Another introduction
KARNS CITY — Karns City has already faced one newcomer to the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference.
The Gremlins defeated Punxsutawney 21-0 in the season opener Aug. 29, and now will travel to Brookville for a 7 p.m. contest Friday.
Much like Punxsy, the Raiders have a young squad and it showed in last week's 33-0 loss to Bellefonte.
"We're pretty young and inexperienced," said Brookville coach Chris Dworek. "We have some good, tough, hard-working kids. We have a few returning starters in the lineup and one receiver with some experience.
"I enjoy this team, but they're going to give me a lot of gray hairs on some nights, but it's okay as long as we're effective,"Dworek added.
Last season, the Raiders reached the District 9 Class AA semifinals, but graduated their quarterback, Shane Heschke, who threw for 1,470 yards and 15 TDs and also rushed for 809 yards and six scores.
Brookville also lost its top two rushers, including Joe Galbraith, who gained 1,520 yards and scored 16 TDs.
"We play them about every three years or so," said Karns City coach Ed Conto. "We've seen them do similar things. They graduated a lot of kids, though, so they have a younger group of players.
"All their receivers are tall. That could give us some trouble,"Conto added.
Last week, Brookville managed just 93 total yards against the Red Raiders, which kept the running back tandem of Kyle Galbraith and Ethan Harmon to a combined 29 yards. In a 41-19 victory over Union in Week 1, the pair rushed for 269 yards and four touchdowns.
"They had a good first game, but struggled in the second," said Dworek. "There are some things we worked on."
Heschke has caught four passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns to lead the receiving corps while Garrett Weaver has completed 9-of-22 passes for 130 yards and two scores.
Still the success of Brookville will depend on its line play, Dworek said.
"I really have to say our offensive linemen are looked upon for the leadership," said Dworek. "Zach Bedee and James Harbison had solid years as juniors and are doing very well as seniors."
The Raiders (1-1, 1-0) will try to slow down the Gremlins, who rolled past Union 62-13 behind a four-touchdown performance from Josh Callender.
Karns City (2-0, 2-0) had two punt returns for touchdowns (both by Callender), a fumble and an interception return for scores as well.
"There's no slowing them down," said Dworek. "The way we have to approach it is to play our best. Hopefully, our effort will be good enough. I have a lot of respect for coach Conto and his teams every year.
"They're a model for us, where we'd like to be. That's easier said than done. They showed a couple of years you could win with a lot of younger players so there's no reason why we can't do that too," Dworek added.
The Gremlins enter the game still banged up as linemen Earl Everetts (knee) and Nick Sypulski (knee) are sidelined with injuries while linebacker Ben Pyle (knee) is out for the year. Lineman Ray Emery (thumb) had surgery and will be out for at least three weeks.
"Our junior varsity players are definitely getting a lot of varsity experience," Conto quipped.
