BRADFORD — A steady offense and opportunistic defense paced Karns City to a 42-13 win over Bradford in the Owls' season finale at Parkway Field Friday night.

Karns City (6-3) never trailed, as the Gremlins put up 42 consecutive points before Bradford (1-8) scored on a pair of passes late in the game.

The Gremlins were powered by a methodical rushing attack that racked up 475 yards — and plenty of clock — on 42 carries. Karns City's offense picked up 25 first downs on the evening.

Head coach Joe Sherwin credited his offensive line for the big performance.

“Our offensive line has done a great job throughout the season,” he said. “We're a running team, and we've had several guys step up and do well running the ball, and that continued tonight. It was no different than what we've done all season.”

Running back Hunter Rowe led the way with 142 yards and three scores on nine carries. He ran for three of Karns City's first four touchdowns.

Fullback Luke Garing added 92 yards and a score on six rushes, and quarterback Anthony Kamenski logged 112 yards and a 15-yard touchdown on 12 runs. In all, 10 Gremlins toted the ball on the night.

The Karns City defense, meanwhile, forced three Owl turnovers — a Rowe interception and a pair of fumble recoveries. All of those takeaways resulted in subsequent KC touchdowns.

“We played aggressively (on defense),” Sherwin said. “One was a tipped pass, and (Hunter was) in the right spot. The others, we were able to work on stripping the ball and making recoveries. It was a big part of the game.”

It was also an unfortunate, yet familiar scene for Bradford, which averaged three turnovers per game in 2019. One of the fumbles took place in the red zone as Bradford was trailing just 21-0. The other fumble was inside the Owls' own 20-yard-line.

“We've had that issue all year, and you won't win many games in this league if you give the ball away,” said Bradford head coach Jeff Puglio. “We play quality opponents week-in, week-out, so you have to hold onto the ball and possess it.”

Despite the mistakes, there were positive signs for the Owl offense, which had struggled throughout most of the season.

Bradford finished with 247 yards of total offensive production — the Owls' second-highest total behind the 420 yards they hung on Punxsutawney during a 59-34 Bradford victory.

Nolan Gonzalez rushed for 79 yards on 20 carries, nearly all of which came on hard runs up the middle of the Karns City defense.

“Nolan runs hard, and if we can put some extra pounds of muscle on him in the offseason, nothing will stop him,” Puglio said. “He needs to make the decision on whether to commit to the offseason or not, and if he does (commit), I think he'll take some people by surprise.”

Owl quarterback Caleb Nuzzo had a big night, as well. The senior signal-caller passed for 74 yards and a pair of touchdowns and added 81 yards rushing.

His first score, which came with 6:30 left in the game, was a 35-yard strike to Dalton Dixon. Then, with 1:31 to go in the game — and his career — Nuzzo found Austen Davis for a 30-yard touchdown pass.

After the second touchdown, sophomore Abbie Nuzzo, Caleb's sister, made the extra point to become the first female in Bradford High history to score in a varsity football game.

“Caleb's a player. I'm happy he got to score, and to see Abbie get the extra point meant a lot to him,” Puglio said.

Added Abbie, “It means everything. It's so great, especially since my brother wanted me to do it in his last game. I did it for him.”

The elder Nuzzo and a handful of other Bradford seniors bid their farewells Friday, as next week's game at Oil City has been nixed.

“These guys have played a lot of football for us… It's hard to say goodbye. It's hard to see them go out the way we went out this year, but I thought we played tough tonight,” Puglio said.

Karns City 7 14 13 8 — 42

Bradford 0 0 0 13 — 13

First Quarter

KC — Hunter Rowe 20 run (Owen Collwell kick), :49

Second Quarter

KC — Rowe 16 run (run failed), 10:06

KC — Luke Garing 41 run (Rowe run), 6:47

Third Quarter

KC — Rowe 37 run (Collwell kick), 10:00

KC — Jace Anderson 42 run (run failed), 6:46

Fourth Quarter

KC — Anthony Kamenski 15 run (Kamenski run), 10:50

B — Dalton Dixon 35 pass from Caleb Nuzzo (kick failed), 6:30

B — Austen Davis 30 pass from Nuzzo (Abbie Nuzzo kick), 1:31

Individual Statistics

Rushing:Karns City, Hunter Rowe 9-142, Luke Garing 6-92, Anthony Kamenski 12-112, Gage Cowoski 2-30, Corey Dunmyre 2-(-6), Kaden Scherer 1-23, Jace Anderson 5-63, Owen Graff 3-10, Logan Fleeger 1-3, Dawson Sloan 1-6. Bradford, Nolan Gonzalez 20-79, Nuzzo 7-81, Derek Dunafrank 4-16, Austen Davis 3-0, Dalton Dixon 1-(-3)

Passing:Karns City, Anthony Kamenski 1-8-1-0, Braden Christie 0-1-0-0. Bradford, Caleb Nuzzo 5-13-74

Receiving:Karns City, Garing 1-1. Bradford, Davis 3-34, Dixon 2-40