KARNS CITY — Redbank Valley was swift in putting away their competition last week.

This time, against non-conference District 9 foe Karns City, they’ll aim to steer clear of a slow-motion setback. The Bulldogs (1-0) filled the scoreboard to the tune of a 71-7 win in their opener against Smethport last Friday.

You read that right.

With a 50-point cushion, Redbank Valley’s starters’ jobs were done by the midway point.

“Things started shaky for us, but in the end, it was kind of a blessing in disguise because we got to see how those guys bounce back and rebound,” Bulldogs coach Blane Gold said. “I think it was something like 50 points in about six and a half minutes.”

Such an outburst certainly caught some attention 30 miles east.

“I have to admit, yeah, I was surprised,” Gremlins (0-1) coach Joe Sherwin said. “Any time a team puts up 71, that’s impressive. They had a good first week.”

Such an output likely won’t be duplicated this Friday night when Karns City welcomes them in.

“You never go into a game thinking that you’re going to score 71,” Gold said. “With our brand of football, I think that the interesting matchup that you have is, ‘Are we going to be able to be physical enough to not have the slow death, where we can stop the run?’

“The offensive identities are so different. ... Even though our offenses aren’t on the field at the same time, I think that both teams are probably (putting) heavy emphasis on the defensive keys of this game.”

Redbank Valley posted a 9-2 overall record last year, but were 7-0 — including a 25-15 home win over the Gremlins in Week 2 — before a handful of contributors were reprimanded for unspecified disciplinary reasons.

Braylon Wagner, now a sophomore, was inserted as the Bulldogs’ starting signal-caller the night before a crucial Region 2 clash with Port Allegany. To kick things off this campaign, he hit the mark on all but four of his 18 passes for 273 yards and four air strikes.

“Basically, we had to go all in with our JV players at the end of last season,” Gold explained. “So, getting that experience from those guys and him (Wagner) having the chemistry of playing with them all JV season, it was able to carry over.”

Collectively, the team has 16 of 22 spots taken by returning starters. Seniors Mason Clouse, Ashton George, and Ashton Kahle, and junior Rylan Rupp catch passes for Redbank Valley.

“We knew that we had experience coming back,” Gold said. “We just had to try to parlay that into finding ways to step up in big moments and be accountable in big moments.”

Count this as one of them.

Karns City wants to avoid a second consecutive 0-2 start after bowing to DuBois, 41-36, last week. The Beavers quarterback, Trey Wingard, threw for 324 yards and four scores.

“You don’t like to lose a game, but at the same time, I think it did prepare us for this week,” Sherwin said. “With the type of quarterback we saw last week, I think we’ll see a just as talented quarterback this week.

“We need to get a little better pass rush than we did last week. ... Incumbent linebackers, defensive backs, we have to be in the right spots. We have to get pieces of receivers to knock them off the patterns.”

On the other side, senior Mason Martin got the start behind center for the Gremlins. He threw for 107 yards and neared another 100 on the ground. Senior tailback Luke Cramer had 73 yards from scrimmage.

“I thought our effort was there,” Sherwin said. “And if our effort is there, then we can work with that. I think we had a good offensive night. Defensively, we have some holes we need to fix.”

Holes that the visitors will be out to expose.

“Offensively, our philosophy is always (that) we want to try to put the football where the defense isn’t,” Gold said. “We’re a spread team, but we’re a spread team that also wants to be heavy run. ... When Braylon has success throwing the football, we feel like that forces them to double some of our guys.”

Gold added that the Gremlins’ record and experience goes out the window. He’s well-aware of what his side will see.

“Karns City is the type of program that we’re trying to build here,” he said. “You know that they’re going to come and — no matter what their age is, no matter what their experience is — they’re going to line up and they’re going to try to play a physical brand of football.”

The Warriors welcomed in Saint Marys and were met with a 20-0 defeat last Friday. Elk County Catholic was on the wrong side of a 35-22 score against Otto-Eldred/Oswayo Valley.

Moniteau is still figuring things out on offense — both behind center and on the offensive line. ... Junior Trent Beachem and sophomore Brendin Sankey both saw time at QB in Week 1. ... Beachem had an interception on defense against the Flying Dutchmen.

Sophomore wideout Frankie Smith starred in the loss for the Crusaders, grabbing 4 passes for 82 yards and 2 TDs. ... Senior tailback Noah Cherry is a returning 1,100-yard rusher who scored 21 times last year.

ECC won last year’s matchup, 15-6.

North outlasted Serra Catholic last week, 49-42. SSA defeated Summit Academy 55-0.

Trojans' senior RB Jack Fennell scored 4 TDs against Serra, 3 on the ground and another on an interception return, totaling 241 all-purpose yards in the game ...QB Jason Siket passed for 2 TDs and gained 33 of North's 255 rushing yards. ... The Trojans allowed 546 yards of offense to Serra.

North beat SSA last year, 21-10.

The Falcon Knights lost at Cameron County last week, 20-19. Keystone was shut out by Coudersport, 36-0.

Union/ACV led Cameron County 13-6, but the Raiders scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 5 seconds left in the first half to take the lead for good. ... Falcon Knights QB Brody Dittman completed 13 of 18 passes for 93 yards and a TD, 16 yards to Trey Fleming. ... Dittman added a 10-yard scoring run. ... Owen Bish led Union/ACV on the ground with 53 yards on 6 carries.

Keystone allowed 192 rushing yards and 4 TDs on 43 carries to Coudersport last week.

The Panthers defeated Union/ACV twice last year, 43-7 in the regular season and 35-15 in the District 9 Class A playoffs.

The youthful Yellowjackets dropped a 28-14 decision to Indiana on the road last week. South Allegheny beat Yough by the same count.

Freeport was doubled up in terms of total yardage against the Little Indians and managed just one offensive score — that being a 20-yard connection between Drew Ross and Brady Sullivan. ... Sullivan also had a pick-6 in the contest.

The Gladiators’ Cameron Epps rumbled for 226 yards and hit pay dirt 3 times against the Yough. ... The win was the first for new coach Brian Hanson.

The ‘Jackets topped South Allegheny, 37-15, in the two teams’ meeting in 2022.

The Rockets fell short against General McLane, 27-17. Mercyhurst Prep beat Fairview, 43-14.

Slippery Rock didn’t find the end zone until the 2nd half last week. ... Owen Long rushed for a score and Sam Schwartz pulled in another. ... Rockets QB Eli Anderson passed for 212 yards and ran for more than 100.

The Lakers watched Ja’son Ellman and Paul Johnson scored twice each and JJ Ganska once in their rout. ... In the win, the team grounded it out for 338 yards.

Slippery Rock turned away Mercyhurst Prep by a 38-24 final last time around.

The Knights were blanked by Shady Side Academy, 55-0, to kick things off. Leechburg fell to Apollo Ridge, 18-16.

Summit Academy coach Anthony Becoate is dealing with a completely new roster. ... 3 of the Knights’ inital 4 games are on the road.

The Blue Devils’ Jayden Floyd proved to be their main threat in Week 1, airing it out for 226 yards and scampering for another 121. ... He accounted for both of Leechburg’s scores in the opener.

The Blue Devils held Summit Academy scoreless in a 69-0 win last year.