Karns City football coach Ed Conto can't forget his team's 51-7 loss to Redbank Valley earlier this season.

He doesn't want his players to forget it, either.

"Right after that game, I had nine pages of notes of things we didn't do well," said Conto.

"We didn't block properly. We had the wrong reads. We didn't execute. We had people not where they were supposed to be. We weren't physical.

"I told them after, 'I hope you guys improve enough to these guys if you meet them in the playoffs," Conto added.

That day has come.

It was Sept. 24 when the Gremlins lost to the Bulldogs and Conto knows his team will be better prepared.

"We should be better, but I don't know how much better they've gotten," said Conto. "They're a senior-oriented team, but you can only take seniors so far."

"I think the first time around, we played a pretty good game," said Bulldogs coach Ed Wasilowski. "Some things went against them. We stopped them on a fourth-and-12 early and they also had a bad snap that led to a score.

"That's not going to happen again. We have to play a good game," Wasilowski added.

Redbank Valley (6-3) started out at 1-2 before defeating the Gremlins. They rushed for 344 yards and received two touchdowns each from Skyler Smith and Brandon Johnston.

Smith rushed for 110 yards, Johnston 77 and Bryce Miller added 132 yards on nine carries and added another score.

"Johnston and Miller are big backs," said Conto. "All three of those backs are very good."

Johnston leads the team with 842 yards on just 58 carries (14.5 yards per game) and 12 touchdowns and Smith has 761 yards on 160 carries (4.8) and 12 scores.

Quarterback Jason Smith has completed 24 of 71 passes for 397 yards, three touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

On the other hand, the Gremlins (5-4) have used a balanced attack, thanks to the emergence of quarterback Steve Black.

The junior has completed 87 of 147 passes for 1,200 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

His top targets have been David Black (48-712, 9 scores), Kyle Texter (25-325, 1 TD) and Josh Fiscus (9-125, 1 TD).

Fiscus has carried the bulk of the running attack with 1,037 yards on 161 carries and 14 touchdowns with Wayne Harris (64-377, 1 TD) in tow.

Fiscus had the Gremlins' lone score in the Week 4 matchup. He was held to 59 yards on 15 carries.

"They have a great running back," said Wasilowski. "Josh has run for over 1,000 yards. We did a nice job controlling him, but I don't know if we can do it again.

"The combination of the Black and Black brothers and Texter on the other side, they have a great offense," Wasilowski added.

The Gremlins were hindered in the last meeting by four fumbles, (losing three) and an interception.

"On offense, we have to move the ball and not make mistakes," said Conto.

Both squads enjoyed the bye week, during which both coaches gave the players two full days off.

"It's a whole new season," said Wasilowski. "Everyone is 0-0, one-and-done. Our kids understand it and know what they can do."