KARNS CITY — For four quarters, Karns City's ferocious pass rush tortured Brookville quarterback Troy Dombrowski.

Every time he dropped back to pass in the Raiders' 21-14 loss Friday night, Karns City's defenders were charging toward him.

But with 1:47 remaining, the Raiders still had an opportunity to win or to force overtime.

Starting on their own 21-yard line, the Raiders moved the ball four yards on first down.

But on second and third downs, a fumble and an incompletion halted their momentum.

Faced with a crucial fourth down, Dombrowski dropped back to pass and the Gremlins forced him to throw the ball to a receiver who had fallen down.

"We knew that play was coming," Brookville coach Chris Dworek said. "We were hoping our quarterback would get a pre-read and adjust to it."

The Gremlins got the ball back and ran out the clock to earn the win.

Bringing the blitz on a key fourth-down play wasn't a change in the game plan for the Gremlilns.

"We like to play an aggressive style of defense," Karns City coach Ed Conto said. "We played mostly man, which is tough against (receiver Jared Heschke). We mixed a few zone looks in, but we mostly played man."

Dombrowski started strong, hooking up with Heschke to give the Raiders an early 7-0 lead.

Karns City took the lead after scoring on touchdown runs from J.R. Yough and Jake Wagner of 3 and 12 yards, respectively.

The Gremlins picked up 178 yards on 43 carries Friday night with seven different running backs carrying the ball.

"I always try and do that to develop some guys," Conto said. "I like to play a lot of kids. It may make me nervous, but you have to know when to do it."

Aaron Markle led the team with 62 yards on 12 carries. But what swung the game's momentum happened with 5:09 remaining in the second quarter.

Dombrowski threw a pass that was intercepted and returned by Karns City's Brad Francis 32 yards for a score.

The touchdown gave the Gremlins a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

The Raiders managed to cut the deficit to seven points midway through the fourth quarter when Dombrowski led the team down the field and capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Brookville stopped Karns City and got the ball back, but couldn't find the end zone.

"This game is the challenge we needed," Conto said. "Their athletes matched our athletes pretty well."

The Raiders outgained the Gremlins 163-53 in the second half.

Dworek said his team played well, but that wasn't a consolation prize.

"We played a tough game tonight," Dworek said. "But people are going to look at our 0-3 record and say we're a bad team. We're not a bad team."