Powers

KARNS CITY — Karns City may not have to lean on its Big Three.

Kaiden Powers, Chandler Turner and Cullen Williams will make their presence felt nonetheless.

“Any one of those three can make something big happen with the football in his hands,” Karns City coach Ed Conto said.

They've made plenty happen already. Just running the ball, the trio combined for 1,691 yards and 24 touchdowns last season.

Turner had seven interceptions on defense. Williams threw for 539 yards and three scores. Powers booted 59 PATs and a 42-yard field goal.

Now all three are seniors — with lofty expectations.

“I'd love to run for 1,000 yards, lead the league in interceptions, make all-conference, but only if the team wins,” Turner said.

Winning is always on the mind of the Gremlins.

“A state championship is what we want. We believe we have what it takes to make it happen,” Williams said.

“The state championship is always the goal,” Powers said.

For a while, Powers' biggest goal was getting on the field. A knee injury requiring surgery took away his sophomore season.

“That was a hard thing to get through,” he admitted.

It was tough on Conto, too.

“Kaiden would have played a lot for us that year,” the coach said.

Powers will play so much this year, he may never leave the field. He's a flanker back on offense. He's a cornerback on defense. He will return punts and kickoffs.

And he will serve as the Gremlins' place-kicker once more.When asked how long a field goal he could kick, Powers promptly responded: “50 yards ... but I only practice from 40 yards and in.”Again, it's all about the team.And Powers stands just 5-foot-5 and weighs 143 pounds.“The kid is just a water bug,” Conto said.”He's slippery, elusive and when someone does get his hands on him ... Kaiden is a tough kid.”Williams is moving from quarterback to strictly running back for the same reason.“I can have a more positive impact as a running back,” he said. “Chandler and I can work off of each other.”“I'm excited to see Cullen strictly as a runner,” Conto said. “As a tailback, he's a natural.”Turner was in a similar situation last year with Collin Dunmyre, who rushed for well over 1,000 yards.“This is going to be the exact same thing,” Turner said. “I feel like I have a great skill set. But so do a lot of other guys.“I just want to play hard every game, to the end, have fun with my teammates.”Turner will have little trouble in the stamina department.“He runs the 400 meters in track. He never gets tired,” Comnto said. “And he's got great speed.”Powers, Turner and Williams will be doing something else besides running the football this year.They'll be catching it.“All three have the hands,” Conto said. “We can toss screen passes, hit them out of the backfield, really mix things up.“We knew we can run the ball. If we can do more things to keep defenses guessing, that's all the better.”

Williams