KARNS CITY With the kind of season Karns City has endured, why should the final game be any different?

Having raced out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead Friday, the Gremlins held off a furious Clarion rally to secure a 30-27 KSAC victory.

A pair of red-zone turnovers on consecutive Karns City drives in the second half kept the Bobcats in contention.

It wasn't until Brian Best cradled an onside kick with 1:32 to play that KC breathed a sigh of relief.

Karns City declined the fourth spot in the upcoming District 9 Class AA playoffs and finished the year at 4-6.

“We talked about our seniors and about self-respect,” said Gremlins coach Ed Conto on the team's mindset entering the game. “We have five senior linemen on both sides of the ball playing well all season. We told the juniors to step up for them and make them proud.”

That was evident early on as Glenn Toy scored from 45 yards out on the third play from scrimmage to give KC a 7-0 lead.

Alex Kinkela blocked a Clarion punt to give the Gremlins the ball at the Bobcats 10.

Three plays later, Toy scored from 2 yards out with 7:04 left in the quarter.

After Toy intercepted a Dan Walters pass on Clarion's ensuing drive, the Gremlins drove the ball to the Bobcats 5 before Adam Garing booted a 22-yard field goal.

The Karns City defense kept the Bobcats (6-4) in check until Walters hooked up with Kris Burkhart on a 59-yard catch-and-run.

The Gremlins answered with a four-play, 60-yard drive that was capped by a 5-yard Kinkela run with 3:38 left in the half.

The drive was highlighted by a 25-yard run by Dylan Hipple and a 27-yarder by Kinkela.

Gremlins guard Nate Ealy injured his ankle in the second quarter and was carted off the field.

Conto said that made a difference as the Bobcats stormed back in the second half.

“We've had a couple of guards and tackles out,” he said. “We were light with linemen coming in.”

After forcing a Clarion punt after three plays to open the third quarter, the Gremlins ran 73 yards on eight plays to drive to the Bobcats 12.

On the ensuing play, Tyler Slagle took the handoff and tried to pass, but he was intercepted by Clarion's Bryce Straffin in the end zone.

The Bobcats responded with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Walters' 5-yard TD pass to Burkhart.

Karns City carried five times on its next possession for 51 yards to have a first-and-goal at the Clarion 9.

But Kinkela fumbled on the next play and the Bobcats took over.

Nine plays later, Walters scored on a 35-yard jaunt, cutting the gap to 23-20 with 8:37 to play.

“I thought our offense was able to do some things,” said Bobcats first-year coach Judd Allen. “Danny made some great reads. I thought our offensive line started to come together and they did a great job.”

The Bobcats elected to go for an onside kick, which Best was able to recover.

Again, the Gremlins kept it on the ground, rushing nine times for 48 yards. This time, Jerod Hutchison finished the drive with a 1-yard run with 3:40 to play.

Walters engineered another scoring drive that was kept alive by a pass-interference call on fourth-and-goal from the KC 9.

Walters scored from five yards out with 1:32 to play and Cameron Slike's extra point made it 30-27.

The Bobcats went for another onside kick, but the ball was touched by Clarion before it went 10 yards. Still, Best came away with the ball again and the Gremlins ran out the clock.

Notes: The Gremlins churned out 330 yards rushing on 46 carries, led by Hipple (75), Toy (73), Kinkela (72) and Slagle (58) ... Walters finished with 222 yards passing and led the Bobcats with 143 rushing yards.