BROOKVILLE — Five years, five berths in the District 9 Class AA Championship game for the Karns City Gremlins.

The Gremlins (8-2) turned a rainy and dreary trip to Brookville into a solid outing on a slippery field, beating the Raiders, 21-13, Saturday night.

Karns City, which won three straight titles from 1999 to 2001, lost to Brockway in last year’s championship game. Next Saturday at Clarion University, the Gremlins and Rovers square off again.

Against the Raiders, Karns City used a strong defensive effort, 62-yard punt return for a touchdown from Chris Pickett and two touchdown runs from Josh Fiscus, who rushed for 102 yards on 17 carries to push him over 1,000 yards for the season.

"I’m pretty proud of our kids tonight," Karns City head coach Ed Conto said. "We’re pretty beat up. They’ve been hit with a lot lately, so I’m real proud of them pulling together and winning a game like this with a lot of things against them."

The Gremlins limited Brookville (8-2) to just 44 yards rushing on 31 attempts, sacking Raiders quarterback Nick Heschke five times.

Karns City essentially put the game away when Josh Fiscus set up his own score with an interception. On the next play from scrimmage, Fiscus rambled 39 yards for the score, putting the Gremlins up 21-7 with 10:01 left in the game.

"He’s just a hard runner," Conto said of his junior running back. "He’s been breaking runs all year. A lot of times, one guy can’t get him. With this field, it was sloppy and it was hard for him to get turned. He’s a great north-south runner and he’s usually pretty good on the outside. It was sloppy enough for him not to be able to do that."

Fiscus now stands at 1,026 yards.

The Raiders did make some noise before time expired. Following Fiscus’ run, the Raiders marched to the Gremlins’ 3 before stalling on downs when Heschke’s pass intended for Brent Puller in the end zone was knocked away by Fiscus.

The Raiders scored on the final play of the game to set the final score when Heschke hit Cliff Park for a 27-yard TD pass.

It was too little, too late for the Raiders, who lost for the second straight year in the semifinals.

"It wasn’t as consistent as we needed," Brookville head coach Chris Dworek said. "We had some chances to execute some good plays and just fell short. All areas, it’s not just one play or this and that. It’s crucial breakdowns."

The first big breakdown for the Raiders came on Pickett’s punt return on the second play of the second quarter. Much to the chagrin of the Raiders sideline that thought Pickett had signaled for a fair catch, Pickett picked his way through the coverage for an impressive return.

"That’s something we had trouble with early in the year," Conto said. "That was big coming out on a crappy night and fielding those punts. He made a nice return for a touchdown."

Pickett returned five punts for 105 yards.

The score came after the Raiders’ defense had stopped the Gremlins on downs at the 14 following a fumbled punt at the 23.

Brookville answered two possessions later when it took advantage of good field position and drove 46 yards on six plays. Heschke faked an inside handoff and scampered 26 yards for the touchdown. Brandon Gunning’s point-after kick tied it at 7-7 with 5:01 remaining.

Still, Pickett’s punt return did its damage despite the tie game.

"We did come back to tie it after that, but it uses energy and a lot of emotion," Dworek said. "We practice playing hard to the whistle and there was some confusion there, but there was no whistle. There are no exuses for that. We fell asleep for a split second and it really cost us."

Karns City had just two first downs before putting together a nice two-minute drill at the end of the first half. The 76-yard drive culminated in Fiscus’ 7-yard TD run with 41 seconds remaining. Quarterback Mike Croyle connected with Kyle Texter twice on the drive for 8 and 12 yards. Then Mike Stimac’s 19-yard run with a 5-yard facemask penalty tacked on set the Gremlins up at the Raiders’ 7 before Fiscus’ score.

Karns City’s first possession of the second half led to a 28-yard field goal attempt by Jake Sweeney. But the kick missed wide left.

Meanwhile, the Gremlins’ defense was doing its job. In the six Raiders possessions following Heschke’s touchdown run, the Gremlins limited the Raiders to 10 yards and one first down, which came on a pass interference penalty.

By the time the Raiders started moving the ball, Karns City had a 21-7 advantage.

"Our defense has played well all year," Conto said. "Even in our losses, our defense played great. They’ve done the job all year."

Heschke completed 11 of 27 passes for 168 yards. On the other side, Croyle completed 10 of 20 passes for 93 yards.

NOTES: Next Saturday’s kickoff for the Brockway-Karns City game at Clarion University’s Memorial Field is set for 7 p.m. … Mike Stimac led the Gremlins with 10 tackles. Stimac, Kevin Trimbur, Jake Sweeney, Pat Miller and Luke McLain had sacks. … Trimbur caught four passes for 48 yards. … Matt Gilbert led Brookville with 16 yards rushing on five attempts, all in the first half. Park, Puller and Keith Ishman each had 50 or more receiving yards, led by Park’s 59. … Karns City now holds a 3-2 edge in playoff matchups against the Raiders and a 15-6-2 lead overall in the all-time series.

KC - Chris Pickett 62 punt return (Jake Sweeney kick), 11:39.

B - Nick Heschke 26 run (Brandon Gunning kick), 5:01.

KC - Josh Fiscus 7 run (Jake Sweeney kick), :41.

KC - Josh Fiscus 39 run (Jake Sweeney kick), 10:01.

B - Cliff Park 27 pass from Nick Heschke (No conversion), 0:00.

B KC

First Downs 12 11

Rushes-Yards 31-44 32-158

Passing: Comp-Att-Int. 11-27-1 10-20-1

Passing Yards 168 93

Total Yards 202 251

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-0

Punts-Avg. 7-36.9 6-24.5

Penalties-Yards 3-25 6-50

Rushing -- Karns City: Josh Fiscus 17-102, Mike Stimac 5-34, Mike Stitt 5-10, Mike Croyle 2-8, Jake Sweeney 2-4, Chris Pickett 1-0. Brookville: Matt Gilbert 5-16, Nick Heschke 11-15, Kerry Brush 7-9, Ryan Dinger 5-7, Silas Wonderling 1-2, Brent Puller 2-(-5).

Passing -- Karns City: Mike Croyle 10-for-20, 93 yards; Mike Stimac 0-for-2, 1 Int. Brookville: Nick Heschke 11-for-27, 168 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int.

Receiving -- Karns City: Kevin Trimbur 4-48, Kyle Texter 3-23, Chris Pickett 2-13, Mike Stitt 1-9. Brookville: Cliff Park 3-59, Brent Puller 4-51, Keith Ishman 3-50, Ryan Dinger 1-8.

Interceptions -- Brookville: Brent Puller. Karns City: Josh Fiscus.

Sacks -- Karns City: Mike Stimac, Kevin Trimbur, Jake Sweeney, Pat Miller, Luke McLain.

Kickoff Returns -- Karns City: Mike Stimac 2-35. Brookville: Silas Wonderling 3-37, Matt Mohney 1-24.