KARNS CITY — Jake Wagner took a handoff from Dylan Hipple, squared his broad shoulders and plowed ahead for 5 yards.

Then for 15.

Then for 18.

Then for 7.

The Karns City senior fullback rushed for 45 yards to kick off a nine-play, 65-yard touchdown drive to start the second half.

The drive consumed nearly five minutes, gave Karns City a 21-13 lead against Clarion and spearheaded a big second half as the Gremlins ran away with a 35-13 victory over the Bobcats Friday night.

"That was big, I think, for our confidence," said Karns City coach Ed Conto. "The big thing was to take it down the field and score to start the second half. You know their heads had to drop a little bit."

At times, Clarion (5-2) imposed its will on the Karns City defense in the first half, rushing for 80 yards and a 13-7 lead late in the second quarter.

The Gremlins' defense came into the game yielding only 30 yards rushing per game.

In the second half, though, a few adjustments and an offense that hogged the ball turned the tables for Karns City (7-0).

Clarion rushed for 27 yards on 14 carries in the second half and had just four first downs.

"We didn't make a ton of adjustments. We just had to fix some little things here and there," Conto said. "The biggest thing is we've been playing against these smoke-and-mirror teams, and we played a team (Friday) that hit us in the mouth, and we weren't playing good run defense.

"We got sloppy on the little things," Conto added. "We had to get back to making our right reads and getting our hands on the O-linemen."

Meanwhile, the stagnant Karns City offense also made adjustments.

Aaron Markle capped the long drive to open the third quarter with a 10-yard scoring run.

Hipple then scored from the 5 and Markle added his second scoring run of the game with an 8-yard run to make it 28-13 early in the fourth quarter.

The running lanes that were closed off to the Gremlins ballcarriers were suddenly opening wide.

"They came out and made some nice adjustments," said Clarion coach Larry Wiser. "Wagner really got some key inside runs."

Special teams also buoyed Karns City. Matt Bauldoff blocked two punts, the first setting up the team's first touchdown.

"We told the kids (Thursday) we thought the game was going to be pretty even and we thought it was going to come down to special teams," Conto said. "Any time you block a punt, they always say you will probably win.

"If we didn't get that, the way we played the first half, we may have been in trouble," Conto added.

Wiser said he felt his team let some opportunities slip away in the first half.

Clarion lost a fumble deep in Karns City territory in the first half and went into halftime trailing 14-13, despite two short rushing touchdowns by Bubba Rue.

"I felt going into halftime, we moved the ball pretty well," Wiser said. "It was just a mistake here and there that cost us."

Hipple had a big day running the ball for Karns City.

"I've never seen (Hipple) run so well," Wiser said. "I thought he played one of his best games running the ball."

Notes: Hipple also was efficient in the passing game, completing 6-of-8 passes for 44 yards. ... Markle led the Gremlins with 73 yards on 14 carries. .... Wagner finished with 53 yards on five carries and had six tackles and two sacks. ... Karns City held Rue, Clarion's leading rusher, to 8 yards.