KARNS CITY — Leftover turkey and a football game.

Not many thought the Karns City football team would be enjoying such a holiday recipe.

But after losing 23 seniors to graduation and heading into the season staring at more question marks than a midterm exam, the Gremlins again find themselves in the PIAA Class AA playoffs.

Karns City will make the 130-mile, 2Z\x-hour pilgrimage to Loysburg and Northern Bedford High School to take on the Bison at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Gremlins will arrive early to shake off the bus-lag from the long trek.

"We're going to get there a half-hour, 45 minutes earlier than we usually do," said Karns City coach Ed Conto. "It is a different situation. It's a long bus ride. They'll have time to walk around and stretch out."

Karns City (10-2) certainly is used to stretching out seasons.

The Gremlins have won three straight District 9 titles and will face a Bedford team that enters the game on a decided roll.

Like Karns City, few thought Bedford would get this far this season.

For the Gremlins, several things quickly fell into place to help them overcome a major overhaul:

• Junior quarterback Dylan Hipple developed faster than planned.

As the season progressed, Hipple gained more confidence. He has completed 70-of-118 passes for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns.

"We were going to run the ball only," Conto said. "But he picked up the option and he has obviously helped us in the passing game.

• After some training camp shuffling, the offensive line has been solid and deep.

Senior Matt Bauldoff emerged as the center during the second week of camp and the rest of the line fell into place with a rotation that includes Colton Bailey, Zach Kepple and Colin Cochran at the tackles, Jake Smith, Alan Davis and Tylar Parker at guards, and Brad Francis at tight end.

"Center is a hard position to step into in one year," Conto said. "But (Bauldoff) has done a good job."

• The defensive line has applied pressure on the quarterback and stuffed the run.

"We didn't know what to expect. We thought they were a hair slower and we were worried about depth at D-end," Conto said.

But Jake Wagner had two sacks and Parker had two big plays on a pair of failed 2-point conversion tries by Brockway last week, stifling a running play on one and recording a sack on the other.

• Conto flipped Wagner and Aaron Markle after the second scrimmage, putting Wagner at fullback and Markle at tailback.

All Markle has done is rush for 1,214 yards and 17 touchdowns, including a 93-yard run last week that showed off his sneaky speed.

Wagner has helped to open holes for Markle and has added 478 yards and seven scores.

"It seems like the last two games I've been able to see the holes and break into the open," Markle said.

Distractions always are a big deal this time of year. As the season wears on, sometimes players wear out.

But Conto said he doesn't believe that will happen Friday against a dangerous Bedford team.

"All I can tell you is we came to practice (Tuesday night) and they practiced hard," Conto said. "They seemed intent."

The only big concern for Karns City is completely out of its control.

Northern Bedford has a grass field and rain mixed with snow is in the forecast.

Karns City has not fared well in poor field conditions this season.

Simply put, the Gremlins are not mudders.

"The grass field might be a problem this time of year," Conto said. "We've had trouble in mud. We didn't do well in mud against Redbank Valley or at Moniteau. But (Bedford) played a couple of games there and the field didn't look bad."