4th-quarter scoring frenzy sparks Gremlins
KARNS CITY — Karns City painted itself into a pretty tough corner in Friday's nonconference football opener against St. Marys.
But in the closing minutes, the Gremlins turned in a true work of art.
KC scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, including two in the final four minutes, to pull out a 23-13 victory over the Flying Dutchmen.
"The kids played hard, but they made a lot of mistakes," said Karns City coach Ed Conto. "At one point in the first half we ran (28) plays to their (11), but we were not capitalizing."
Trailing 7-3 in the fourth quarter, the Gremlins fumbled on their own 36, the ball rolling backward before St. Marys recovered on the 12-yard line.
The Gremlins' defense held and St. Marys kicker Andy Eck missed a 33-yard field goal attempt, his second miss of the game.
On the first play of the ensuing possession, Karns City quarterback Anthony Stimac hooked up with Josh Callender on a 83-yard pass play down the middle of the field to give the Gremlins the ball at the Flying Dutchmen's 2-yard line.
"They ran a different set and caught us in a different coverage," said St. Marys coach Joe Schlimm.
Two plays later, Marcus Lavan bulled his way in from the 1-yard line with 8:08 remaining.
On the Gremlins' next possession, Lavan fumbled on the second play and gave the Dutchmen a first and 10 at the KC12. Two plays later, quarterback John Swanson scored from the 1-yard line to give St. Marys a 13-9 lead with 4:51 on the clock.
From that point on it was all Gremlins as Stimac used a 23-yard run and completions of 17 and 13 yards to Stephon Conto and Callender, respectively, to give the Gremlins a first-and-goal at the Dutchmen's 1.
Josh Stimac scored on the next play with 3:59 left and the Gremlins took the lead for good.
With St.Marys pinned inside its own 10-yard line on third and 12, Swanson fumbled and Karns City's Devin Collins recovered the ball and ran in for the touchdown to seal the win.
"I thought we had a great effort on our part," said Schlimm. "We just didn't get it done."
The Gremlins had drives of 10 and nine plays in the first quarter and a 12-play drive in the third quarter, but could not muster a point.
Their lone score over the first three quarters was a 32-yard Matt McConnell field goal with the 3:55 left before the half. Todd Schatz had given St.Marys a 7-0 lead 6:51 before the break on a 47-yard pass play from Swanson.
"I'm not pleased with the consistency. It was give and take," said Conto. "I was pleased with the kids, but mistakes can easily cost you the game."
Notes: Stimac completed 10 of 18 passes for 194 yards, 156 coming in the second half. ... No running back rushed for more than 24 yards. ... Each team lost three fumbles.
