STRATTANVILLE — The only direction that Clarion-Limestone could run against Karns City Friday night was backward.

The Gremlins were dominant on defense, limiting the Lions to minus-20 yards rushing in a 35-7 win.

Karns City also intercepted three passes, recovered a fumble and recorded two sacks before the end of the half to halt a C-L drive. Because of how ferocious their pass rush was, the Lions could find little room to run or pass.

"Defense is what we want to do first, and I feel we have a good defensive football team," said Karns City coach Ed Conto.

Disaster struck for the Lions before they had a chance to move the ball.

After not being able to pick up a first down, Karns City punted. The C-L punt returner reached to receive the kick, but it appeared to glance off his fingertips and hit the ground. The Gremlins recovered on the 10-yard line.

On the next play, Aaron Markle scored on a 10-yard run, giving the Gremlins a lead they would never relinquish.

"It wasn't a fumbled punt," C-L Coach Todd Smith said. "It's like my kid said, 'If I would have touched it, I would have tried to fall on it.'"

The Lions never regained the momentum they had built on defense, and Karns City scored nine points on its next two possessions. At the end of the first quarter, the Gremlins were up 16-0.

Also helping the Gremlins cause was Markle being in the lineup. Markle finished with 13 carries for 95 yards and three touchdowns. He also recorded 32 yards on two catches.

"Aaron ran the ball really well," Conto said. "We held him out a couple of days with a thigh bruise and weren't sure when he was going to be ready to play."

Dylan Hipple had a solid night, throwing for 135 yards and two touchdowns. His 39-yard bomb to Brandon Collier helped extend the Gremlins' lead to 16-0.

Collier finished with 86 yards on five catches.

"We just didn't play well tonight," Smith said. "We didn't tackle well and they were more physical than us. The score wasn't indicative of the game because the turnovers hurt us."

The Gremlins offense put up 35 points before the Lions could respond. But with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Dan Miller hooked up with Jonathon Pezzuti to wrap up the scoring at 35-7.

"There are some things we need still need to work on," Conto said. "We're still trying to establish an identity. It was nice to develop the passing game a little bit, but we also need to hurry up the count and make other minor changes."