KARNS CITY — Tyler Kepple firmly grabbed the football in his right hand and tried to lift his arm to throw it.

The pain was too much.

Kepple, a junior quarterback for the Karns City football team, injured his right shoulder when he was driven to the turf in a win over Franklin last Friday.

As of Wednesday, he still could not throw.

For most quarterbacks, that would be a problem. For most teams, the solution would be easy: move on to the backup.

Karns City, though doesn't have one; Both backups are injured.

So, Kepple and the Gremlins are moving on to, well, Plan L — as in throw left-handed.

“I saw (New York Giants quarterback) Eli Manning throw a pass left-handed once and I decided to start practicing that just in case.”

Kepple turned out to be a prophet.

Unable to throw right-handed, he switched to his left arm Tuesday while practicing on the scout team for the game at Keystone Friday.

Kepple's left-handed passes were spiraling on target.

Karns City coach Ed Conto was impressed enough with Kepple's left-handed tosses to ask him if he could do it in a game.

“Sure,” Kepple said. “I can give it a shot.”

It's not an ideal situation, though.

“We'll see if he pulls it off,” Conto said of Kepple's switch-throwing. “I told our guys we're going to have to line up and run the ball — a lot.”

In a pinch, though, Kepple said he feels confident he can complete a few passes left-handed if needed.

Kepple is an exceptional athlete. He averaged 12 points per game on the basketball court for the Gremlins as a sophomore last winter and hit 50 3-pointers.

On the football field this year, he has thrown for 519 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for another 220 and two scores.

“I am a little surprised how well it has gone,” Kepple said. “I hadn't practiced (throwing left-handed) in awhile.”

Kepple said he is comfortable throwing the football 20 to 25 yards down field with his off hand.

“I can throw the short routes with pretty good accuracy,” he said.

Kepple's injury isn't the only one Karns City must overcome.

Last year's leading rusher, Glenn Toy, is out for the year with a severe knee injury.

Toy tore his ACL in a preseason passing scrimmage, but tried to play in a game despite the injury against Union two weeks ago, but soon realized it was too painful to play through.

The Gremlins have also lost fullback Dan Filges and tight end Logan Moroney for the season due to injuries.

Running back Tristian Rhoades, tight end Brandon Krumpe and offensive lineman Ryan Pfeifer are feared to be lost for the season with severe injuries as well.

And then there is the quarterback situation. Kepple's backup, Cody Deal, also has an injury to his throwing shoulder and junior varsity quarterback Caleb King broke his collar bone this week.

“It's been unbelievable,” Conto said. “I don't know what you do when you have this many injuries.”

Conto said Kepple should be back to throwing right-handed next week.

For now, the Gremlins are going to make due, even if that means extreme measures.

“It's pretty tough looking around and seeing all of the guys hurt,” Kepple said. “Some of those guys are team leaders. I've tried to step up. I'm going to do the best I can this week, but I think we're going to do a lot of running.”