KARNS CITY — Two football teams coming off radically different openers collide Friday night when Punxsutawney comes to Karns City.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

The host Gremlins had a 43-0 lead at Brockway before allowing a pair of late touchdowns in a 43-14 victory last week.

“For all intents and purposes, our defense pitched a shutout,” Karns City coach Joe Sherwin said. “That's how I'm treating that result.”

Punxsutawney was on the wrong side of a 70-6 shellacking at the hands of Clarion.

“That's three schools forming one team ... The PIAA allows it to happen,” Chucks coach Brad Wright said. “Clarion was good to begin with and now they add probably the best running back in the district (Austin Newcomb).

“That team will probably run the table, but we should have been more competitive in that game. We have to tackle better, shed blocks better, simple as that.”

What hasn't been so simple for the Chucks is finding a way to slow the Karns City offense.

The Gremlins have won 11 of the 12 games played between the teams and have scored at least 42 points in each of the last seven meetings.

Sherwin doesn't care about such numbers.

“While we're getting ready for Punxsutawney, we're focusing on ourselves,” he said. “There's a lot of little things we want to improve upon, fix the mistakes we made, keep getting better week to week.”

Third-year starting quarterback Anthony Kamenski rushed for 153 yards last week and Mitchell Kelsea scored three touchdowns.

Sherwin said Kamenski's running plays “were 50-50” between called plays and the quarterback's improvisation.

“He's got a mental clock in his head,” Sherwin said of Kamenski when he drops back to pass. “If the play's not there and nothing's available, we have no problem with him pulling the ball down and taking off.

“We trust his judgment that way.”

Defensively, Sherwin lauded the play of Luke Garing and Matt Griffith. Garing had an interception while Griffith recovered a fumble against Brockway.

While the coach admitted that “they didn't really test us in the passing game,” he added that defensive linemen Riley Davis and Colton Craig helped control the line of scrimmage.

Punxsutawney's offense was limited to 124 yards and only for first downs against Clarion.

Cameron Falgout, at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, is the Chucks' quarterback. He completed five of eight passes for 47 yards last week.

“Cameron made his first varsity start against the best team on our schedule,” Wright said. “He made some good decisions with the ball.

“(Running back) Matt London is our home run hitter on offense. He led us in touchdowns last year and is our biggest threat.”

Wright said his team lines up competitively with the Gremlins up front, but the skilled positions may be a different story.

“Their quarterback is like a highlight reel when he runs the ball,” he said. Their junior tight end (Nathan Waltman) just plows through people.

“Their skilled people in general are more experienced than ours. That part of the game will be difficult.”