KARNS CITY — Opening Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference action right off the bat was tough enough for Karns City.

Doing it with a makeshift lineup was even tougher.

The Gremlins had eight players, including six starters, miss Friday's game against Punxsutawney due to a recent violation of team rules. Three other starters were out because of injuries.

Still, the Gremlins greeted the newcomer Chucks to the conference, then turned them away in a 21-0 victory.

"We're slow to develop as a team," said Karns City coach Ed Conto on the absence of so many starters. "We were able to get some of the young guys some work, something that can help them in junior varsity games. The kids did an outstanding job. It was a great effort by these guys."

Despite an interception on the opening drive, quarterback Chris Price helped guide the Gremlins (1-0, 1-0) to a 13-0 first-quarter lead.

Karns City embarked on an 11-play, 70-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard Josh Stimac run.

Price kept the drive alive when he broke a 31-yard run on a third-and-4 at the KC 49.

On the squad's next drive, Price connected with Cody Williams on a 39-yard scoring pass with 49 seconds left in the quarter.

Price finished the game completing 3-of-7 passes for 56 yards.

"Chris did a good job for us," said Conto. "A lot of our young guys did. We were undersized, but the kids responded."

To its credit, Punxsutawney clamped down defensively for the next two quarters and gave itself two prime opportunities to score, but came away with nothing.

In the second quarter, the Chucks (0-1, 0-1) forced a pair of Karns City fumbles, the latter giving the Chucks the ball on their own 46.

Freshman Logan Weaver connected on passes of 16 and 24 yards to Easton Weaver to help give Punxsy a first-and-10 at the KC 14.

However, two incomplete passes, an Earl Everetts sack and another incompletion quelled the drive inside the final minute.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Chucks pounded the ball at the Gremlins — highlighted by runs of 19 and 16 yards by Braedon Pennington and Nick Wehrle, respectively, and a 20-yard hookup from Weaver to Weaver — to give Punxsy first-and-10 at the KC 12.

This time, a Buck sack, a 5-yard tackle for loss by Stimac, an incomplete pass and a another sack by Buck turned the ball over on downs to Karns City.

"We've been making some mental errors for a while now," said Punxsy coach Blake Moilan. "We shot ourselves in the foot. We missed assignments, sacks, blocks.

"We'll try and fix those mistakes and try and build on this,"Moilan added.

The Gremlins put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter when Buck culminated a 10-play, 46-yard drive with a 7-yard scoring run with 8:44 remaining.

Stimac led all rushers with 78 yards on 11 carries while Buck added 58 on seven. Price threw for 56 yards and rushed for 43 more.

Logan Weaver completed 8 of 12 passes for 90 yards while Wehrle lead the Chucks with 63 yards on nine carries.

Next Friday, the Gremlins will host Union and Conto hopes to have a larger part of his starting units in place.

"Hopefully, the kids will learn," said Conto. "They're good people and they need to make better decisions."

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