CLARION — There will be a clash of KSAC titans on Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

With lofty expectations in 2013, Karns City and Clarion outscored the opposition 116-0 combined in Week 1 and it actually could have been much more lopsided. The combined margin was 89-0 at halftime.

Week 2 won’t be so easy, though.

The Gremlins (1-0) and Bobcats (1-0) will square off at Clarion University starting at 7 p.m.

“I think it will be a barometer for where we are,” said Karns City coach Ed Conto. “We both have aspirations of winning our league. Both of us want to get to the District 9 championship.

“Like I’ve said for years, I’ve always felt Clarion was our No. 1 rival,” he added. “Hopefully, it’s going to be a good game.”

Much like the Gremlins, Clarion possesses a diverse offensive attack. The Bobcats rolled up 298 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on just 19 carries during a 74-0 win over Clarion-Limestone last week.

“They have a super huge offensive line,” said Conto. “Size-wise, we’re not going to be near them. We’ll rotate our linemen and hopefully throughout the course of the game we’ll be able to wear them down.”

Senior fullback Damien Slike led the Bobcats in rushing last season with 847 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“He’s about 215 and he’s got good speed,” said Conto of Slike. “He’s a good track athlete and they say he’s a tough kid.”

Tanner Corbett and Ian Corbett are also threats on the ground, while senior quarterback John Katis provides balance to the offense.

Katis threw for 1,638 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2012. His top receiver also returns in Cody Hearst, who had a 60-yard TD run last week and caught 32 passes for 722 yards and nine scores a season ago.

“They have a little bit of everything,” said Conto. “I watched one of their scrimmages and they must have scored 10 times. It seemed whether they threw the ball or ran the ball, they scored.

“It’s a pretty potent offense all the way around.”

The same can be said for Karns City.

Senior quarterback Tyler Kepple threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns in the Gremlins’ 42-0 romp of St. Marys last week. Logan Moroney grabbed three passes for 116 yards, including an 88-yard touchdown.

The Gremlins ran for 177 yards on 37 carries, led by 55 yards from Wyatt Everetts. Two of KC’s top tailbacks, Zach Moore and Tristan Rhoades, missed the opener. However, Moore is expected to play on Friday.

Although both teams cruised in Week 1, a challenging preseason schedule could potentially help the Gremlins.

“We had two good scrimmages with Greenville and Slippery Rock, who I think are two pretty good football teams,” said Conto. “Hopefully, we’ve played a little tougher schedule and we’re a little more prepared, but that’s yet to be seen.”

Conto knows his team will need to execute in all facets of the game.

“One thing is not going to do it,” he explained. “We’re going to have to be able to throw the ball; we’re going to have to run the ball; we’re going to have to do things consistently.

“Obviously, you can’t have turnovers or penalties. Play a good game and it may come down to the difference in special teams.”

That is an area of the game Conto was very pleased with during Friday’s win.

“I hope our special teams play like they did last week,” said the KC coach. “We made good returns. The punting game, the kicking game was solid and we’ll need that again this week.”

Clarion coach Larry Wiser could not be reached for comment.