Things are better the second time around?

Karns City football coach Joe Sherwin and his team certainly hope so.

The Gremlins (8-3) take on Ridgway (9-1) in a District 9 Class 2A playoff game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mansell Stadium in DuBois. The Elkers defeated the Gremlins 19-13 a month ago at Karns City.

“They run the same defense all the time, but when we motioned somebody, they would shift guys around,” Sherwin said of Ridgway. “Our guys were confused at times about who to block.

“Hopefully, we can make adjustments to that and move the ball more effectively.”

Karns City is coming off a 28-22 first-round playoff win at Keystone last week. Ridgway drew a bye into the second round.

The Elkers have not allowed more than 14 points to an opponent since a 25-21 loss to Kane in the season's second week. Ridgway is allowing an average of nine points per game.

“They have no weaknesses defensively,” Sherwin said. “They can get to the quarterback, their corners are excellent and their linebackers flow to the ball quickly.”

Ridgway has collected 31.5 quarterback sacks, 13 interceptions and six fumble recoveries this season. Free safety Jake Wickett leads the squad with three interceptions.

“It's just 11 guys in sync,” Ridgway coach Mark Heindl said. “Great things can happen when you play together like that.”

Linebacker Robert Briggs has 103 tackles. Fellow linebacker Greg Simon has 67. Defensive ends Damon Kelly and Gabe Watts have combined for 125 tackles, 37 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks.

“We like to run the football. We need to find a way to do that Saturday,” Sherwin said. “They're more balanced offensively than we are and we can't sell out against the run or the pass.

“But they like to be meticulous moving the ball downfield just like we do. They throw a lot of outs, screens, the short stuff to get first downs. During long drives, there's a higher percentage chance of making mistakes. We can't be the team making mistakes.”

KC quarterback Anthony Kamenski has rushed for 1,147 yards and 10 touchdowns, thrown for 634 and eight scores. Hunter Rowe needs 111 yards rushing to reach 1,000 and fullback Luke Garing has 545 yards and nine TDs on the ground.

“Anthony Kamenski has progressed so much this season,” Heindl said. “He's tough to prepare for because he's so elusive and he's patient in the backfield. He'll find the open guy.”

Kaden Scherer has 11 catches for 390 yards — 35.5 yards per catch — and five TDs. He has five interceptions on defense.

“When we need a big play in the passing game, Kaden is the guy we go to,” Sherwin said.

Heindl said “they burned us a couple of times with big passes last time we played them.

“We needed a goal-line stand to win. We were fortunate to come out of that game with a win. Karns City knows they can play with us. We're in for quite a battle.”

Ridgway quarterback Paul Gresco has thrown for 1,545 yards, 14 TDs and only four interceptions. Austin Green, with 23 catches for 419 yards and six TDs, is his favorite wide receiver. Running backs Watts and Wickett have a combined 53 catches for 850 yards and eight TDs.

Watts, Matt Dush, Wickett and Tyler Watts all have between 419 and 529 yards rushing, combining for 26 scores on the ground.

“They put the ball in the hands of a lot of people,” Sherwin said. “As usual, we'll be relying heavily on our front seven defensively. Nathan Waltman, Riley Davis, Colton Craig ... all of those guys will have to come up big for us again.”

“That No. 88 (Waltman) stands right in the middle of that defense and forces a lot of mistakes,” Heindl said. “Our offensive line is in for a challenge. That defense is very stout.”