KARNS CITY — Kyle Armagost couldn't say what was going through his mind as his floating screen pass fell into the hands of the enemy.

One thing is for sure: it wasn't good.

“It definitely was scary,” said the senior quarterback of the Moniteau football team.

The Warriors were clinging to a two-point lead at the time with a mere three-plus minutes remaining on the fourth-quarter clock. Karns City safety Glenn Toy batted the pass intended for Dustin Geagan into the air, pulled it down and raced to the Moniteau 9 before he was chased down.

The Warriors' defense held, blocked a 33-yard field goal attempt and went on to win 26-24 in the season opener at Karns City Friday night.

“That was a huge series right there. That was the game changer right there,” said Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell. “The second half, we came out and played football.”

The game, played in heat and humidity usually reserved for mid-July rather than early September, was a sloppy one, especially on special teams.

It was a special teams play, though, that nearly gave the Gremlins the win.

After Geagan scored on an 8-yard run to give Moniteau a 20-18 lead, Wyatt Everetts took the ensuing kickoff right up the middle of the field for an 88-yard touchdown return.

But Karns City failed again to convert on the conversion and led 24-20.

Both teams struggled with extra points and 2-point conversions. Even Moniteau's lone success was ugly as Brayden McCorry picked up a fumble by Armagost in the end zone just before the half to cut the Gremlins' lead to 18-14 at the break.

“We definitely have to work on our kicking game,” Campbell said. “You run into that in your first game. There were some ugly things. It was not a pretty football game. We have a lot of stuff to work on, but I think you saw two pretty good football teams here tonight.”

Moniteau's defense was gashed by Karns City's running game in the first half.

The Gremlins rolled up 260 yards on the ground in the first two quarters, including a touchdown run of 70 yards by big fullback Alex Kinkela and a 56-yard scoring run by Toy.

That was a big reason why Karns City led 18-6 late in the first half before a final drive by Moniteau cut the gap to four on a 2-yard run by Armagost with six seconds remaining in the second quarter.

But the Warriors made adjustments and held the Gremlins to a mere 29 yards rushing and two first downs in the second half.

“We brought some blitzes and a lot of different line stunts,” Campbell said. “The kids responded. I said, ‘Guys, we have to stop the run.'”

Karns City coach Ed Conto was dismayed by the fact his team was unable to respond to the blitzes and stunts of the Warriors.

“I usually love it when teams bring blitzes at us. Bring it, baby — that's when we usually bust one,” Conto said. “I don't know why, but we just didn't handle it well tonight.”

Toy handled a lot well.

The Karns City back gained 177 yards on the ground on 16 carries and also caught two passes for 68 yards.

Armagost had an uneven game for Moniteau. He made a brilliant pass to Ethan Pry for a 35-yard touchdown in the second quarter and also had two TD runs.

His 6-yard scoring run on the first play of the fourth quarter turned out to be the decisive TD.

Armagost also was intercepted twice and lost a fumble, but he still finished with 144 yards passing and 96 yards rushing.

Karns City used two quarterbacks, senior Brady Ellenberger and sophomore Tyler Kepple. Both led the Gremlins on scoring drives.

“I thought the quarterbacks played well today,” Conto said. “They both showed good leadership and the kids responded to both of them.

“With Brady playing a lot of linebacker, I wanted to use Tyler and get him some experience.”