KARNS CITY — Back in August, Karns City coach Ed Conto could envision his team reaching the District 9 Class AA championship game.

He just didn't expect the road they would take to get there.

“We knew we had a good group of sophomores and good, young juniors,” Conto said. “We had injuries, but to move kids to play in different positions was surprising.

“The kids hung in there and kept their focus and our assistant coaches did a great job getting them ready,” Conto added.

The Gremlins (8-3), coming off a 34-14 semifinal victory over St. Marys, will face Kane in a 7 p.m. contest Friday at Clarion University.

The Wolves edged Brookville 35-34 in overtime in the other semifinal.

Kane (7-3) seems to be gaining steam at the right time, having won five consecutive games. That came at the heels of dropping three out of four, which included a 46-13 loss to Port Allegany and 52-40 to Brockway.

“We were in a tough spot,” said Kane first-year coach Todd Silfies. “The beginning of our schedule was tough.

“Port Allegany is a very explosive team. ... We were 2-3 and in a tough spot. We were barely out looking in and two losses were in the fourth quarter, then we got a big win against Elk County Catholic (17-14 on Oct. 5),” Silfies added.

The Wolves have been led by senior quarterback Sean Jordan, who has completed 120-of-229 passes for 1,619 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, while running back Jonah Smith paces the ground attack with 1,185 yards on 184 carries and 11 touchdowns. Jordan has chipped in with 156 yards on 31 carries and seven scores.

“Sean Jordan is irreplaceable as a quarterback and a defender,” Silfies said. “It's like having another coach on the field. He's the strongest kid on the team. He's supersmart. He's the total package.”

“They run like 15 formations,” Conto said. “(Jordan) hits a lot of short stuff. He's pretty good. He's accurate and moves around in the pocket well.

“Jonah Smith is a solid guy. He seems to get yards. He seems consistent and gets what they need,” Conto added.

Jordan's top-two receivers are Jeff Kocjancic and Sean Rollick, who have pulled in 54 and 37 passes, respectively.

Kocjancic has 585 yards and 10 TDs and Rollick 598 yards and four scores. Smith is third on the team with 12 receptions for 175 yards and two TDs.

“They seem to be good receivers,” Conto said, “a good, solid pair with a very active quarterback.”

On average, the Wolves have outscored their opponents by a 28-21 margin.

“I saw an OK defense and on offense, they have so many formations,” Conto said. “We need to be sharp lining up. They're more of a chess match than rock'em-sock'em football.

“We'll need to flip the switch because St. Marys was a physical team and Kane is more of a finesse team.”

The Gremlins received 142 yards passing last week from Tyler Kepple, who now has 1,000 yards on 65-of-132 attempts, nine touchdowns and five interceptions.

The running game has been successful with a variety of different rushers, including Wyatt Everetts (85 carries, 638 yards, 7 TDs), Kepple (81-453-6), Zach Moore (47-394-6) and Dakota Mohney (53-366-6) among others.

“(Kepple's) a great player, a great leader,” Silfies said. “They have the ability to hand it off to so many guys, it makes it difficult to plan for it.”

Matt Conto leads the Gremlins in receiving with 19 receptions for 267 yards, followed by Everetts (13-250) and Mohney (11-106), each with one score apiece.

The teams met back in the 2008 and 2009 playoffs, but that seems like eons ago to the programs. Still, Silfies knows the dependability of the Gremlins never changes.

“I think, when you talk about District 9 Class AA, the first school you talk about is Karns City,” Silfies said. “Every year, they put together a great team.

“They're extremely well-coached by coach Conto and they have a bunch of great athletes.”