KARNS CITY — Players come. Players go.

Some things, though, never change.

The Karns City football team wins, no matter who is wearing the uniform.

There is no rebuilding in Karns City, just reloading.

It's going to be hard to restock the arsenal of weapons lost to graduation after a season in which the Gremlins rolled to a District 9 Class AA title and beat North Star in a state playoff game.

Karns City lost 23 seniors to graduation. One of them was Anthony Stimac, who threw for 19 touchdowns and rushed for 1,032 yards and 15 more scores.

Also among the departed is Josh Callender, the team's biggest all-purpose threat, who scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams.

But Karns City has always found ways to restock.

"There are going to be a lot of no-names stepping in who played a good bit of football, but you don't know who they are because there were guys ahead of them," said Karns City coach Ed Conto.

Stimac was a no-name three years ago when he stepped under center for the first time as a sophomore. So was Callender and a slew of others who waited for their turn.

Perhaps Dylan Hipple, who threw all of three passes last season, will become a household name this season as Stimac's replacement. Or maybe two sophomores, Brady Ellenberger and Seth Negley, will climb into the quarterback mix like Stimac once did.

The line is young, but promising. Defense, a KC trademark, figures to keep its aggressive, hard-hitting and gritty reputation around the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference.

One thing is certain: replacing Stimac won't be an easy task.

"You lose age, size, physical ability," Conto said. "All of (the QB candidates) lack game experience. They all have potential, but we just have to do things that are good for them to get them where they need to be. So, we, as a coaching staff, need to understand we don't have a kid with two years of experience. We have a kid we are starting over with."

Conto and his staff are known for playing lots of players. Conto often goes two-deep at most positions to prepare for the future.

That philosophy figures to pay huge dividends this season, particularly on the offensive line.

All five who were starters at the beginning of last season have graduated. Yet, Conto is confident his rebuilt line will be up to the task.

"We feel right now that we may have a chance to maybe be better on the line," Conto said. "We normally don't have a lot of size up here, just hard-nosed 180-pound kids. This year, we do have a lot of size. Some of them are young, but they are also smart. If they come along, we may be able to develop a good, physical power line."

Eight linemen on the roster top 240 pounds. Two seniors, Colton Bailey and Zach Kepple, each exceed 275.

Nothing about Karns City will change in what it does on offense and defense, Conto said. Teams just might not see as many wrinkles with a youthful team.

To Conto, that is the key to making seamless transitions between seasons.

"You have to know where you are at, so you know when you need to pull back a little in what you are doing," Conto said. "We think we have the program where we want it."