Gremlins not fooled by C-L in 55-6 win
KARNSCITY — Karns City faced a different type of challenge Friday evening in its Keystone ShortwayAthletic Conference opener with Clarion-Limestone: a mental one.
Gremlins coach Ed Conto was fearful of the movement and misdirection that is part of the Clarion-Limestone offense. But his fears were put to rest early as Karns City routed the Lions 55-6.
"They threw us a lot of wrinkles," Conto said. "Physically, they can't beat us, but mentally — tonight was more mental for us."
The Gremlins defense ironed out all those wrinkles in the Lions' playbook and didn't overcommit on any of Clarion-Limestone's offensive plays.
KC's defense won the battle in the trenches as it dominated the play at the line and stopped 20 plays behind the line of scrimmage, including six sacks.
Sophomore Nick Sypulski tallied four of those sacks on C-L freshman quarterback Dan Miller, and the Gremlins defense also scored three touchdowns.
"The young guys played well tonight," Conto said. "C-L was stretching it to open it up, which allowed us to get a lot of pressure. They weren't playing a real safe offense."
Clarion-Limestone coach Todd Smith credits much of his team's woes on inexperience and injuries.
"We have five freshmen on defense," he said. "We are doing the best we can."
Smith also was quick to point out that his team has 26 healthy players and 14 are freshmen.
Clarion-Limestone's first possession was a disaster as its first two plays went for minus-five yards. On third down, the ball was snapped over Miller's head and bounced into the end zone, where Karns City sophomore Cody Williams corralled it for a touchdown.
With two minutes left in the first quarter, Karns City's Devin Collins intercepted a Miller pass and returned it 31 yards for the touchdown.
Two minutes into the second quarter, Cameron Turner intercepted a Miller forward lateral and returned it 23 yards for the score.
"They are a lot better than us," Smith said. "We are at the point of trying to finish. We knew they were a better football team than us."
Conto was pleased with his special teams unit.
Carl Oshlick got the Gremlins rolling when he returned the opening kickoff 55 yards to Clarion-Limestone's 32-yard line. Brett Callihan returned a kickoff in the second quarter 50 yards to the Lions 20-yard line. Roy Beham found the end zone two plays later.
"We cut out some mistakes," Conto said. "I thought all three sides of the ball did an excellent job."
Karns City senior Roy Beham carried the ball five times for 40 yards and scored three touchdowns.
With the game well in hand in the second half, sophomore running back Ben Pyle carried the ball four times for 89 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left in the third period.
