KARNS CITY — Karns City was in no mood for suspense or drama Friday night.

“Put the foot on the gas right away and don't let up,” Gremlins coach Joe Sherwin said in describing his football team's goal in its regular season finale against Titusville at Diehl Stadium.

“I think we did that.”

Indeed.

Karns City (7-3) scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, built a 35-0 lead by halftime to invoke the mercy rule and cruised to a 35-13 victory over the Rockets.

Titusville (3-7) did not get inside Karns City's 40 until the first play of the final quarter. The Rockets averted the shutout on that play as Garrett Knapp connected with Laird Stover for a 41-yard touchdown pass.

Titusville made a few big plays in the passing game, but was stifled otherwise. Knapp was sacked five times and the visitors were negative 24 in rushing yardage for the night.

“Their line is so big and those linebackers explode to the ball,” Titusville coach Bryan Baldwin said. “Our only chance was to hit a few plays in the passing game and we were able to do that late.”

The outcome was decided long before they did.

KC quarterback Anthony Kamenski capped a 59-yard scoring drive on the Gremlins' first possession with a 12-yard run. Hunter Rowe ended a 56-yard march on their second possession with a 32-yard touchdown burst.

Rowe had eight carries for 139 yards and three touchdowns — all in the first half.

“I love games like this, when we can run the ball,” Rowe said. “Assert our dominance right away. Our (offensive) line was tremendous tonight.”

Kamenski agreed.

“Those guys were just blowing holes open,” the quarterback said.

Kamenski rushed for 94 yards to go over the 1,000-yard mark on the season. He also threw a 47-yard TD pass to Kaden Scherer, who broke a tackle along the left sideline while rambling into the end zone.

“It was good for us to hit a touchdown pass,” Sherwin said. “The playoffs are up next and we have to be able to run and pass.

“Anthony deserves everything he's accomplished this year because he's worked so hard for it. It's a big advantage having a quarterback who can run. I have to admit, though I never thought he'd run for 1,000.”

Kamenski is believed to be the first Karns City quarterback to ever rush for 1,000 yards.

“That was my goal at the beginning of the season,” the quarterback said. “I wanted to run for 1,000 and throw for 1,000.

“I don't think I'll get there passing, but it feels great to get there running.”

Karns City piled up 319 yards in the first half alone. The Gremlins rushed for 348 yards on the night, giving them 823 on the ground in the past two weeks.

“You want momentum going into the playoffs and we definitely have that,” Sherwin said.

Titusville dropped its seventh straight game. The Rockets netted 33 yards in the first half. Knapp wound up throwing for 148 in the game.

Austin Brown recovered a fumble on a Titusville kickoff return to set up the Gremlins' final score of the night. Linebacker Nathan Waltman, defensive tackle Colton Craig and defensive end Brown combined for the bulk of the sacks and numerous tackles for loss.

“We couldn't keep them out of our backfield,” Baldwin said. “Karns City is a great football team. We wish them well in the playoffs.

“We won our first three games, then injuries and sickness hit us, we lost a few and things just snowballed against us. We have some young players, though, and they did some good things in the second half.”

Karns City's starters were out of the game before the end of the third quarter. The Gremlins expect to go on the road in the first round of the District 9 playoffs next week.

Titusville 0 0 0 13 — 13

Karns City 21 14 0 0 — 35

First Quarter

KC — Anthony Kamenski 12 run (Owen Collwell kick), 8:36

KC — Hunter Rowe 32 run (Collwell kick), 6:26

Second Quarter

KC — Kaden Scherer 47 pass from Kamenski (kick failed), 10:53

KC — Rowe 29 run (Rowe run), 4:15

KC — Rowe 2 run (Collwell kick), 1:11

Fourth Quarter

T — Laird Stover 41 pass from Garrett Knapp (kick failed), 11:49

T — Brock Covell 24 pass from Kolin Baker (Nicholas Wright kick), 1:47

Individual Statistics

Rushing:Titusville, Garrett Knapp 6-(-22), Charles Nicholson 11-19, Landon Palma 1-(-4), Kolin Baker 1-1, TEAM 1-(-18).Karns City, Anthony Kamenski 9-94, Luke Garing 6-40, Hunter Rowe 8-139, Owen Graff 1-7, Jayce Anderson 8-42, Corry Dunmyre 2-14, Dawson Sloan 2-12, TEAM 1-0.

Passing:Titusville, Garrett Knapp 11-26-148-0, Kayden Wolfkiel 0-1-0-0, Kolin Baker 1-1-24-0. Karns City, Anthony Kamenaski 2-6-50-1.

Receiving:Titusville, Boaz LaRocque 3-9, Laird Stover 2-67, Landon Palma 1-2, Sebastian Peterson 1-2, Brock Covell 3-52, Hunter Titus 2-40. Karns City, Kaden Scherer 1-47, Nathan Waltman 1-3.