RIMERSBURG — Dakota Mohney was burned for a touchdown in the first quarter.

The Karns City cornerback wasn't about to let that happen again.

Mohney intercepted a pass on the goal line and raced 100 yards for a touchdown for a big momentum swing in a 53-20 win by the Gremlins over Union Friday night.

“Coach kind of got on me about the touchdown I got beat on,” Mohney said. “I just stepped in front of it and made a play.”

It was one of many big plays on the night for Karns City (3-1), which rolled up 505 yards of offense and overcame a sloppy first half that included three turnovers and 65 yards of penalties to put the Golden Knights away.

Union, though, didn't go quietly.

After Karns City scored on a 71-yard run by Tristan Rhoades, the Golden Knights answered quickly.

Union quarterback Lane Cicciarelli hit Shane Murphy in stride with a perfectly thrown pass for a 59-yard touchdown to tie the score at 6-6.

Cicciarelli and Murphy have combined for six touchdowns in four games this season.

Following a Karns City turnover, Union was driving again when Mohney made his game-changing play.

Karns City coach Ed Conto said his corner learned from his previous mistake.

“If you look back, you're beat,” said Conto. “When you have a good quarterback like Lane, he puts the ball right there, you can't look back. You have to stay with him and make him make a perfect pass.”

Cicciarelli was mostly perfect in the first two quarters.

He threw for 144 yards in the first half, but was 0-for-3 with an interception in the second half before leaving with a mild ankle injury.

“Lane took a beating,” said Union coach Dave Louder. “We took him out because we have a lot of the season left.”

A wild final 1:34 in the first half did a lot to seal this win for the Gremlins.

Rhoades scored again on a 63-yard run in which the junior broke seven tackles and zigzagged across the field to give Karns City a 20-6 lead.

Nearly healthy from a preseason ankle injury, Rhoades was electrifying with 205 yards on just nine carries.

Rhoades missed most of last season with injuries.

“He's a special player,” Conto said. “And he can cut on a dime. The thing with him is keeping him healthy. He missed eight games last year and when he came back, we were a different team.”

Union answered quickly again after the Rhoades' run with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Murphy to cut the lead to 20-12.

Karns City needed just two plays to score again on a 44-yard pass from Tyler Kepple to Mohney for a 26-12 halftime lead.

Rhoades said as Karns City was making a plethora of mistakes in the first quarter, there was no panic.

“We were just like, 'Let's get it together,'” Rhoades said. “We just had to settle down and work through it.”

“What ticked me off was the penalties,” Conto said.

Karns City was called for roughing the passer twice and for a late hit in the first half.

The Gremlins also lost two fumbles and were intercepted, but Union couldn't take advantage of the good fortune.

“We only scored six points off of those three turnovers,” Louder said. “And we couldn't tackle. I think Rhoades ran 200 yards to get a (63-yard touchdown).”

Karns City dominated the third quarter with touchdowns from Logan Moroney (fumble recovery in the end zone following a 16-yard run by Zach Moore), a 9-yard pass from Kepple to Tyler Dunn and a 7-yard run by Cody Deal to take a 47-12 lead and start the mercy clock running.

All four of the Gremlins' games this season have gone to a running mercy clock.

Cole Morris hauled in a 15-yard pass from Brett Trithart to cut the Karns City lead to 47-20.

Evan Stitt capped the scoring for Karns City with a 16-yard touchdown run.

Union (1-3) only gained 52 yards on the ground on 34 carries and its quarterbacks were sacked six times.

That doesn't bode well going into a Thursday game against undefeated Clarion.

“I just hope there isn't a cancer in the organization and things start getting away from us,” Louder said. “We have Clarion coming up on a short week, and we have to buckle down and make some progress.”