KARNS CITY — Air Conto.

It might be a different kind of season in Karns City.

The Gremlins are accustomed to rolling up yards and points with a dominating running game, but it was the passing game that staked Karns City to a 42-0 win over St. Marys at Diehl Stadium Friday night.

“We've been practicing (the passing game) all summer,” said Karns City senior quarterback Tyler Kepple, who had 225 yards in the air at halftime and finished 8-of-13 for 246 yards and three touchdowns. “We went to passing scrimmages and got in a lot of repetition. We came out throwing the ball and it worked.”

Karns City was planning on throwing more with Kepple last season, but the quarterback suffered a shoulder injury that put the kibosh on that plan.

Kepple's arm got the Gremlins out of an early hole. Facing a third-and-26 on the first Karns City possession of the game, Kepple rolled out and found Cody Deal for a 28-yard gain and a first down.

“That was a big play. We were stumbling and not playing that well,” Kepple said. “After the third-down conversion, we just picked it up and everything started clicking.”

That drive was culminated by a 27-yard touchdown run by Wyatt Everetts.

Karns City scored on the first plays of its next two possessions as Kepple hooked up with Logan Moroney on an 88-yard touchdown strike and on its next possession Everetts took a screen pass from Kepple and weaved his way into the end zone for a 29-yard score.

And the rout was on.

“We have the potential to throw,” said Karns City coach Ed Conto. “We have Kepple, a senior who has 2 1/2 years under his belt and we have good receivers. We should be able to throw the ball.”

Kepple tossed his third TD of the first half with 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter on a perfect 5-yard fade pass to Dakota Mohney for a 35-0 lead at the break.

Christian Turner scored on a 21-yard interception return earlier in the quarter.

Karns City's defense was equally impressive, holding St. Marys to just 120 total yards — most coming at the end of the fourth quarter as both teams emptied the bench.

The Gremlins held dangerous St. Marys running back Alex Feldbauer to 56 yards on 17 carries.

If there was one chink for Karns City, it was its own struggles in the running game.

The Gremlins did amass 177 yards on the ground, but it took 37 carries.

“We should be able to run the ball better than that,” Conto said. “I was pretty unhappy with that. It was very inconsistent.”

Everetts led the ground game with 55 yards on six carries.

Conto shuffled in several different offensive line configurations, which he said may have contributed to the inconsistencies.

“I haven't decided on (the offensive line) yet,” Conto said. “I don't know if that's going to clear up any.”

Karns City also only had one tailback healthy. Zach Moore was out with an illness and Tristan Rhoades missed the game with a leg injury.

“That's why we do the things the way we do,” Conto said, referring to his penchant for using a plethora of players.

“You know how my teams are; we get better as the season goes along,” Conto said. “We have a lot of room for improvement. For a first game, it went pretty well.”