KARNS CITY — Before the start of the season, Anthony Stimac was competing for the Karns City starting quarterback position.

A knee injury to fellow junior Chris Price in camp gave the upper hand to Stimac, who has used it to elevate the Gremlins into Saturday's District 9 Class AA championship final against Moniteau at Clarion University.

Stimac had backup experience and was the frontrunner, but his versatility could have allowed Gremlins coach Ed Conto to move him elsewhere on offense.

Stimac might have won the job by default, but he's proven he's the ideal player to lead the offense.

"I was the second-string quarterback last year (to Matt Endlish) and I played more games than Chris," said Stimac. "I practiced more and I was the starter on jayvee."

Stimac completed six of his 12 passes for 164 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions last year as a sophomore and he hasn't missed a beat this season.

After a 194-yard passing game in a 23-13 win over St. Mary's to open the season, Stimac did hit a tough stretch, completing just 14-of-47 passes for 240 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions.

Still, the Gremlins (11-0) remained unbeaten and Stimac was gaining confidence.

"What helped a lot was in the third game (a 42-0 decision over Clarion-Limestone). I finally threw a touchdown pass.

"The last few games, I've had about three touchdowns a game and a lot of yards rushing,"Stimac added.

In Stimac's last five games, he's thrown for 11 touchdowns, one interception and rushed for five more scores.

Overall, the signal-caller has completed 61 of 129 passes for 1,302 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

"Anthony's getting better and better," said Conto. "His arm is stronger and he's making better reads. He can be the guy who can take it and go.

"He really hasn't had to do that since we have a lot of playmakers on offense," Conto added.

A running-back-by-committee approach has spread the wealth among several running backs. Among those, Stimac is fourth on the team with 351 yards on 66 carries and has found paydirt eight times.

"I think I bring confidence and leadership," said Stimac. "In the huddle, if someone was mad from the play before, I tell them not to get down."

Conto agrees.

"He brings leadership. He's cool, calm. He can make a mistake and not get rattled," said Conto. "The kids love him. He's one of the hardest workers in the weight room on the team.

"He's fast. he runs a 4.6 40 and he's very strong. He can break tackles and make great runs,"Conto added.

Conto recalls a game last year watching Stimac at work.

"He got the ball, got hit, spun around, fell down, but caught himself and kept going. He can do a lot of things."

Now, only the Warriors stand in the way of the Gremlins' district title hopes and Stimac playing a big part of that.

In the seventh week of the season, Karns City defeated Moniteau 39-19 to take control of the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference. In that game, Stimac passed for 202 yards, rushed for 75 more and had his hand in three of the touchdowns.

He knows the Warriors will again be a formidable opponent, especially led by his counterpart, junior Tyler Armagost, who has thrown for 2,021 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushed for 379 yards and nine scores.

"They're always a tough team," said Stimac. "We know what they're capable of and Tyler Armagost is a very capable passer."

Stimac was on the sidelines last year as the Gremlins lost to Brookville 21-3 in the championship game. Now, it's Stimac's turn to show what he can do.

"We were pretty motivated by that game for this year," said Stimac. "We felt we should have won last year. This year, we want to go further."