KARNS CITY — Eric Booher was erratic early.

Pretty on-target the rest of the time.

After missing two potential big plays early, the Karns City quarterback connected on touchdown passes of 38 and 49 to help the Gremlins to a 24-0 win over Moniteau at Diehl Stadium Friday night.

“Maybe a little juiced up,” said Karns City coach Joe Sherwin. “A couple of overthrows at the beginning of the game, but once he settled in, he made a lot of nice throws.”

Booher completed one of his first five passes, but was sharp after that.

He finished 10 of 19 for 180 yards and the two touchdowns.

The first TD throw came at the beginning of the second quarter when he found Kaden Scherer for a 38-yard score.

His second touchdown pass was a perfectly thrown 49-yard strike to Micah Rupp in stride against good coverage.

Good thing, because Moniteau was able to stymie Karns City at times on the ground.

The Gremlins threw for more yards (187) than they gained in the running game (117).

“Hey, (Moniteau has) a good defense,” Sherwin said. “I've said it before, they are a physical team and it's hard to just pound the ball down their throats. We definitely had to mix in the pass.”

Moniteau (1-5) tried to mix in the pass itself, but struggled as it has all season.

David Stamm was just 1 of 12 for 11 yards and Brady Thompson completed just one of his four passes for 31 yards.

It made the Warriors wholly one-dimensional.

“We struggled getting the ball down the field in the pass game,” said Moniteau coach Bob Rottman. “Until we can get something in that area going, no one is going to respect the pass.”

Moniteau still had success running the ball.

Mason Mershimer had 50 yards on the Warriors' opening drive, which stalled at the Karns City 12, and finished with 100.

JD Dessicino, who missed last week's game with an ankle injury, returned to rush for 74 yards.

“It's a tribute to our guys up front and our running back to be able to get the yardage we do when everyone knows we are running the football,” Rottman said.

The passing woes, though, may have cost Moniteau a chance to snag an early lead.

The Warriors' first two drives puttered out deep in Karns City territory.

“They have a good running attack,” Sherwin said. “Those two backs, Mershimer and Dessicino, they're good backs. They've done it not only this game, but I've seen them do it against other teams. We bent, but we didn't break. That was key.”

So was a late first-half Moniteau fumble that Karns City was able to turn into a 6-yard touchdown run by Jayce Anderson for a 14-0 lead at the half.

Karns City (4-2) extended the lead to 21-0 on the long touchdown grab by Rupp.

Owen Collwell capped the scoring with a 31-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.

Luke Garing led the Gremlins with 58 yards rushing.

“He's kind of our hammer,” Sherwin said. “He's a guy if we need a few yards, we give it to Luke.”

Rottman lamented another loss.

“It's heartbreaking for me as a coach to see the effort they are putting forward and how close they actually are to being a really good football team and winning a few games like this,” Rottman said. “I don't think our record reflects how good a team we are.”

Moniteau 0 0 0 0 — 0

Karns City 0 14 7 3 — 24

Second Quarter

KC — Kaden Scherer 38 pass from Eric Booher (Owen Collwell kick), 10:42

KC — Jayce Anderson 6 run (Collwell kick), 1:10

Third Quarter

KC — Micah Rupp 49 pass from Booher (Collwell kick), 4:48

Fourth Quarter

KC — Collwell 31-yard field goal, 11:06

Individual Statistics

Rushing:Moniteau, Mason Mershimer 19-100, JD Dessicino 14-74, Chaz McGuire 8-19, David Stamm 7-(-16), TEAM 2-(-14). Karns City, Luke Garing 6-58, Brayden Christie 4-30, Jayce Anderson 8-18, Kaden Scherer 2-12, Cole Coon 1-10, gage Cowoski 2-6, Eric Booher 2-4, Zach Blair 1-(-4), TEAM 2-(-17).

Passing:Moniteau, David Stamm 1-11-12-1, Brady Thompson 1-4-31-0, Mason Mershimer 0-1-0-1. Karns City, Eric Booher 10-19-180-0, Brayden Christie 1-2-7-0.

Receiving:Moniteau, JD Dessicino 1-31, Mason Mershimer 1-12. Karns City, Kaden Scherer 6-75, Micah Rupp 3-85, Nathan Waltman 2-27