KARNS CITY BEATS KEYSTONE
By Nick Cammuso
KARNS CITY – Despite nearly self-imploding thanks to penalties, Karns City gained a 29-12 victory over Keystone Friday night at Karns City.

Seemingly in control of the game in the second half up 21-0, the Gremlins were called for seven penalties in the final two quarters while spending most of them going backwards.

“The kids lost their composure,” Karns City head coach Ed Conto said. “They made a couple of mistakes and argued amongst themselves (about) stupid non-team stuff.”

But despite the errors, the Gremlins offense, led by a three-pronged running attack, was able to run all over Keystone gaining 291 of their 347 yards on the ground. Mike Stitt rushed 11 times for 138 yards and Josh Fiscus added 11 carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Karns City ground attack.

“We ran the ball well most of the game,” Conto said. “They stopped our fullback game but left the off-tackle hole open.”

Stitt gave the fans a preview of what the Gremlins ground game was going to be like early on when he dashed 60 yards to take Karns City from deep in its own territory to the Keystone 30-yard line. That helped set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Fiscus that gave Karns City a quick 7-0 advantage.

On the following drive, Karns City turned to fullback Mike Stimac in an unorthodox way. Unable to get the fullback running threat going, they used him in the passing game both as a receiver and a passer.

First as a receiver, he turned a midfield screen pass into a 23-yard completion. Then on the next play, he took a pitch and rather than attacking the line slowed down considerably and fired a perfect strike to Chris Pickett for a 32-yard touchdown pass. The Gremlin caught Keystone by considerable surprise on the play, as the Panthers had stacked the line and didn’t account for Pickett.

“Sometimes we over perused and it led to some big plays,” Keystone head coach Dan Reed said.

While the Panther defense was struggling, the Keystone offense wasn’t doing anything either mustering just 52 first-half yards.
“Our kids were especially out of sorts in the first half," Reed said. "But we felt we were right there.”

With starting quarterback Buck Nelly unable to get the offensive down field, Keystone Reed made a switch at quarterback late in the half putting sophomore Justin Bifano at the helm.

Looking shell-shocked at first, Bifano struggled at first once given the reigns. His receivers didn’t help him either, and he completed just one of his first five passes despite being fairly accurate with his throws.
Dropped passes halted several scoring chances and nearly provided Karns City with yet another.
A sure completion instead bounced off the chest of Cole Bowser and into Stitt's hand for an interception giving the Gremlins great field position at the Keystone 15-yard line.

“There were so many time we had guys wide-open, we just couldn't come down with the ball,” Reed said.

However, Karns City couldn't take advantage, missing a short field goal and essentially giving the Panthers new life.

Given a second chance, the Keystone receiver corps grasped the opportunity. Bifano was the catalyst completing 5 of 5 passes for 91 yards capped off by a 29-yard touchdown pass to Billy Colwell that made it 21-6 Karns City.

“We were playing things differently because of their wide spread,” Conto said. “It was kind of like a scrimmage in a way where we were trying something new and had to work some kinks out.”

Things continued to slowly unravel for Karns City. Two penalties and a Colwell sack didn't give much room for error on the subsequent punt.

An area of concern in last week's narrow defeat at Clarion-Limestone, the kicking game didn't fare much better Friday night. Mike Croyle kicked a ball off the side of his foot giving Keystone the ball at the Karns City 7-yard line.

“His knee was sore from last week and think that hurt him out there,” Conto said.

Keystone cut the lead to nine as Bifano hooked up with Billy Colwell from seven yards out.

Sensing a definite momentum swing, Karns City reverted back to what got them the lead the big play.

With less than six minutes remaining, Fiscus rambled down the right sideline 39 yards, and the Gremlins suddenly had a 29-12 cushion.

Rather than lying down, Bifano willed Keystone into Karns City territory. However any chance of a comeback was skewed when Dave Black intercepted his second pass.

Bifano had a strong second half for the Panthers going 10-for-16 for 156 yards after halftime. But being down by 21 points led to predictability for the Panthers the resulted in some ill-advised throws giving Karns City three interceptions in the half. Regardless, Reed liked what he saw from his signal-caller.

“The interceptions were more based on the circumstance of the game,” Reed said. "We feel he's going to be a very good quarterback.”

KARNS CITY 29, KEYSTONE 12

SCORE BY QUARTER

Key 0 0 0 12 – 12

KC 7 7 7 8 – 29

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

KC – Josh Fiscus 11 run (Mike Sweeney kick), 9:08

Second Quarter

KC – Chris Pickett 32 pass from Mike Croyle (Sweeney kick), 8:20

Third Quarter

KC – Croyle 16 run (Sweeney kick), 6:06

Fourth Quarter

Key – Billy Colwell 29 pass from Justin Bifano (Conversion failed), 11:54

Key – Colwell 7 pass from Bifano (Conversion failed), 8:54

KC – Fiscus 39 run (Croyle run), 6:08

TEAM STATS

KY KC

First Downs 10 18

Rushes-Yards 24-54 42-292

Passing 13-28-3 7-10-0

Passing Yards 183 80

Total Yards 237 372

Penalties Yards 4-40 11-95

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing – Keystone: Sam Swartzfager 16-70, Billy Colwell 4-(-2), Buck Neely 1-(-10), Zach Curran 1-3, Justin Bifano 2 - (-7). Karns City: Mike Stitt 11-138, Josh Fiscus 11-131, 2 TDs, Chris Pickett 3-43, Mike Croyle 8-(-46), 1 TD, Mike Stimac 2-15, Jake Sweeney 7-11.

Passing – Keystone: Buck Neely 3-for-6, 20 yards, 1 Ints; Justin Bifano 10-for-22, 163 yards,2 TDs, 2 Ints. Karns City: Mike Croyle 6-for-9, 48 yards; Mike Stimac 1-for-1, 32 yards, 1 TD.

Receiving – Keystone: Sam Swartzfager 1-8, Cole Bowser 2-16, Billy Colwell 5-105, 2 TDs, Buck Neely 2-20, Shawn McGranagen 1-5, Brandon Rapp 2-29. Karns City: Chris Pickett 2-37, 1 TD, Mike Stimac 2-12, David Black 2-28, Josh Fiscus 1-3.