CHERRY TWP — Karns City quarterback Dylan Hipple jogged onto the field Friday and stepped into the Gremlins' huddle.

"Two-minute drill," Hipple told his teammates. "Just like in practice."

But this wasn't practice. This was Karns City versus Moniteau — one of the more fevered high school football rivalries around.

This was the season opener. This was Moniteau's home field and this was a capacity crowd that was in full throat.

Hipple was faced with a daunting task: manufacturing a score while trailing 26-21 at his own 10 with 2:09 left in the game.

He kept the drive alive with a 53-yard strike to tight end Brad Francis, then finished it off with 17 seconds left when he found Brian Best open in the corner of the end zone for a 22-yard score to give Karns City an improbable 28-26 win.

"What can you say?" Hipple said. "It's every quarterback's dream."

But most of the game was a nightmare for Karns City coach Ed Conto and his team.

Moniteau dominated up front, turning in several big plays and had a chance to run out the clock at the end.

But the Warriors couldn't get a first down late and couldn't stop the Gremlins on the final 90-yard drive.

"Our kids played their guts out," said Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell. "We should have never lost this game. We need to finish games."

The late collapse ruined a stellar night by Moniteau quarterback Kyle Armagost and freshman running back Dustin Geagan.

Armagost threw for 101 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 72 yards and two more scores.

Geagan gained 144 yards on 15 carries and galloped 59 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter to give the Warriors a 20-14 lead.

Karns City celebrated wildly after the win, but that glee was soon tempered.

As the Gremlins sat in a semicircle and Conto addressed them, it was obvious they knew they got away with one.

Moniteau outgained Karns City 339-227 before the final 90-yard drive.

The Warriors' offensive and defensive lines pushed Karns City around for most of the game.

"We didn't have anyone play their defensive assignments tonight," Conto said. "There's not one thing I'm happy about tonight other than we won the game."

There were some bright spots before the final drive for Karns City.

Glenn Toy rushed for 102 yards on eight carries. The only thing that slowed the sophomore was cramps.

Hipple was accurate with his passes, completing 8 of 13 for 158 yards.

But even Hipple saw how rough the Gremlins are around the edges.

"If we want to win any more games this season, we have to play better," Hipple said. "If we play like that the rest of the season, we're not going to win too many. We're 1-0. That's better than 0-1."

Moniteau finds itself 0-1, but Campbell can point out many encouraging things when his team enters the film room.

"That's what we're going to have to do," Campbell said. "We did a lot of good things tonight. I'm excited about a lot of the kids we had out there on the field tonight. We just have to finish games. Period."