PREVIEW: As Always, Karns City Looking to Reload; Buoyed By Return of Injured Two-Way Star Luke Cramer

KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Most high school football coaches dread having question marks at key positions heading into a season.

Not Joe Sherwin.

The Karns City coach sees it as an opportunity to uncover new stars in his program.

(Pictured above, Karns City running back Luke Cramer bursts through the line during a game against Redbank Valley last season/photo by Madison McFarland)

“I always like to see, hey, what can we make out of this next group of guys coming up?” Sherwin said, smiling. “For me, as a coach, that’s exciting to me. How are we going to get those guys to step in for the guys who just left and be able to perform at that level, the level we expect? That’s an exciting thing for me, to be able to see what they are capable of doing.”

Karns City does have to replace some stars, including three-year starting quarterback Eric Booher, standout wide receiver and defense back Micah Rupp and others.

But the Gremlins aren’t perennial threats to win the District 9 championship for nothing.

Karns City has been able to reload before and there is confidence that the Gremlins can reload again after a season that had its fair share of adversity.

A rash of injuries at the quarterback position last year forced one of the more interesting and bizarre two-week stretches in Karns City football history.

Booher played two full games with a cast on his throwing hand after suffering a thumb injury before the season even started.

The Gremlins, though, found a way to win those two games, rushing the ball 110 times to zero passes in victories over Ridgway and St. Marys.

That stretch ignited the team after an 0-2 start, but a pari of losses to Brookville, the last in the D9 playoffs, put a sour end to the season.

“For whatever reason, (Brookville) sort of had our number,” Sherwin said.

This year one of those injured quarterbacks is in the mix to take over for Booher. Mason Martin got some time at QB before his own broken finger sidelined him.

Sherwin has yet to name a starter.

Karns City will get a big boon with the return of running back/linebacker Luke Cramer, who tore the ACL in his right knee on the final play of a Week 2 loss to Redbank Valley.

Cramer, now a senior, is back, and he said he feels like he is better than ever. He’s certainly stronger after developing an interest in competitive weight lifting while he was recovering from his injury.

Cramer has bulked up to 245 pounds now. Over the offseason he benched 390 pounds at a weightlifting competition. That is thought to be a state record for his age.

“I’m a lot stronger. The entire time I was off, I was able to work on my upper body,” Cramer said. “Just recently got my legs back in shape. I’m coming back this year a lot more prepared than I was last year.”

(From left: Zach Kelly, Mason Martin, Luke Cramer and coach Joe Sherwin)

It was difficult for Cramer to watch from the sidelines.

The injury not only wiped out the remainder of his junior football season, but also his basketball and track and field seasons.

“It was tough,” he said. “Watching the team play without me hurt a lot, knowing that we maybe could have had a deeper run if I was playing, that maybe we could have done better. But I’m really excited to get back to it and make up for it.”

That has already shown in camp.

Sherwin and the Karns City coaching staff are impressed with his progress.

“There hasn’t been any limitations on what he’s been able to do,” Sherwin said. “He’s starting to get back into that form that he’s had before. I see a little improvements every day and signs of him getting back to that 100% healthy Luke who we know and we’re glad we’re gonna have.”

Cramer will also be a big piece of the defensive puzzle for Karns City as an intimidating linebacker.

He was missed on that side of the ball last season as well.

“He’s gonna be a presence on both sides of the ball,” Sherwin said. “Our main thing is we want to be able to keep him healthy throughout the entire season.”

The defense is the main reason why Karns City was able to stay afloat during the tumultuous first month of the season last year.

In the Gremlins six wins, they gave up just 66 points.

Karns City also went toe-to-toe with eventual D9 Class 2A champ Central Clarion, losing to the Wildcats in overtime, 26-20.

“We had a couple of close games that didn’t go our way,” Sherwin said. “And then we were dealing with injuries and so forth. This year it’s going to be important to get out of the gate well. That’s why we’re really trying to get things down here in practice and making sure we’re totally prepared for the first game.

“There’s a lot of potential and a lot of ability on this team,” he added.

Sherwin said people just may not know their names.

Yet.

“We have a few guys who did get a few plays and a few carries last year,” Sherwin said. “It may have been only 10 or 15 carries, but they at least got that varsity action and I think they’re going to have a lot more confidence and be ready to roll this year.”