD, Josh Fiscus 2-(-1).

Passing – Brockway: John Himes 6-for-11, 44 yards, 1 int. Karns City: Erik Fuhrer 3-for-10, 23 yards, 1 int.

Receiving – Brockway: Tom Bussard 1-16, Rich Kolash 1-24, Jeremy Sickeri 3-2, Andy Martino 1-2. Karns City: Nate Wilson 1-11, Noll Steiner 2-12.