ST. MARYS— Ed Conto simply called Friday night's season opening victory "a start."

The Gremlins defeated the St. Marys Flying Dutchmen 28-13 with a youthful lineup who played like seasoned veterans in an effort to be a playoff team again this season.

"Anytime getting that first win, it is a confidence booster," the Karns City coach said. "There were good signs. We are showing positives."

Karns City's starting lineup has seven sophomores sprinkled throughout and just one senior.

Whenever St. Marys tried to get any momentum against the younger Gremlins, it couldn't, as Karns City controlled the game both sides of the ball and the Dutchmen took themselves out of some key drives.

St.Marys scored late in the first half to cut the Gremlins' lead to 13-7, but Karns City had an answer on its opening drive of the second half.

Junior tight end Cameron Turner turned on the jets for a 54-yard touchdown reception to give Karns City a two- touchdown lead, 21-7.

"He's good," Conto said of Turner. "He has a lot of talent. It will be scary to see what he can do next year."

St.Marys Brian Tamburlin scored from three yards out just under two minutes into the fourth quarter, but the Gremlins wasted little time in getting that score back.

Matt Endlish marched Karns City 70 yards on 10 plays on its ensuing possession, which was capped by a Roy Beham touchdown run.

Endlish kept the drive alive with some fancy footwork down the sidelines. He was looking at a second-and-21 from his own 19-yard line when the senior quarterback broke open a 25-yard run for a first down behind some terrific blocking.

"We have good skill on our line," Conto said. "We will go as far as our line will take us."

Karns City's ground game was able to rush for 183 yards on 41 carries.

St. Marys had little success against Karns City's defense.

In the first quarter, quarterback Bryan Dempsey tried to force throws in tight spots and had two interceptions by the end of the first frame.

"We never got any kind of rhythm on offense," St. Marys head coach Joe Schlimm said. "Some credit goes to Karns City. also some goes to our tendency to make inopportune mistakes."

The Dutchmen killed their first possession of the second half with a 15-yard penalty.

Dempsey completed a pass for 16 yards for a first down, but it was negated with the flag.

St. Marys also was flagged for six pre-snap penalties in the game.

Conto said his team also will have to work on pre-snap penalties after the Gremlins were called for seven of them Friday.

Beham rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns for Karns City.