KARNS CITY — Glenn Toy played in a football game last fall on a left knee that was shredded.

It’s no surprise then that Toy can’t stay away from the football field.

Toy, a 2012 Karns City graduate, will be a volunteer coach with the Gremlins this fall. He also passed the PIAA football officials’ exam recently.

Forced to stand on the sideline as a spectator most of his senior season because of a torn ACL, Toy got a different perspective on the game.

“It made me want to coach,” Toy said. “I got to see a lot last year. I got to see things a little differently.”

Toy first decided to become an official while watching the state football championship games on television. The PIAA ran commercials recruiting people to become officials.

Toy thought, “Why not?”

“I went online and applied,” Toy said. “Then I went up to Elk County Catholic High School and took the test.”

Toy had to answer at least 75 of the 100 questions correctly to pass. Some of the questions were “a little tricky,” he said.

“There were a lot of nine-on-nine football rules,” Toy said. “I guess in other parts of the country where they have fewer players, they play nine-on-nine. The field is different and some of the rules are different. I kind of had to learn it, even for the PIAA test.”

Because of his football background, Toy said he did quite well on the exam.

“If you’ve been around football and know football, it helps a lot,” Toy said. “There were some tricky parts because NFL, college and high school rules are a lot different in some things.”

Toy said he will mostly work youth games as an official in the fall. He doesn’t want his officiating to interfere with his freshman year academically at Slippery Rock University, where he will major in physical education and health, or his coaching responsibilities at Karns City.

In many ways, Toy was a coach during his senior season with the Gremlins.

“You can see it. He has an aura about him,” Conto said. “Probably because he’s a hard worker and they saw what he tried to do to come back.”

Conto and assistant coach Joe Sherwin both asked Toy if he would help out with the team this season, he said.

He didn’t hesitate to say yes.

Toy wants to be a high school football coach someday and he said he couldn’t think of a better coaching staff to learn from than the one at Karns City.

“It will be a little different than last season because I was friends with all the guys and I was still their teammate,” Toy said. “I didn’t get into the behind-the-scenes stuff like I will this year. I’ll be in on the coaches’ meetings and film study.

“It’s going to be like another college course for me,” Toy added. “I’m going to be taking a lot of notes.”

Toy is still bothered by the knee injury that he suffered during a passing scrimmage before the football season.

He tried to play with a torn ACL Sept. 21 against Union, carrying five times for 32 yards. But he did further damage to the knee in that game.

Toy was on the track and field team this spring for the Gremlins, but soon after that season started, his knee began aching badly again.

“I was OK on Mondays and Tuesdays. I was feeling great,” Toy said. “I just pushed it too fast.”

That was one of the reasons why he decided not to try to join the SRU football team as a walk-on.

He may try in 2014.

For now, he is content to coach and officiate — anything that will keep him close to the football field.

He has no regrets about trying to play in September.

“It was my senior year and they are my friends,” Toy said. “I didn’t care if it would hurt my chances of playing in college. I’d rather play with them.”