Encore for KC?
KARNS CITY — Karns City football enjoyed a wild ride in 2012.
Now, the Gremlins are ready for an encore.
The defending District 9 Class AA champions have most of their weapons back from a season ago — and this year, they're healthy.
A season-long plague of injuries forced the Gremlins to lean on unproven players in key spots last year, but the team overcame the adversity with a dramatic playoff run to the state quarterfinals.
As a result, the Gremlins are loaded with experience throughout the depth chart.
“That was a positive that comes out of a negative. Anytime you get a rep, you learn from it,” said Karns City coach Ed Conto. “Everyone is a year older, so they should be a little bit faster and little bit stronger — so they should be better, too.”
The vast array of contributors during the Gremlins' D-9 title run has created a belief among players that a repeat is within reach.
“All of the success that we had with our difficulties just gave us a huge confidence boost for where we are now,” said senior guard-linebacker Mike Olkowski. “We had a lot of guys step up.”
Karns City will take aim at a second consecutive district crown — and third straight title game appearance — equipped with its top eight rushers from last season, including senior quarterback Tyler Kepple.
“He's very experienced and seems to be very smooth,” said Conto of Kepple. “Receivers, they all got a lot of experience last year. We're three deep at the fullback and tailback positions, so we're excited about the skill positions.”
Kepple passed for 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, but a shoulder injury prevented the Gremlins from passing during a chunk of 2012. With Kepple back at full strength, Karns City hopes to implement a dangerous passing game to complement a strong and versatile rushing attack.
Five different Gremlins ran for at least 450 yards and five touchdowns last season and their top eight rushers — which all totaled at least 100 yards and a score — are back for 2013.
“I think it makes it hard to defend. It's hard to key on any one individual,” said Conto. “This year, the passing will pick up more and I know we'll have a sound running game. We relied heavily on the run game last year, especially during that stretch where Kepple was hurt and we had three games where we could only run the ball.“It will be interesting to see what we can do with everything working together,” he added. “It should be really exciting. I'm hoping it will be explosive.”Wyatt Everetts, who ran for a team-high 713 yards on 101 carries and caught 16 passes for 301 yards, believes the added dimension can bring the offense to another level.“Our receivers are very lethal out there,” said Everetts, “so we're going to try to use our pass game a lot to improve our run game, as well.”Consistency in the trenches appears to be the only question mark for the Gremlins.“A lot of it will come down to the line and how the line does develop,” Conto admitted. “We played a lot of guys there last year, but I'd like to find seven, eight guys that really want to get after it. I have about 10, 11 guys I'm looking at right now.“Everyone knows what they're doing and we need to cut out mental mistakes … not having that guy that takes a break. That's the difference between a good team and a mediocre team,” he added. “I'm going to be putting a lot of pressure on the line this year to be better.”Olkowski, coming off an all-conference season at guard, is expected to be the anchor.The defense returns three starters in the secondary, while a solid group of linebackers includes Olkowski, Dan Filges, Cody Deal and Christian Turner. The interior line is in flux, but Reese Barger, Logan Moroney, Cooper Shepard, Adam Whited and Brendan Waltman all give the Gremlins reliable options at defensive end.“D-end we feel real strong,” said Conto. “We feel good that we're stockpiled there.”With so many pieces in place, Karns City hopes more hardware is in its future.“We have a lot of guys coming back,” said Kepple. “We're looking to get back to the District 9 game and build off what we did last year.”
