An abrupt change
CLARION — Momentum can be a very fickle thing.
Have it and you're in charge. Lose it and you can lose everything.
In a two-play span, Karns City went from assuming control to losing its lead in the District 9 Class AA football championship game against Brookville at Clarion University Saturday.
Leading 3-0 in the third quarter, the Gremlins completed an apparent 24-yard touchdown pass on third down, only to have it negated by a penalty.
Following an incompletion that turned the ball over on downs, the Blue Raiders' Shane Heschke hooked up with Tyler Ross for a 71-yard touchdown pass and Brookville went on to post a 21-3 victory.
Brookville (11-1) will play WPIAL champion Jeannette at a site and time to be determined this weekend.
"That hurt us big time," said Karns City coach Ed Conto. "We had so many opportunities and we screwed up so many opportunities. We always seemed to be shooting ourselves in the foot.
"After we didn't get in, we put our heads down and didn't play as hard as we could. ... I was not totally pleased with our effort,"Conto added.
The touchdown gave the Raiders a 6-3 lead with 6:57 left in the third period and they assumed control from that point. The Gremlins (10-2) mustered only 16 offensive plays on their final four possessions.
"Momentum is so important," said Brookville coach Chris Dworek. "You get a touchdown taken off the board, that's deflating to a team. We had the chance to turn the tables and were able to take advantage of it."
The Gremlins took the opening drive from the KC41 to the Brookville 29 on five plays, but the drive stalled, in part because of a 10-yard sack of Matt Endlish that pushed them back to the Raiders' 46.
Josh Callender's interception of a Heschke pass on Brookville's first possession stopped a promising possession and the Gremlins went on an 11-play drive, capped by a Matt McConnell 23-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in the first quarter.
A 25-yard catch by Cameron Turner had given the Gremlins first-and-goal at the 1-yard line, but Karns City couldn't punch it in for a touchdown and settled for the three points.
Brookville running backs Max Kutz and Joe Galbraith, who both rushed for more than 1,000 yards and totaled 22 touchdowns, were limited to 51 combined yards in the first half.
Heschke, who has more than 1,500 total yards passing and receiving this year, had just 47 yards passing and four on the ground.
"It was all about mental toughness," said Dworek on his halftime talk. "I said we had a bad first half. We've got to clamp down, work hard and execute.
"We got a little nervous. Karns City can do that to you. It's one of those things where you believe it when you see it."
Brookville ran three plays to open the second half, but was forced to punt.
Karns City then embarked on the drive that would begin to change the shape of the game. Endlish had connected with Turner for 15 yards on a third-and-7 at the Brookville 40 to keep the drive alive.On a fourth-and-9 at the Raiders' 24-yard line, Anthony Stimac took the ball from Endlish and went to the right sideline before throwing a strike to an open Matt McConnell in front of the goal line. McConnell back-pedaled into the end zone, only to have the play wiped out by the critical penalty."It was a momentum killer," said Conto. "We just played a step slower. I guess we got frustrated."Heschke hit Ross in stride down the right sideline to swing the game into the Raiders' favor and to give Heschke a much-needed shot in the arm."Shane's such a mature, level-headed young man," said Dworek. "He was down at the half, but he bounced back.""I kept thinking our athletes were better," said Conto. "I didn't think they would drive the length of the field on us. ... Everything was going as I thought, but then we blew up. We allowed them to do what they wanted to do."The Gremlins almost stormed back, using Endlish passes of 12 yards to Chris Reeves and 13 to Mike McConnell on the ensuing drive to help give Karns City a first-and-10 at the Brookville 37.But a deadball personal foul following the next play pushed the Gremlins back and the team had minus-13 yards the rest of the way, including a lost fumble and an interception.Brookville scored twice in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard scoring run by Heschke to culminate a nine-play, 67-yard drive, then, following an Endlish interception, on a 5-yard run by Joe Galbraith to cap a 64-yard drive with 3:11 remaining."I was disappointed with our kids and I told them that," said Conto. "We could have done better. There's no moral victories here. We're happy to be here. Yeah, we're young, but at some point, you have to grow up."<B>Brookville 21, Karns City 3</B>Karns City 3 0 0 0—3Brookville 0 0 6 15—21KC B11 First Downs 1437-27 Rushes-Yards 40-180110 Passing Yards 1688-20-1 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 5-9-1137 Total Yards 3483-1 Fumbles/Lost 1-19-70 Penalties-Yards 3-15<B>First Quarter</B>KC — Matt McConnell 23 field goal, 0:25<B>Third Quarter</B>B — Tyler Ross 71 pass from Shane Heschke (Kick failed), 6:57<B>Fourth Quarter</B>B — Heschke 1 run (Greg Sobol pass from Heschke), 8:35B — Joe Galbraith 5 run (Ian Petardi kick), 3:11<B>Individual Statistics</B><B>Passing:</B> Karns City, Matt Endlish 8-17-110-1, Matt McConnell 0-1-0-0, Anthony Stimac 0-2-0-0. Brookville, Shane Heschke 4-8-147-1, Tyler Ross 1-1-21-0.<B>Rushing:</B> Karns City, Josh Callender 13-44, Brett Green 4-14, Chris Reeves 2-12, Levi Buck 3-7, Stephon Conto 1-1, Anthony Stimac 3-(-2), Team 1-(-6), Matt Endlish 10-(-46). Brookville, Joe Galbraith 15-82, Max Kutz 17-75, Shane Heschke 8-23<B>Receiving:</B> Karns City, Mike McConnell 2-44, Cameron Turner 2-40, Chris Reeves 2-17, Matt McConnell 1-14, Levi Buck 1-(-5). Brookville, Tyler Ross 4-147, Brett Mohney 1-21.
