KARNS CITY — It seemed the only thing holding back Karns City on Friday was Karns City.

Despite five turnovers, the Gremlins relied on their ground game to roll up 363 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 33-21 Keystone Shortway football victory over St. Marys.

“We probably could have scored 60, but we shot ourselves in the foot,” Karns City coach Ed Conto said. “Against Hickory and Wilmington, we ran the ball all right, but we can't turn over the ball. We're kind of a streaky team.”

The win — the team's fifth out of the past six games — improved Karns City to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the KSAC Large School Division.

Alex Kinkela had seven carries for 113 yards and two touchdowns and Glenn Toy added 12 carries for 108 yards and two more scores.

“The key to the game was (Karns City) was more physical,” said St. Marys coach Joe Schlimm. “Kinkela was hard to stop and Toy was fast and shifty. We had a hard time trying to stop them.”

Karns City took the lead on its first possession when Toy capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive with a score from 5 yards out. A 37-yard run by Toy and a 20-yard keeper by quarterback Brady Ellenberger highlighted the drive.

Two possessions later, Toy scored on a 17-yard run on the second play of the second quarter.

Kinkela added a 27-yard scoring run 3:11 later to open up a 20-0 advantage with 8:34 before halftime.

At that point, the Dutchmen (5-4, 2-2) had gone three-and-out on their first four possessions. They were able to mount a 13-play drive, but turned the ball over on downs at the KC 20.

Two plays later, Ellenberger was intercepted by Christian Keller, who returned the ball to the 1-yard line.

Cody Baker promptly scored with 24 seconds left fort St. Marys.

Any momentum St. Marys might have gathered was lost when the Gremlins needed just three plays to travel 66 yards to start the third quarter — runs of 18 and 21 yards by Toy and a 27-yard run by Kinkela — to take a 27-6 lead.

A 2-yard touchdown run by Tyler Kepple with 32 seconds left in the third period opened up a 33-6 advantage.

“The kids played hard,” Conto said. “St. Marys played hard, too. They were playing for the playoffs.”

St. Marys tacked on a pair of fourth-quarter scores. Baker scored on a 1-yard run while Quiggle caught a 3-yard pass from Alex Condreit, the latter with 13 seconds remaining, to close out the scoring.

“We played hard to the final seconds,” Schlimm said. “The positives were a lot of underclassmen played.”

Karns City will travel to Clarion next Friday for a 7 p.m. contest before District 9 playoffs begin the following week.

“We're kind of where I expected,” said Conto, “but the inconsistencies still bother me.”

Notes: Baker led the Dutchmen with 94 yards and Quiggle added 75 yards. Quiggle also intercepted two passes. ... St. Marys started the season at 4-0, but injuries helped contribute to a 1-4 slide.