KARNS CITY — Years of mastery over the rest of the KSAC Large School Division doesn't make Karns City junior defensive end Jimmy Thompson less eager to rush the passer.

While Thompson knows the games may end up lopsided, the motivation is still there.

“Sometimes it's hard,” Thompson said. “But it's Friday night, it's a game, it's exciting.”

With a 49-14 win Friday night at Diehl Stadium, Karns City has now won 17 straight games, including the playoffs.

Those last 12 wins were all by double figures. Karns City has won the division and district in each of the past three seasons.

Gremlins coach Ed Conto credits his assistants for keeping his teams hungry.

“It takes all individual coaches being on their kids about trying to get better and not taking teams lightly,” Conto said. “It's not easy.”

Karns City's defense made everything look easy. The Gremlins grounded the Flying Dutchmen's first three drives with two three-and-outs and an interception by Evan Stitt.

The Gremlins held St. Marys (2-1, 0-1) to 144 yards of offense, including 69 on the ground.

“We saw their tackles weren't really good blockers,” said Thompson, who finished with a sack. “We thought if we could rush hard, we could get pressure on the quarterback.”

Karns City's offense turned all three of those possessions into touchdowns.

Cullen Williams started it off with a 54-yard run, putting the Gremlins up 7-0 with 9 minutes, 8 seconds left in the first quarter.

A 1-yard touchdown run by Chandler Turner and 51-yard pass from Jacob King to Evan Dodd stretched the lead to 21-0 by the end of the first quarter.

“The line did a good job pass blocking and the receivers made good catches,” said Williams, who threw for 134 yards and two scores. “The mid-line worked well with their defensive tackles playing out.”

Karns City stretched the lead to 35-0 before St. Marys scored.

Matt Marconi scored on a 6-yard run with 2:14 left in the half to break up the shut out.

The Flying Dutchmen wouldn't score again until Brady Bauer caught a 20-yard lob with 4:00 remaining in the game.

“They got off the ball and we messed up some protection schemes,” Defilippi said. “They played harder than we did.”

Collin Dunmyre, who scored on a 37-yard run in the third quarter, led the Gremlins with 74 yards rushing.

Karns City finished with 577 yards of total offense, including 353 on the ground.

Seth Silverio led the Gremlins with 111 yards receiving and caught a 53-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

It was a tough night for Conto to find any flaws.

“I don't have any bad comments to make,” Conto said. “I was real pleased with how they played tonight.”

While it was another big win against a division foe, Karns City isn't putting the crown on yet.

The Gremlins know this may not be their only look at the Flying Dutchmen.

“I think we look good against them, but we might be playing them in the playoffs,” Williams said. “They'll be coming harder.”