PUNXSUTAWNEY — Going into the season opener with Punxsutawney, Karns City coach Ed Conto wasn't sure what to expect from his young Gremlins.

What they did was overcome a lot of mistakes in a 20-13 win over Punxsutawney Friday night.

"We reminded the kids that in first ballgames there are always a lot of mistakes, so they would probably have to find a way to win," said Conto. "I also told them we had to do it the Karns City way and that is play hard and never quit.

"We made a lot of bungles tonight, but I am really proud of the way they hung in there. I never saw any heads hanging or any signs of giving up," the coach added.

For much of the first half, it was all Gremlins as they moved the ball at will on offense while the defense bottled up the Chucks.

During that time, Karns City scored a pair of touchdowns as Aaron Markle opened the scoring with an 8-yard run with 2:38 left in the opening period.

Jake Wagner added a second score with 2:38 remaining in the second quarter on a 7-yard run to give the Gremlins a 13-0 lead.

Although the Gremlins stuffed the Chucks following Wagner's TD jaunt, Punxsy was given new life when it intercepted a Dylan Hipple pass and returned it to the Karns City 43.

That is where Punxsy came to life as the Chucks covered the 43 yards on four plays, scoring their first touchdown of the game on a 15-yard pass from Logan Weaver to Braedon Pennington with eight seconds left before halftime.

The two-point conversion failed, but the Chucks were given new life as they cut the Karns City lead to 13-6.

"I would do it again (throw the ball) because we are usually pretty aggressive," said Conto. "We don't like to lay back, so you won't see us playing prevent or anything like that. If anything, we might have picked a different pass."

One aspect of the game that didn't sit well with Conto were the 10 penalties his team committed.

"Lack of concentration and the guys maybe just being in a little bit of a hurry, that kind of thing," said Conto. "But we'll work it out. We played pretty aggressive football and that always seemed to be a problem for us. Sometimes we just get going a little too much."

Punxsutawney promptly marched down the field 55 yards for the tying score to start the second half.

But the Gremlins, sparked by a 33-yard punt return by Brandon Collier, marched downfield for the game-winner.

Hipple called his own number on the first play of the fourth quarter and ran 11 yards for the score.

During the final period, Punxsy mounted one march that carried them into Gremlin territory and they also blocked a KC punt at the Karns City 38 with 1:38 left in the game.

However, the Gremlins defensive unit preserved the win.

Although his team came out on the short end of the final score, Punxsy coach Alan Nichol liked what he saw from his club.

"Football is a team game and you have to take pride in every play you run, regardless of what the score is," Nichol said. "You saw that our young men did that tonight and I am proud of them for their effort."

The Gremlins, who rushed for 237 yards, were led by Aaron Markle with 108 yards on 13 tries, while Craig Slomers and Jake Wagner chipped in with respective totals of 56 and 45 yards.

"That is troubling," said Nichol about the KC rushing total. "We will take a look at the film and see what we are gong to do about it."