KARNS CITY RACES PAST BROCKWAY

Gremlins put up second most points in the history of the D9 Playoffs

KARNS CITY 62, BROCKWAY 28

Nov. 16, 2007 at Karns City (D9 Class AA Semifinals)

By Pat Kahle

For D9Sports.com

KARNS CITY – Undefeated Karns City didn't take long to show that they still are the team to beat in the District 9 AA playoffs with a 62-28 win over the Brockway Rovers in the semifinals Friday night at Karns City High School.

Eight different Gremlins found the score sheet with most of the damage coming on the ground – Karns City three the ball six times in the game.

Marcus LaVan scored two first-quarter touchdowns for the Gremlins, who scored three times in the quarter, and Karns City led 28-0 after Stephon Conto returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown 1:34 into the second quarter.

Brockway finally got some offense going following Conto’s punt return thanks to the arm of quarterback Matt Pentz, who threw for 256 yards on the night. Pentz drove the Rovers 70 yards for a score using the spread offense and threw a 25-yard touchdown toss to Aaron Shaffer making it 28-7.

Karns City, though, answered back with three touchdowns before the end of the half to take the 49-7 lead.

A 38-yard scoring pass from Anthony Stimac to Josh Callender made it 35-7, and then the Gremlins used short fields set up by great punt returns by Callender and Conto to make it a 42-point game at the half.

The punt returns set up a 14-yard scoring run by Ben Pyle at the 4:42 mark and a 53-yard option run by Anthony Stimac a little over two minutes later.

With the Mercy Rule running in the second half, Karns City built the lead to 56-7 1:02 into the third quarter on a 5-yard Brett Green run.

Brockway finally got back on the scoreboard midway through the quarter on an 8-yard Camdon Mackay run cutting the lead to 56-14, but Aaron Markle scored from five yards out making it 62-14 Gremlins

The Rovers added two scores against the Gremlins second- and third-team defenses to make things look closer than they really were.

First, Dillon Park scored on a 5-yard run, and then Pentz found the end zone for the second time through the air connecting on a 5-yard scoring pass with Jeremy Lee.

Anthony Stimac paced the Karns City offense going 3-for-6 for 99 yards and the touchdown while also running once for 53 yards and the score. LaVan added three carries for 45 yards and the two touchdowns, while Pyle toted the ball a team-high four times for 76 yards and a score.

Pentz was 17 of 33 passing for 256 yards and two touchdowns. Shaffer caught three passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, and Makay had 15 carries for 78 yards. Park had 13 totes for 50 yards and a touchdown and added four catches for 87 yards. Armando Fortunato chipped in with seven grabs for 72 yards.  

NOTES – Karns City is making its second straight D9 Class AA playoff appearance and its 10^th all-time. The Gremlins have lost their last three D9 Class AA title game appearances and are 5-4 all time in D9 title games. Karns City’s last District 9 title came in 2001 when it won the third of three in a row … The 62 points scored by the Gremlins are the second most ever in a District 9 playoff game regardless of classification. Karns City hung 69 on Moniteau in a 69-23 win in the 2002 Class AA semifinals (Karns City lost the title game 14-7 to Brockway that season) … The 90 combined points are the second most combined points in a D9 playoff game regardless of classification behind only the 92 Karns City and Moniteau scored in 2002 … The 34-point margin of victory is tied for the ninth largest margin of victory in a D9 playoff game … An interesting fact: The 90 combined points in the game were four MORE points than were scored in the ENTIRE 1995 District 9 playoffs, which consisted of five games (Class AAAA, Class AA, Class A title games, two Class A semifinal games)

Box score courtesy of the Tri-County Sunday of DuBois

KARNS CITY 62, BROCKWAY 28

Score By Quarters

Brockway  0          7          7          14 – 28

Karns City 21        28        13        0 –62

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

K - Markus LaVan 25 run (Matt McConnell kick), 7:40

K - Markus LaVan 21 run (Matt McConnell kick), 2:33

K - Josh Stimac 40 run (Matt McConnell kick), :37

Second Quarter

K - Stephon Conto 67 punt return (Matt McConnell kick), 10:26

B - Aaron Shaffer 25 pass from Matt Pentz (Dan Golemboski kick), 9:40

K - Josh Callender 38 pass from Anthony Stimac (Matt McConnell kick), 6:52

K - Ben Pyle 14 run (Matt McConnell kick), 4:42

K - Anthony Stimac 53 run (Matt McConnell kick), 2:17

Third Quarter

K - Brett Green 5 run (Matt McConnell kick), 10:58

B - Camdon Makay 8 run (Dan Golemboski kick), 5:34

K - Aaron Markle 5 run (Matt McConnell kick), 3:21

Fourth Quarter

B - Dillon Park 5 run (Dan Golemboski kick), 9:06

B - Jeremy Lee 5 pass from Matt Pentz (Dan Golemboski kick), :08

       B         K

First Downs            17        8

Rushes-Yards         35-115 20-288

Passing Yards         256      99

Passes: Comp-Att-Int         17-34-1            3-6-1

Total Yardage        371      387

Punts-Average        5-31.4  0-0

Fumbles-lost           1-0       2-2

Penalties-Yards      4-20     7-61

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Brockway: Camdon Makay 15-78, Armando Fortunato 3-6, Dillon Park 13-50, Matt Pentz 4-(-19). Karns City: Aaron Markle 2-9, Brett Green 3-25, Markus LaVan 3-45, Stephon Conto 2-11, Ben Pyle 4-76, Josh Callender 1-16, Josh Stimac 2-40, Anthony Stimac 1-53, Dan Wolfe 2-13.

Passing - Brockway: Matt Pentz 17-for-33, 256 yds., 2 TD; Camdon Makay 0-for-1, 1 Int. Karns City: Anthony Stimac 3-for-6, 99 yds., 1 TD.

Receiving - Brockway: Armando Fortunato 7-72, Dillon Park 4-87, Aaron Shaffer 3-67, Mark Shannon 2-25, Jeremy Lee 1-5. Karns City: Matt McConnell 1-42, Josh Callender 1-38, Stephon Conto 1-19.

Interceptions - Karns City 1 (Josh Callender).