By Chris Rossetti

KARNS CITY – Thanks to a dominating second-half performance, the Karns City Gremlins find themselves in the driver’s seat for their fourth KSAC title in the last five years and their seventh since 1997.

Karns City (7-0 overall, 7-0 KSAC) outgained Clarion (5-2, 5-2) 193-51 in the second half while outscoring the Bobcats 21-0 in the half to get a 35-13 win at Karns City Friday night.

“We didn’t make a ton of adjustments,” Karns City head coach Ed Conto said. “We just had to fix some little things here and there. The biggest thing, we have been playing against these smoke-and-mirror teams, and we came out and played a team that hit us in the mouth.”

The biggest difference in the second half for Karns City, can clinch a share of the KSAC title with a win over Moniteau next week, came on the ground where the Gremlins rushed for 191 yards and averaged 7.1 yards per carry. In the opening 24 minutes, Karns City had 54 yards rushing and averaged 3.0 yards per tote.

“(Assistant Coach) Joe Sherwin did a nice job,” Conto said. “We started attacking right at them. We were attacking them a little more quickly.”

Clarion, on the other hand, couldn’t get anything going in the second half. After outgaining Karns City 171 to 96 in the first half, Clarion ran just 17 second-half plays and most of its yards came on a meaningless final drive.

“I really felt going into halftime we had moved the ball really well,” Clarion head coach Larry Wiser said. “In the second half, they made some nice adjustments.”

Karns City also won the special teams game blocking one Clarion punt cleanly, partially blocking another Bobcat punt and using a big return to set up a touchdown.

“I told the kids I though the teams were pretty even and it could come down to special teams,” Conto said.

The 19-yard punt return by Brandon Collier near the end of the first half set up the Gremlins at the Clarion 45-yard line and led to the go-ahead score, which occurred on a 10-yard Aaron Markle touchdown run with 49 seconds left in the half.

It was actually a Gremlin defensive play that set up the sequence, as Carrick Harp and Jake Wagner sacked Clarion quarterback Dan Walters for a 13-yard loss back to the Bobcat 36-yard line just before Collier’s big punt return.

“That was a twist on that play with Carrick coming from the outside,” Conto said. “That tough to pick up, and the kids did a good job on it.”

Both blocked punts also led to touchdowns.

“We have to play better on special teams,” Wiser said. “We’ve had different problems (on special teams) during the year. We haven’t been that consistent yet. It’s real tough to overcome.”

Matt Bauldoff blocked both Clarion kicks.

His first block came minutes into the game and set the Gremlins up at the Clarion 35-yard line. That led to a 10-yard Dylan Hipple touchdown that gave Karns City an early 7-0 lead.

Bauldoff’s second block, a partial block, may have been bigger. With the Gremlins holding a 21-13 lead late in the third quarter he got a hand on a Brandon Samulewski kick that ended up rolling dead at the Clarion 47-yard line. That set up an 8-yard touchdown run by Aaron Markle early in the fourth quarter that put Karns City up by two scores at 28-13.  

“It’s often said that anytime you block a punts its thought you will win the game,” Conto said.

Karns City’s final touchdown also came thanks to a special teams’ error by Clarion, as the Bobcats were called for a personal foul running into the kicker penalty on a Karns City punt attempt that would have given Clarion the ball inside Gremlin territory. But instead, Karns City got a first down and that eventually led to a 16-yard Zach Barney touchdown run with 3:45 left.

Clarion’s two scores came on back-to-back first-half drives thanks to the legs of Bubba Rue.

Rue, who only gained eight yards rushing on the night, scored on a 7-yard run with 37 seconds left in the first quarter to tie the game at seven and then went airborne to score on a 1-yard run with 8:10 left in the first half to give Clarion its only lead of the game at 13-7.

NOTES - The Bobcats once again utilized a two-quarterback system with Walters and Brandon Heeter splitting time every other series. Heeter was 4 of 7 for 101 yards while Walters was 3 of 7 for 14 yards and an interception … Markle led Karns City with 73 yards rushing … Corbin Ragley had 79 yards receiving on three catches including a 55-yard bomb from Heeter … Clarion missed a golden opportunity to score on its second drive when Heeter fumbled a snap at the Karns City 14-yard line and the Gremlins recovered … Cody Renninger had 20-yard punt return in the first quarter that set up the Bobcats first touchdown … Karns City can clinch no worse than a tie for the KSAC title by winning at Moniteau Friday or against A-C Valley in two weeks. The Gremlins can clinch the KSAC crown outright with two wins or one win and a Punxsutawney loss or no wins and two Punxsutawney losses … Clarion is also back in action Friday night when it hosts Clarion-Limestone. The Bobcats are looking for their sixth straight win over C-L something that hasn’t happened since Clarion won 10 straight between 1978 and 1987.

KARNS CITY 35, CLARION 13

Score by Quarters

Clarion 7 6 0 0 – 13

Karns City 7 7 7 14 – 35

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

KC – Dylan Hipple 10 run (Zach Kepple kick), 7:58

C – Bubba Rue 7 run (Cameron Slike kick), 0:37

Second Quarter

C – Rue 1 run (kick failed), 8:10

KC – Aaron Markle 10 run (Kepple kick), 0:49

Third Quarter

KC – Hipple 5 run (Kepple kick), 7:10

Fourth Quarter

KC – Markle 8 run (Kepple kick), 10:15

KC – Zach Barney 16 run (Kepple kick), 3:45

       C         KC

First Downs            13        19

Rushes-Yards         36-107 45-245

Passing Yards         115      44

Passing: Comp-Att-Int       7-14-1  6-8-0

Total Yards            222      289

Fumbles-Lost         2-1       2-0

Punts-Avg. 4-18.8  2-31.5   

Penalties-Yards      3-28     3-24

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Clarion: Kevin Grejda 11-82, Kris Burkhart 9-36, Lewis Armstrong 1-11, Bubba Rue 7-8, Marcus Smerker 3-7, Dan Walters 2-negative 14, Brandon Heeter 2-negative 23. Karns City: Aaron Markle 14-73, Jake Wagner 5-53, J.R. Yough 5-40, Dylan Hipple 12-37, Zach Barney 2-17, Ethan Beale 2-15, Craig Slomers 5-10.

Passing – Clarion: Brandon Heeter 4-for-7, 101 yards. Dan Walters 3-for-7, 14 yards, 1 interception. Karns City: Dylan Hipple 6-for-8, 44 yards.

Receiving – Clarion: Corbin Ragley 3-79, Erik Hartle 3-29, Cody Renninger 1-7. Karns City: Ethan Beale 2-23, Brandon Collier 2-16, Brad Francis 1-7, Aaron Markle 1-negative 2.

Interceptions – Karns City: Jesse Garing.