KNOX — Having lost a 15-point halftime lead, Karns City was in desperate need of momentum.

Anthony Kamenski and Kaden Scherer provided it.

With his team trailing 22-21 and facing 2nd-and-10 from its own 45, Kamenski dropped back to pass and hit Scherer in stride on a post pattern. The speedy receiver raced 50 yards downfield before being pulled down at the Keystone 5-yard line.

Fullback Luke Garing scored on a 5-yard run on the next play with 2:59 remaining. Karns City made the score stand up for a 28-22 District 9 Class 2A football playoff win over the host Panthers.

“We ran the ball so well in the first half, they put nine guys in the box in the second half,” KC coach Joe Sherwin said. “It's hard to run against that type of defense.

“Plus, playing on a grass field, the conditions were deteriorating and we weren't getting the same traction we got earlier in the game.

“With them pulling their safeties into the box, the pass play was there,” Sherwin added.

Kamenski said a pass play was called on second down. The rest was non-verbal communication between he and Scherer.

“That's Kaden Scherer,” the quarterback said, breaking into a broad grin. “We kinda know when we need a big play. I'm grateful to have a big-time receiver in situations like that.

“He knew the ball was coming his way.”

Scherer did not get a lot of separation on the cornerback, but didn't need much.

“That pass was right there, caught me right in stride,” Scherer said. “It was up to me to just run as fast as I could after that.”

The play covered 50 yards. Karns City (8-3) netted only 71 in the entire second half.

“We just executed better defensively. We didn't do anything different,” Keystone coach Kyle Smith said of the second half. “We bottled them up ... except for that one play. Their guy got a step or two on our corner and that was the difference.”

The Panthers (9-2) — who had a nine-game winning streak snapped — had two possessions after Garing's go-ahead score. The first ended when Owen Graff sacked quarterback Isaak Jones on fourth down from the Keystone 39.

The last possession ended with four incompletions from the Keystone 2-yard line.

“We were just sitting back waiting for the deep pass. I thought we defended it well,” Schreer said.

Karns City ran 41 plays — 36 on the ground — in the first half to Keystone's 11. The Gremlins scored touchdowns on 65, 81 and 70-yard drives, chewing more than six minutes off the clock on the first two.

The 70-yard march ate up all but two seconds of the final 3:13 of the half — and came after Jones found Alex Rapp for a 44-yard TD bomb to pull the Panthers within 14-6.

Kamenski found Corry Dunmyre in the end zone for a 5-yard TD pass just before the half. Hunter Rowe scored on runs of six and four yards earlier for KC.

“We played very well, in the firzt half. Then the momentum got away from us,” Sherwin said.

After a Scherer interception ended Keystone's first possession of the third quarter, KC fumbled a punt snap and Keystone's Nick Weaver recovered at the Gremlins' 120-yard line.

A fourth-down pass of 7 yards to Jayden Blazosky resulted in a touchdown. Blazosky hit Jones for a two-point conversion and the KC lead was cut to 21-14.

Keystone used a 14-play, 47-yard drive to take the lead in the final quarter. Rapp caught a 5-yard pass for a first down on 4th-and-4 from the KC 7. After three consecutive Jones quarterback sneaks from the 2 failed to produce a touchdown, the quarterback pitched out to Weaver on fourth down.

Weaver scored the touchdown. Jones, the holder for an apparent PAT kick, took the snap, got up and ran into the right corner of the end zone for the go-ahead points with 7:52 left.

“Once we scored that touchdown, I wanted to go for the lead,” Smith said. “Our kids never quit. They showed heart tonight — a lot of heart.”

Karns City went three-and-out on its next possession, then forced a three-and-out by Keystone before picking up the winning points.

“Our goal was to get back in the playoffs and win a District 9 championship,” Sherwin said. “Thankfully, we're still in a position to do that.”

Karns City limited Keystone to 139 yards, only 33 rushing. The Gremlins defeated the Panthers for the 23rd straight time.

Karns City will play Ridgway (9-1) at 1 p.m. next Saturday in DuBois.

Karns City 7 14 0 7 — 28

Keystone 0 6 8 8 — 22

First Quarter

KC — Hunter Rowe 6 run (Owen Collwell kick), 5:50

Second Quarter

KC — Rowe 4 run (Collwell kick), 9:37

K — Alex Rapp 44 pass from Isaak Jones (kick failed), 3:13

KC — Corry Dunmyre 5 pass from Anthony Kamenski (Collwell kick), :02

Third Quarter

K — Jayden Blazosky 9 pass from Jones (Jones pass from Blazosky), 4:16

Fourth Quarter

K — Nick Weaver 1 run (Jones run), 7:52

KC — Luke Garing 5 run (Collwell kick), 2:59

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Karns City, Anthony Kamenski 21-100, Luke Garing 9-34, Hunter Rowe 19-80, Kaden Scherer 1-5, TEAM 1-(-23). Keystone, Isaak Jones 13-15, Taylar Altman 5-9, Nick Weaver 7-8, Tim Baughman 1-1.

Passing:Karns City, Anthony Kamenski 6-9-92-0. Keystone, Isaak Jones 7-16-106-1.

Receiving:Karns City, Kaden Scherer 2-65, Luke Garing 1-14, Corry Dunmyre 1-5, Brayden Christie 2-8. Keystone, Jayden Blazosky 4-52, Alex Rapp 2-49, Keenan Heeter 1-5.