One-man band
DUBOIS — Alex Hoenstine is a lot of things on the football field, but a secret weapon is not one of them.
Between his eye-popping stats and glimpses of him on film, Karns City's defense was well aware of what he is capable of.
That didn't stop Central-Martinsburg's do-everything senior from turning in a superb performance in Friday night's PIAA Class AAA football quarterfinal playoff game in DuBois.
Hoenstine accounted for 330 yards of offense — including 249 on the ground on 42 carries — and scored all five of the Dragons' touchdowns in a 36-21 win over the Gremlins at E.J. Mansell Stadium.
Hoenstine also completed 4-of-5 passes for 66 yards and added one reception for 15 yards.
“He's just a great player,” said Central coach David Baker. “He can throw, run and catch, but he's not the only good player we have. I thought our line blocked really well tonight.”
Hoenstine's fourth touchdown of the night — a 7-yard run with nine minutes left in the game — put the Dragons up 29-13.
The Gremlins, however, did not quit. On the ensuing drive, they faced a 4th-and-14 from midfield. Senior quarterback Jake King's bomb hit a streaking Chandler Turner in stride down the left sideline for a 49-yard touchdown that was followed by King's pass to Cullen Williams for two points and with 7:14 left, it was a one-score game at 29-21.
That put the onus back on Central's offense, and of course, Hoenstine was the focal point.
On a 9-play, 73-yard scoring drive, Hoenstine tallied 59 yards on seven carries. He gained 20 yards on a 4th-and-inches play from Central's 36-yard line and capped the march with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Hoenstine led the offense out of a Wildcat formation for much of the game.
“Nothing they did offensively surprised us. We knew it was coming,” said KC coach Ed Conto. “The thing I am most disappointed with is that they controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. We are a bit smaller than them up front, but we thought we could get underneath them and create some movement. We could have executed better and that comes back to us coaches. Hats off to Central. The little things we needed to do well, we didn't. They did.”
Trailing by 15 points, Karns City was unable to convert a 4th-and-7 from its own 46 on the next drive, effectively ending the game.A key point in the contest came just before halftime. Turner's halfback pass to Jimmy Thompson from eight yards out, followed by Kaiden Powers' point after, had tied the game at 7-7 with 2:33 left in the first half.Central quarterback Preston Karstetter then threw three straight incomplete passes to force an apparent punt, but the Gremlins were flagged for roughing the passer on the third pass attempt, keeping the Dragons' drive alive. Five plays later, Hoenstine completed a halfback pass of his own, this one for 28 yards to Jacob Muthler down to the Gremlin 1. Hoenstine scored on the next play and the Dragons held a 14-7 lead at halftime.“I was talking to our offensive linemen and didn't see the play, so I can't comment on that,” Conto said of the penalty. “But it hurt us. It took our momentum away.”Karns City desperately needed a spark defensively and junior linebacker Clay Garing delivered it.He picked off Karstetter's screen pass early in the third quarter and returned it seven yards to the Central 5. On 4th-and-goal from the 2, Turner muscled his way into the end zone, though KC's momentum was tempered a bit when Powers' point-after attempt sailed wide left. Still, the Gremlins trailed just 14-13 with over 18 minutes left in the game.“We didn't have many big plays on defense tonight, but that was one of them,” Conto said of Garing's interception. “He read the play well and it helped keep us in the game.”But the Gremlins were soon thrown back on their heels defensively, unable to stop an 18-play, 71-yard drive that saw the Dragons (12-1) successfully convert five third downs. The first two were completions of 14 and 8 yards, respectively, from Hoenstine to wide receiver Larry Corle. Hoenstine scored on a 1-yard run and hit Austin Garner with the two-point conversion pass, putting Central up 22-13 with 10:18 remaining.“That conversion was big,” related Baker. “It put us up by two scores.“Karns City is a good football team,” he added. “They played hard until the end. I was impressed.”The Gremlins finish the season with a record of 10-3.“Overall, I was pleased with our play,” said Conto. “The guys kept fighting and I'm proud of them for that.”
Central 7 7 0 22 — 36Karns City 0 7 6 8 — 21C KC22 First Downs 861-304 Rushes-Yards 23-11698 Passing Yards 896-15-1 Comp.-Att.-Int 6-18-0402 Total Yards 2051-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-03-30 Penalty Yards 4-47First QuarterC — Alex Hoenstine 2 run (Jacob Muthler kick), 4:12Second QuarterKC — Jimmy Thompson 8 pass from Chandler Turner (Kaiden Powers kick), 2:33C — Hoenstine 1 run (Muthler kick), :40Third QuarterKC — Turner 2 run (kick failed), 6:07Fourth QuarterC — Hoenstine 1 run (Austin Garner pass from Hoenstine), 10:18C — Hoenstine 7 run (Muthler kick), 9:00KC — Turner 49 pass from Jake King (Cullen Williams pass from King), 7:14C — Hoenstine 1 run (Muthler kick), 3:13Individual StatisticsRushing: Central, Alex Hoenstine 42-249, Jared Smith 10-42, Preston Karstetter 3-(-7), Chase Smith 1-7, Cameron Norris 1-4, Trystan Detwiler 1-13, TEAM 3-(-4). Karns City, Chandler Turner 5-12, Cullen Williams 6-0, Kaiden Powers 3-17, Eric Dodd 3-71, Jake King 6-16.Passing: Central, Preston Karstetter 2-10-32-1, Alex Hoenstine 4-5-66-0. Karns City, Jake King 5-17-81-0, Chandler Turner 1-1-8-0.Receiving: Central, Austin Garner 1-17, Alex Hoenstine 1-15, Jacob Muthler 1-28, Larry Corle 3-38. Karns City, Jimmy Thompson 5-40, Chandler Turner 1-49.
