Preview

CLARION – A week after a dramatic last-second 33-27 win over Kane in the District 9 Class AA championship game, Karns City returns to Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium looking to make it two in a row on the turf when it faces District 5’s Chestnut Ridge in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday.

Chestnut Ridge is 6-5 and the Lions had last week off after knocking off Everett 22-21 in the District 5 title game.

“It’s hard to tell what they are like,” Karns City head coach Ed Conto said. “They don’t play in a league so they get games all over the state and in Maryland as well. It’s very hard to put a finger on them. We have watched a lot of tape on them and they are a scrappy team that likes to run the ball.”

Run the ball is something Chestnut Ridge does a lot. The Lions have run for 2,706 yards this season while passing for just 591.

“I think they do things similar to St. Marys,” Conto said. “They don’t have a running back like (Alex) Feldbauer, but their quarterback (Beau Bosch) is a big kid who runs hard and when he is tackled he falls forward gaining more yards.”

Bosch is 6-foot-5, 202 pounds and has run for 1,138 yards and 18 touchdowns on the season while also going 41 of 98 passing for 591 yards and seven touchdowns. Bosch has six 100-yard games on the season including a 326-yard, five-touchdown performance in a win over Kutztown Oct. 12. He threw for a season-high 180 yards in a win over Mountain Ridge Oct. 5 but had just 42 yards rushing and 26 yards passing in the title-game victory over Everett.

Jacob Mock played the key role in the championship game rushing for 103 yards and two touchdowns, his second consecutive 100-yard performance. On the season, Mock has 933 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns.

Karns City is also a solid rushing team that is a bit more balanced than Chestnut Ridge.

The Gremlins (9-3) have rushed for 3,216 yards and 34 touchdowns on the season despite not having any runner rush for over 700 yards and only one – Wyatt Everett’s with 680 yards and eight touchdowns – run for over 500. That’s because while the running backs are interchangeable parts for Karns City, the Gremlins offensive line does the heavy lifting.

“It always starts with the offensive line,” Conto said. “We’ve never had the biggest kids, but they bust their butts in the offseason and are always in the weight room. If you can control the line of scrimmage, you don’t need the best athletes in the world. If you don’t, you can have the best running back but you can forget it.”

Quarterback Tyler Kepple is Karns City’s second-leading rusher with 497 yards and four touchdowns, and Kepple is a dual-threat completing just over 50 percent of his passes (79 of 156) for 1,142 yards and 11 touchdowns. He is coming off a 143-yard one touchdown performance through the air against Kane with the touchdown pass coming on a 9-yard toss to Dakota Mohney with 12 seconds left in the game.

“It usually takes two or three weeks for a new quarterback to work through the process of getting comfortable with his receivers,” Conto said. “Tyler was starting to come together and then he hurt his shoulder in the Franklin game (Sept. 28). Last week was the first time you saw him getting back to that since the injury. But he has been great leadership wise, and he hasn’t made many mistakes this year.”

Zach Moore adds 450 yards rushing and seven touchdowns, while Tristan Rhoades, despite missing a portion of the season with an injury, has 388 yards rushing and four scores including a 141-yard, two-touchdown effort in the win over Kane.

Matt Conto is Karns City’s top receiver with 24 catches for 309 yards and a touchdown, while Everetts adds 15 grabs for 281 yards and a s core, Rhoades eight for 181 and three touchdowns and Mohney 14 for 135 and three scores. Mohney has also rushed for 372 yards and six touchdowns with Adam Whited adding 279 yards and a touchdown and Jake Laughery 239 yards and two scores.

“With us, it’s more about what we do or don’t do on both sides of the ball,” Conto said. “The team that makes the most mistakes will lose.”

The winner of Friday night’s game plays the winner of the WPIAL title game between Aliquippa and Washington.

NOTES – This is Karns City’s eighth trip to the PIAA playoffs and their first since 2009. The Gremlins are 1-7 all time in PIAA postseason games with the lone win coming 32-14 over North Star in 2008.