By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – Moniteau Warriors, District 9 champions.

Yes, you read that right.

After years of frustration and many close calls not only in football but also in boys’ basketball, Moniteau can finally call itself a District 9 champion after winning the D9 Class AA football title with a 26-12 win over Karns City Friday night at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

“It means the world to this community, to these kids,” Moniteau head coach Jeff Campbell said. “I’m just happy to be a part of it. I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Senior quarterback Kyle Armagost knows all too well of Moniteau’s struggles to win titles watching as his older brother, Tyler, lost to Karns City in the 2007 and 2008 championship games while also seeing the Warriors fall to Brockway in 2005.

“It just feels so great,” Armagost said. “I can’t be happier than to do it with this group. We grew up together, and we always said we would be a champion someday. Today is that day, and it feels so great.”

Armagost, as he has done all year, played an integral part in the victory accounting for 239 yards of Moniteau’s 396 yards of offense. He ran 21 times for 140 yards and three touchdowns and also was 4 of 13 passing for 99 yards and an interception.

His longest run of the night also was the run that put the icing on the championship for the Warriors (11-0), as he broke free up the middle for a 74-yard touchdown sprint with 8:31 left to restore a two-touchdown lead for Moniteau a 1:02 after Karns City (8-4) had made it a ball game on a 4-yard Ethan Williams scoring run.

“To tell you the truth, I can’t believe I made it (74 yards),” Armagost said. “I was out of breath. I don’t run long distance; I just try to run people over. The hole was there. I just hit it and kept going.”  

Thanks to Armagost, Dustin Geagan, who ran for 145 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, a stout offensive line, Moniteau outgained Karns City, which entered the game averaging 341.3 yards per contest rushing, 297-157 on the ground.

“Our offensive line has played well all season,” Campbell said. “They have moved people off the ball. We said to them before the season that we will go as far as they take us.”

Moniteau’s defense should also get a lot of credit for limiting the Gremlins offensive attack that looked unstoppable in recent weeks. The Warriors forced three turnovers, all in Moniteau territory, and limited the Gremlins big plays to a handful.

“Our defense came up huge all night,” Campbell said. “They just kept making plays all night. It’s a hodgepodge, patchwork defense because of some injuries. But they played well.”

The biggest play of the night for the defense might have come 14 seconds into the second half after Karns City, which trailed 13-6 at the time, had used a nice kickoff return and a 15-yard pass interference penalty on Moniteau to set up shop at the Warrior 35-yard line.

But Gremlin quarterback Brady Ellenberger fumbled an option pitch, and Moniteau’s Joey Deal recovered at the Moniteau 39. Five plays later, Armagost scored on a 3-yard run restoring a two-touchdown lead for the Warriors.  

“In a playoff game, you can’t turn the ball over,” Karns City head coach Ed Conto said. “It was a not a clean game, but the kids played hard. Moniteau didn’t make very many mistakes and made a few more plays than us.”

Moniteau scored the game’s first 13 points thanks to a 2-yard Armagost run in the first quarter and a 60-yard Geagan run on the second play of the second quarter.

But Karns City answered back with a 27-yard Alex Kinkela run midway through the second quarter to make it a game. Kinkela had a team-high 99 yards rushing.

“I knew right from the start it wasn’t going to be easy,” Campbell said. “I told these guys in the pregame speech, if you’re not willing to bleed on the field then stay in the lockerroom. I knew it was going to be a tough, hard-fought game.”  

After Armagost’s second touchdown run put the Warriors ahead 19-6, Karns City got a nice punt return from Glenn Toy, who also rushed for 77 yards that led to a 4-yard Ethan Williams touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to get back within seven.

NOTES – Karns City is now 8-4 in District 9 title games while Moniteau improves to 1-3 … Moniteau will face District 8 (Pittsburgh City League) champion Oliver in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday night at Cupples Stadium on Pittsburgh’s South Side …The loss snapped a three-game District 9 title game win streak for Karns City, which last lost a District 9 title game in 2006, 21-3, to Brookville. The Gremlins had won seven straight District 9 playoff games … Karns City lost only twice inside District 9 this season, both times to Moniteau. The Gremlins other two losses were to District 10 powerhouse Wilmington and District 10’s Hickory.

 MONITEAU 26, KARNS CITY 12

Score by Quarters

K 0 6 0 6 – 12

M 7 6 6 7 – 26

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

M – Kyle Armagost 2 run (Armagost kick), 6:01

Second Quarter

M – Dustin Geagan 60 run (run failed), 11:15

K – Alex Kinkela 27 run (kick failed), 6:34

Third Quarter

M – Armagost 3 run (run failed), 9:48

Fourth Quarter

K – Ethan Williams 4 run (kick blocked), 9:33

M – Armagost 74 run (Armagost kick), 8:31

                                                KC                  M

First Downs                            18                    16

Rushes-Yards                          39-157             44-297

Passing Yards                         131                  99

Passing: Comp-Att-Int            12-25-0            4-13-1

Totals Yards                            288                  396

Fumbles-Lost                          5-3                   0-0

Penalties-Yards                       6-42                 8-72

Punts-Avg.                              5-27.4              5-34.0

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Karns City: Alex Kinkela 7-99, Ethan Williams 4-10, Glenn Toy 11-77, Jerod Hutchison 6-12, Cody Coyle 3-6, Tyler Kepple 6-minus 25, Brady Ellenberger 1-minus 4, Team 1-minus 18. Moniteau: Dustin Geagan 15-145, Kyle Armagost 21-140, Andrew Armagost 6-14, Team 2-minus 2.

Passing – Karns City: Tyler Kepple 8-for-21, 137 yards. Brady Ellenberger 2-for-4, minus 6 yards. Moniteau: Kyle Armagost: 4-for-13, 99 yards, 1 interception.

Receiving – Karns City: Glenn Toy 4-33, Ethan Williams 1-15, Brandyn Bowser 4-80, Alex Kinkela 1-3. Moniteau: Joey Deal 1-11, Ethan Pry 1-11, Brayden McCorry 2-77.

Interceptions – Karns City: Dakota Mohney.