Title town Karns City dismantles Kane for D9 crown
CLARION — In last year's District 9 Class AA football title game, Karns City needed a late touchdown to get past Kane.
This time around, the outcome was decided well before the closing minutes.
After overcoming a pair of seven-point deficits in the first half, the Gremlins scored five of the game's final six touchdowns to down the previously unbeaten Wolves 49-21 at Clarion University's Memorial Stadium.
It is the 10th district championship for KC's football program.
“It's tough to win in back-to-back seasons and it's also tough to beat an undefeated team,” said Gremlins' coach Ed Conto. “Kane played a heck of a game, they came out ready to play.
“I credit our kids,” he added. “After falling behind, they did what they needed to do.”
An incredible shift in momentum occurred late in the first half.
The Wolves had just taken a 14-7 lead on a 47-yard fumble return by Logan Zuzek. Kane then rolled the dice with an onside kick, which was recovered by Wolves' lineman Nate Moore.
Kane then drove to the Gremlins' 12-yard line, but a run for no gain and three incompletions turned the ball back over to the Gremlins.
KC moved the ball just past midfield before quarterback Tyler Kepple threw a screen pass to Zach Moore, who turned it into a 45-yard touchdown, tying the game at 14 with just 1:33 left in the first half.
The Wolves attempted to get a score of their own before halftime, but that decision backfired when Kevin Cleer's first-down pass was intercepted by Wyatt Everetts and returned 34 yards to Kane's 2-yard line. Two plays later, Everetts finished the job with a short touchdown run and the Gremlins led 21-14 at the break.
“I was a bit surprised that they threw the ball in that situation,” said Everetts, “but it worked out in our favor.”
“That was a big momentum swing,” said Conto. “If I knew what goes into stretches like that during a football game, I would have come up with an antidote, bottled it and made a million dollars years ago.”
Though the Wolves (11-1) found themselves down after two quarters of play, they were still confident a district title was within their grasp.“We still believed at halftime,” said Wolves' coach Todd Silfies. “Earlier this season, we were down by 17 points to Brockway and came back and won. We knew where we needed to go, Karns City just didn't let us get there.”The roadblock put up by the Gremlins was twofold. The team's offense gained yards in huge chunks in the second half and, aside from a 23-yard scoring run by James Lingenfelter midway through the third quarter, KC's defense brought the curtain down on Kane's 2013 season.Kepple opened the third-quarter with a scoring strike to Logan Moroney — the duo also accounted for KC's first touchdown of the night in the first quarter — before Lingenfelter's run cut Karns City's lead to 28-21.The Gremlins would score on their next two possessions — touchdown runs from Ethan Conto (four yards) and Moore (six), while Kane turned the ball over two straight times. Everetts intercepted Cleer at the Gremlin 5 and then returned a Wolves fumble 40 yards for the game's final touchdown early in the final period.Cleer had thrown just four interceptions this season entering Friday's contest. He was picked off three times by the Gremlins. Evan Stitt tallied the third one late in the fourth quarter.“It's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” said Coach Conto. “We didn't sack him (Cleer) much tonight, but we did get some pressure on him.”Everetts ended the game with two clutch interceptions and the fumble recovery returned for a touchdown to go with his team-leading 61 yards rushing and an offensive score.“We have so many threats on this team,” Everetts said. “Everybody gets their chance and at the end of the game, we're all happy.”Moroney tallied a game-high eight receptions worth 123 yards and the two scores.“I didn't get to play in last year's title game because of an injury,” he said. “It's a great thing to know that I did a lot to help my team win tonight.”Kepple proved by far to be the better quarterback in this title-game rematch, completing 13-of-19 passes for 202 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.“When you have a returning starter at quarterback, you expect him to know the offense and be a leader,” said Conto of his signal caller. “That's what Tyler provides for us.”“Having that experience helps you get those pre-game jitters out of the way,” Kepple said. “We're just taking this step-by-step, week-by-week.”Karns City (11-1) will face District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge (9-3) in the first round of the state playoffs next Friday or Saturday at a time and site to be determined.Karns City 49, Kane 21Karns City 7 14 14 14 — 49Kane 7 7 7 0 — 21KC K18 First Downs 1139-154 Rushes-Yards 26-89202 Passing Yards 13613-20-0 Comp.-Att.-Int 12-27-3356 Total Yards 2251-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-15-35 Penalty Yards 1-5First QuarterK — Jeff Kocjancic 36 pass from Kevin Cleer (Dillon Mattis kick), 8:21KC — Logan Moroney 21 pass from Tyler Kepple (Zach Moore kick), 5:45Second QuarterK — Logan Zuzek 47 fumble return (Mattis kick), 9:44KC — Moore 45 pass from Kepple (Moore kick), 1:33KC — Wyatt Everetts 1 run (Moore kick), :42Third QuarterKC — Moroney 14 pass from Kepple (Moore kick), 8:36K — James Lingenfelter 23 run (Mattis kick), 5:31KC — Ethan Conto 4 run (Moore kick), 4:27Fourth QuarterKC — Moore 6 run (Moore kick), 10:46KC — Everetts 40 fumble return (Moore kick), 10:31Individual StatisticsRushing: Karns City, Wyatt Everetts 10-61, Zach Moore 11-49, Dakota Mohney 1-6, Tyler Kepple 6-(-11), Adam Whited 4-24, Christian Turner 2-22, Ethan Conto 1-4, Collin Dunmyre 2-6, Hemi Curry 1-3, Team 1-(-10). Kane, John English 20-68, James Lingenfelter 3-35, Kevin Cleer 2-(-14), Jake Westerburg 1-0.Passing: Karns City, Tyler Kepple 13-19-202-0, Caleb King 0-1-0-0. Kane, Kevin Cleer 12-27-136-3.Receiving: Karns City, Logan Moroney 8-123, Dakota Mohney 3-25, Zach Moore 1-45, Tyler Dunn 1-9. Kane, Jeff Kocjancic 7-99, Andrew Pierson 4-23, Tyler Rolick 1-14.
