KARNS CITY — When Kaiden Powers sliced through the middle of the St. Marys coverage team for a 75-yard return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff, it looked like the beginning of a sure rout.

It didn't happen quite that way.

Powers' return and subsequent PAT were the only points the Gremlins mustered in the first half against the game Flying Dutch.

After two quarters, Karns City clung precariously to a 7-6 lead.

“I thought our kids came here and competed well,” said St. Marys coach Anthony Defilippi.

The second half was a different story as Karns City reasserted itself with five touchdowns by five different players in the final 24 minutes for a 42-6 win Friday at Diehl Stadium.

“We settled down, broke their blitz, and then we could do what we wanted,” said Karns City coach Ed Conto.

What the Gremlins wanted to do was showcase their balanced offense.

They never got the chance in the first half as fumbles on consecutive offensive plays on St. Marys' half of the field ended two drives and kept Karns City's offense in limbo.

Meanwhile, the Dutch churned out a 14-play, 65-yard drive that consumed more than eight minutes off the clock for their only score of the game midway through the second quarter.

The long march was capped by a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Pat Schlimm.

At that point, Karns City had run only seven offensive plays.

“You can't turn the ball over in their territory,” Conto said.

Chandler Turner got Karns City going in the second half with a 94-yard touchdown run in which he shed several tackles before breaking into the open and out-running the Dutch down the left sideline.

Turner ended the game with 173 yards on just six carries.

“He's a good, patient runner,” Conto said. “He lets his blocks set up, cuts and then takes off. That (94-yard run) was a good example. We had a nice trap block and shot through for about five yards, then he stopped, set up a block, took a step and then took off. That's experience. A lot of guys would have just taken off and we would have gotten 10 yards.”

The Turner run opened things up for Karns City (3-1), which also got its passing game going after a slow start by quarterback Jake King.

“It wasn't his fault,” Conto said. “They were blitzing us like crazy and he had to get rid of the ball.”

Once the Gremlins began picking up that blitz, King began picking St. Marys apart.

King finished 9 of 19 — 5 of 7 in the second half — for 123 yards and a 26-yard TD pass to Jimmy Thompson in the fourth quarter that opened up a 35-6 lead.

Two Gremlin running backs scored touchdowns on their only carry of the game — Aaron Hutchison on a 15-yard run and Clay Garing on a 13-yard run.

Sebastian Troutman also scored a rushing touchdown for Karns City.

Conto said defensively, his team had to adjust to playing a power team again after facing spread teams so far this season.

“Against spread teams, you're running more to the football,” Conto said. “Against power teams, there's more gap control. We weren't maintaining our gaps and we weren't low enough.”

That allowed for St. Marys (1-2) to rush for 74 of its 120 yards in the first half.

“The second half, they broke some plays and we missed some tackles,” Defilippi said. “The second half didn't go as planned, but I thought we competed for four quarters.

“They should get some confidence and believe they can play with anyone,” Defilippi added. “Obviously we're not satisfied with losing, but they are the class of 3-A and they have been that way for awhile.”

KC hasn't lost to a division foe since the 2011 season opener.