Dual Threat
KARNS CITY — The Karns City football team has historically possessed a dangerous running game.
That ground attack has made the Gremlins a perennial force in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference and in District 9.
But a passing game may set this 2013 team apart from its predecessors.
The Gremlins showed off their air attack early, building a 27-0 lead just nine seconds into the second quarter on the way to a 55-6 dismantling of St. Marys in the District 9 Class AA semifinals at Diehl Stadium Friday night.
“If they stop something, you can always go to something else that works,” Kepple said. “We have that balance now.”
Kepple tossed touchdowns passes of 42 yards to Dakota Mohney, 24 yards to Logan Moroney and 25 yards to Tristan Rhoades in the first 12:09 of the game.
Kepple now has 25 touchdown passes this season.
“T.K., he's a great quarterback,” said Mohney, who finished with three receptions for 78 yards. “He's everything you want in a quarterback. He can get out of the pocket and he always puts the ball where it needs to be.”
Kepple also showed off his legs more than he has most of this season, rushing for 55 yards on four carries, including a 20-yard scramble for a TD that closed the first-half scoring and sent the Gremlins (10-1) into the break with a 34-0 advantage.
“He ran the ball well when the opportunity was there,” said Karns City coach Ed Conto.
St. Marys (6-5) blitzed Kepple early and the senior made the Dutch pay.“When we saw it, we said, 'We're going to throw and if we hit it, it's going for six,” Conto said. “(Kepple threw the ball well) especially with nine guys, eight guys in his face. He just had to get it off quick and he did.”Kepple got some help from his receivers.Mohney had his big plays in the passing game and so did Moroney, who caught three passes for 41 yards.“They do a great job running routes and knowing where I'm going to throw the ball,” said Kepple. “They read the defenses the same and it's just worked out for us.”Moroney thinks the passing game could make the Gremlins double trouble in the District 9 championship game against Kane, which beat Brookville 26-12, next week on a day, site and time to be determined.“It makes us very dangerous,” he said.Kepple said getting off to a fast start was important against St. Marys, a team Karns City beat in the season opener 42-0.The Dutch had rebounded from that loss in Week 1 to snatch the third seed in the bracket.But things started badly for St. Marys right from the start. The Dutch went three-and-out and then had a punt blocked by Adam Whited. Two plays later, Whited scored from the 2 for a 7-0 lead.“Everybody's 0-0. It's one and done,” Kepple said. “You have to come out strong every game and we came out pretty strong this game. It was a good showing.”Zach Moore led Karns City with 70 yards rushing on four carries. His 50-yard touchdown run, in which he ran around and through some Dutch tackle attempts, made it 41-0 less than a minute into the second half and started the mercy clock rolling.Ethan Conto added a 3-yard TD run and Collin Dunmyre scored from 4 yards out to cap the KC scoring.St. Marys got on the board late with a 12-yard touchdown run by Jordan Straub.Alex Feldbauer led St. Marys with 121 yards on 26 carries. Most came in the second half.“We feel really good about where we are at right now,” Conto said. “The kids are improving. That's what you want. We're playing a lot of kids, almost two guys at every position. We always play a lot of kids and it hurts us a little bit early in the year, but I'd rather sacrifice a little early in the year to be where we are now at the end.”Karns City 55, St. Marys 6St. Marys 0 0 0 6 — 6Karns City 20 14 14 7 — 55SM KC12 First Downs 1242-136 Rushes-Yards 23-17839 Passing Yards 1446-12-1 Comp.-Att.-Int 7-14-1175 Total Yards 3225-2 Fumbles-Lost 0-02-15 Penalty Yards 5-55First QuarterKC — Adam Whited 2 run (Zach Moore kick), 9:22KC — Dakota Mohney 42 pass from Tyler Kepple (run failed), 5:14KC — Logan Moroney 24 pass from Kepple (Moore kick), 2:20Second QuarterKC — Tristan Rhoades 25 pass from Kepple (Moore kick), 11:51KC — Kepple 20 run (Moore kick), 7:22Third QuarterKC — Moore 50 run (Moore kick), 10:57KC — Ethan Conto 3 run (Moore kick), 2:11Fourth QuarterKC — Collin Dunmyre 4 run (Moore kick), 10:48SM — Jordan Straub 12 run (kick failed), 1:48Individual StatisticsRushing: St. Marys, Alex Feldbauer 26-121, Nate Straub 6-17, Jordan Straub 3-12, Kyle Glatt 1-1, Nick Cunningham 1-(-8), Pat Schlimm 5-(-7). Karns City, Zach Moore 4-70, Tyler Kepple 4-55, Adam Whited 4-15, Dakota Mohney 2-13, Christian Turner 1-11, Tristan Rhoades 2-8, Collin Dunmyre 2-4, Ethan Conto 1-3, Wyatt Everetts 2-2, Caleb King 1-(-3).Passing: St. Marys, Nick Cunningham 4-9-31-1, Pat Schlimm 2-3-8-0. Karns City, Tyler Kepple 6-11-120-1, Caleb King 1-3-24-0.Receiving: St. Marys, T.J. Hogan 4-35, Brady Bauer 1-6, Alex Feldbauer 1-(-2). Karns City, Dakota Mohney 3-78, Logan Moroney 3-41, Tristan Rhoades 1-25.
