Tell me if you’ve heard this one before.

Karns City is the last Butler County area team standing.

In what has become a yearly tradition, like turkey with all the fixings, the Gremlins will play a football game after Thanksgiving.

Karns City is coming off an impressive win over previously undefeated Hickory.

The Gremlins didn’t just win. They dominated.

Hickory couldn’t stop them.

Karns City rolled up more than 500 yards of offense in the 35-17 victory over the Hornets, who led 17-14 at the half thanks to some uncharacteristic first-half mistakes by the Gremlins.

This week in the PIAA 3A playoffs, Karns City will take on Central Martinsburg, which is coming off its own impressive win, a 49-0 pasting of Juniata.

Kickoff is 7 p.m Friday at DuBois High School.

The question now for me, since I am in the prognostication business, is who will win?

Here are some reasons:

Why Central Martinsburg will win

Two words — well, one name: Alex Hoenstine.

Karns City simply hasn’t faced a dude quite like Hoenstine, who is the swiss army knife for the Dragons.

The senior isn’t listed on the roster at any one position because he doesn’t play any one position. He pretty much plays them all.

Hoenstine has rushed for 2,124 yards and 46 touchdowns this season.

He’s passed for 366 yards and four TDs.

He’s caught 21 passes for 274 yards and five scores (presumably not from himself — he’s good, but maybe not that good.)

On defense, he’s also an impact player with six interceptions and on special teams, he’s averaging 44.7 yards per kickoff return and even 38.9 yards per kick as a punter.

That’s one versatile fellow.

But, he’s one man.

Which brings me to ...

Why Karns City will win

Because they are a team.

That cannot be overstated.

The Gremlins can beat you in a multitude of ways with a multitude of players.

They can beat you passing with Jacob King. They can beat you rushing with a stable of backs led by Chandler Turner, who surpassed 1,000 yards rushing last week.

He has just 83 rushing attempts, by the way.

They can beat you on defense with a bunch of hard-hitters who take no prisoners.

And they can beat you on special teams, where they have a good kicker in Kaiden Powers and dangerous return men.

Quite simply, Karns City is one of the most balanced teams in the state.

The 10 teams the Gremlins have beaten this season know this very well.

And like defense, balance wins championships.

So, it’s little mystery then who I’m picking this week.

Karns City 33, Central Martinsburg 26.

Scoop is 88-31 this season.