KARNS CITY - Undermanned, undersized, and perhaps a little underestimated, the Karns City football team turned in an overwhelming performance.

The Gremlins lost two starters to injury early in the game against Clarion on a rainy and raw Friday evening and managed little offense in the second half against the physically bigger and significantly deeper Bobcats roster.

But Karns City's Matt Stimac forced a fumble and recovered it in overtime to preserve a 17-14 upset win over Clarion.

"I have to give these kids credit," said Karns City coach Ed Conto. "We had our backs against the wall. We didn't have any subs left. It was a situation where if one more guy goes down, we're in trouble."

Karns City (4-2, 3-1) lost Stephon Conto and Joey Everetts to injury in the first half.

Everetts, who was enjoying a dominating game up front for the Gremlins, was helped off the field with a hip and pelvis injury.

Still, Karns City persevered, turning away several Clarion threats with a swarming defense and making just enough plays on offense to come out with the victory.

Conto certainly didn't underappreciate the effort.

"You couldn't talk about having your backs any further up against the wall than that," Conto said. "And having the courage to play through it."

Karns City had 206 total yards, but 114 them came on its two touchdown plays in the first half.

The first was a 70-yard scoring jaunt by Wayne Harris midway through the first quarter.

Harris took a pitch from quarterback Steve Black, busted through a gaping hole in the left side of the Clarion defense and outran two Bobcat defenders down the sideline for the score.

The second was a quick pass play over the middle by Black to tight end Cameron Turner, who broke a tackle and rumbled into the end zone from 44 yards out.

The score came after Clarion had cut the score to 7-6 on an 8-yard scramble by Bobcats quarterback Sean Wolf.

Conto called all of the offensive plays for Karns City, including the two long scoring plays, because Karns City offensive coordinator Joe Sherwin is in Russia adopting a child.

Players chided Conto about his play calling in the post-game meeting in the middle of the field.

"Joe Sherwin has been doing a great job this year," Conto said. "I did all right, but I made some mistakes. We could have done a little bit better."

In the second half, Karns City appeared to be worn down on both sides of the ball by Clarion.

The Bobcats (5-1, 4-1) started five possessions inside Karns City territory, but got only two touchdowns out of it.

"That's something we're usually good at," said Clarion coach Larry Wiser.

Not on Friday.

Clarion finally managed to take advantage of its field position, marching 45 yards on 11 plays to tie the score at 14.

The drive consumed more than six minutes in the fourth quarter and was kept alive by a 27-yard pass play from Wolf to wideout Tyler Schwab on a fourth-and-14 play.

"Schwab just went up and got it," Wiser said. "It was a great play."

The drive was capped by a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Chris McSwain. Wolf added the two-point conversion to tie the score.

In overtime, Karns City got the first crack, but after gaining just five yards, Matt McConnell hit a 21-yard field goal to put the Gremlins up.

That set the stage for Stimac's strip of McSwain on Clarion's second offensive play of its overtime possession.

McSwain finished with 176 yards on 35 carries.

"It looked like Chris was getting ready to pull off one of his McSwainisms, break a couple of tackles and get in there, but it didn't happen," Wiser said.

Now Karns City, still undermanned, will travel to face Moniteau.

"Physically, we're just hanging on," Conto said. "I want to give the kids a blow, but I can't do it."