FOXBURG — Entering the 2006 football season, Karns City was considered a dark horse to win the KSAC title.

On Friday night, the dark horse crossed the finish line first.

The Gremlins clinched at least a share of the regular season title by cruising to a 36-6 victory over A-C Valley.

"It's great for the kids," said Karns City coach Ed Conto. "They weren't picked to win and they're young and we've had a lot of injuries."

The Gremlins opened the scoring with 4:33 remaining in the first quarter when Brett Green took an option pitch from quarterback Matt Endlish and raced untouched for a 15-yard score.

The Falcons were forced to punt on the ensuing drive and Stephon Conto returned the kick 28 yards to the A-C Valley 13-yard line.

The Gremlins scored two plays later when Endlish threw a 7-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Matt McConnell.

Endlish, the 6-2, 153-pound senior, was 8-of-20 passing for 114 yards and one score.

Karns City scored again when Anthony Stimac rumbled 12 yards for the touchdown that gave the Gremlins a 20-0 lead.

"(Stimac) is our backup quarterback and we had to press him into the running back position because we had so many kids out," said Conto.

Stimac had 83 yards on 14 carries.

The Gremlins had an opportunity to extend their lead just before halftime when Endlish completed a 45-yard pass to Josh Callender.

The completion gave Karns City the ball at the A-C Valley 11-yard line with 17 seconds left before halftime.

However, the drive was extinguished when the Falcon's Mike Himes intercepted Endlish's pass in the end zone.

Himes proved to be kryptonite to Endlish with 3:28 left in the third quarter by intercepting another pass and returning it 92 yards for the score.

Karns City answered when Stimac, playing quarterback, took the option keeper around right end for a 15-yard touchdown that gave the Gremlins a 26-6 lead.

The Karns City defense held the Falcons to one first down and 14 yards of total offense.

"We couldn't get anything going," said A-C Valley coach Randy Lemmon. "They're just too quick for us."

The Gremlins tallied 354 yards and 15 first downs.

Karns City can win the KSAC regular season title outright by beating Union next week.