MONITEAU 35, KARNS CITY 34

Oct. 17, 2008

KARNS CITY – Tyler Armagost's 14-yard touchdown pass to Tony Campbell coupled with Andrew Miller's extra point with 6:45 left helped Moniteau snap Karns City's 27-game KSAC winning streak and 17-game regular-season winning streak Friday night at Karns City.

A missed extra point on Anthony Stimac's 26-yard run with 9:41 left in the game that put Karns City (7-1 Overall, 7-1 KSAC) up 34-28 opened the door for Moniteau, in a showdown for first place in the KSAC. The victory clinched at least a share of the KSAC title for Moniteau, the first-ever by the Warriors. They can win the outright championship with a victory over visiting Redbank Valley next week.

"It was everything we thought it was going to be," said Moniteau head coach Jeff Campbell.  "It just came down to which team's defense was going to stop the offense at a crucial time."

A fumble recovery by Moniteau (8-0, 8-0) at the Karns City 5-yard line with just over seven minutes to play set up the Armagost to Campbell touchdown.  It was one of two turnovers by Karns City that led to Warrior scores. The Gremlins also failed to cover the opening kickoff leading to a Moniteau touchdown.

"In a tight game you can't have turnovers, and we made those mistakes," said Karns City head coach Ed Conto

After a wild first half that saw Moniteau lead 28-21 at halftime, the second half settled down before Karns City took the lead 34-28 with 13 straight fourth quarter points. Stimac tied the game with a 7-yard run nine seconds into the fourth quarter.

After Moniteau took the 35-34 lead, Karns City had the ball just one more time going three-and-out and punting.

Moniteau took over at its own 35-yard line following the punt and proceeded to run out the final 6:07 of the game moving the ball to the Karns City 11-yard line before time ran out.

It was the Warriors ground game that allowed them to kill clock, and it was that balanced rushing attack that saw Moniteau gain 328 yards on the ground for the game. James Shope was the catalyst, as he racked up 162 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.

"It was an out-of-this-world performance," said Campbell of Shope's stellar game.

Moniteau received excellent field position to start the game at the Karns City 23-yard line, as the Gremlins were unable to recover the opening kickoff.  The Warriors made them pay as Armagost found Campbell over the middle on a 21-yard touchdown pass to give Moniteau the early 7-0 lead.

Stimac hit Markus LaVan on 19-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter to tie the game at 7.

The Warriors went right back to work on the ensuing possession, as Shope broke free for the first of two touchdown runs on the night, a 54-yard run to put Moniteau back on top.

After Stimac connected with Cody Williams on a 60-yard bomb to tie the game, Shope and the Moniteau offense went back to work.

An Armagost to Campbell 20-yard pass set up Shope for his second touchdown run of the night, a 36 yarder, to put Moniteau back on top early in the second quarter.

"We knew it probably wouldn't be his best night statistically," Campbell said of Armagost.  "We knew we were going to need to run the ball to win tonight and that's what we were able to do."

A couple of nice runs by Markus LaVan set up Levi Buck's 1-yard touchdown run to once again deadlock the score, this time at 21.

A 64-yard kickoff return by Shope set up a short field for Moniteau on the following possession, and they took advantage as Armagost was able to run it in from 2 yards out to give Moniteau a 28-21 lead which would turn out to be the final points of a wild first half.

It might not be the last time the two teams will meet, as it is believed the victory locked up the No. 1 seed in the District 9 Class AA playoffs for Moniteau, while it is a very real possibility that Karns City will end up with the No. 2 seed.

"The odds are pretty good," said Conto about the chance of a meeting with Moniteau again in the District 9 playoffs. "If we take care of business I think that's what will happen."

Armagost had a solid game, completing 4 of 8 passes for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns while also adding 48 yards rushing on six carries and a score.  Campbell was his only target, as he hauled in those four passes and two touchdowns.

Stimac was once again the catalyst for Karns City, as he finished 6 of 12 passing for 177 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 36 yards and two more scores on the ground

NOTES – Moniteau is 8-0 for the first time since 1959.  It is only their third win over Karns City in their last 23 tries, and only their second in the regular season since 1989.  Moniteau has now ended the two longest winning streaks in KSAC/Little 12 history.  The Warriors also snapped Clarion-Limestone's record 34-game KSAC winning streak with a 21-7 at C-L October 29, 2004 … Karns City can still gain a share of the KSAC title, which would be its fourth straight if Redbank Valley beats Moniteau next week and the Gremlins topple A-C Valley. That scenario would make for a 3-way tie for the conference championship between Karns City, Redbank Valley and Moniteau.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MONITEAU        14    14    0    13

KARNS CITY     7      14    0     7

TEAM STATISTICS

                                M                                KC

First Downs          19                                   12

Rushes-Yards        46-328                          37-227

Passing Yards        98                                  177

Comp-Att-Int        4-8-1                            6-12-0

Total Yards            426                               404

Penalties-Yards     6-38                             3-20

Fumbles-Lost        1-0                                2-2

Punts-Avg            3-32.3                            3-39.6      

Individual Statistics:

Rushing: Karns City: Anthony Stimac 11-36, Levi Buck 8-41, Josh Stimac 3-31, James Wagner 6-50, Josh Callender 2-(-)4, Markus LaVan 7-73.  Moniteau:  James Shope 21-162, Tyler Armagost 10-70, Justin Sanderson 15-96.

Passing:  Karns City:  Anthony Stimac 6 of 12, 177 yards.  Moniteau:  Tyler Armagost 4 of 8, 98 yards

Receiving:  Karns City:  Aaron Markle 2-46, Cody Williams 1-60, Josh Callender 1-5, Levi Buck 1-1, Markus LaVan 1-19

Interceptions: Markus LaVan 1