QB-receiver pair fill air with 3 TD passes
CLARION — Although it wasn't by design, Karns City's Anthony Stimac and Josh Callender made an amazing tandem Friday.
Stimac, the Gremlins' quarterback, connected with Callender for the Karns City's first three touchdowns en route to a 42-9 victory in the District 9 Class AA championship game at Clarion University's Memorial Stadium.
"We had a feeling we could do good in this game," said Callender. "We did well this week in practice and it paid off."
"We took time to work on some things this week," said Stimac. "It's not like we did last year, but we took advantage of it."
Last season, Callender caught 11 passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns. With three receptions for 82 yards Friday, he's now hauled in 15 catches for 230 yards and seven scores in the last two District 9 championships.
He has caught all five of Stimac's completions in the past two weeks, including four for touchdowns. He caught two for 38 yards — including a 30-yard scoring strike — in last week's 42-14 triumph over Kane in the district semifinals.
"It just developed that way," said Karns City coach Ed Conto about Friday's success. "The passes were there the last time (a 35-34 loss to Moniteau in Week 8). We just missed them.
"Callender had a great game,"Conto added.
The Gremlins used great field position to take a 14-0 lead over Moniteau with 2:53 left in the first quarter.
Callender caught a 9-yard screen pass from Stimac and ran in for the score 2:10 into the game, then added a 22-yard hookup later in the period.
Callender's interception of Moniteau's Tyler Armagost helped set up the second score.
"We were looking for that for the beginning of the game," said Stimac. "We needed to do that like we did the past two years (against Moniteau). We were able to do that (Friday)."
Just as Moniteau countered with a field goal and a touchdown in the second quarter to trim the deficit to 14-9 with 5:09 remaining, Stimac and Callender came up big yet again.
Looking at a second-and-1 at the KC 49, Stimac tossed a pass to Callender just past the line of scrimmage.
Callender broke downfield, found a seam and ran untouched for the 51-yard score.
"We had all the linemen block two or three defenders," said Callender. "I caught the ball and was just looking around. I was surprised I was that open."
Stimac added a 3-yard score with 33.8 seconds left that gave the team a 28-9 halftime lead.
The win offset the loss the Gremlins suffered during the regular season, which had given Moniteau its first Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference title and prevented Karns City from earning its fourth consecutive one.
That experience, though, made a big difference, Callender said.
"We've had our linemen here for three years," said Callender. "Everyone knew what to do. Everyone knows where to be."
