KARNS CITY — Brockway quarterback Peter Downer rolled to his right with a slew of Karns City players chasing him.

The sideline and the Gremlins were rapidly approaching.

On a third-down play trailing by 14 midway through the fourth quarter, Downer threw a pass into a crowd of players in the back of the end zone.

Conner Ford came down with it.

It was the play that launched a 17-point fourth-quarter rally as the Rovers stunned Karns City on its home filed, 27-24, Friday night at Diehl Stadium.

“We just stayed with it,” said Brockway coach Tom Weaver. “If you stay with it, it isn't over until the clock runs out.

Karns City took advantage of two Brockway miscues in the first quarter and converted them into touchdowns.

The first came with Brockway punter Zane Puhala fielded a low snap with his right knee on the turf at the Rovers' own 4.

Hunter Jones scored on Karns City's first offensive play for a quick 7-0 lead.

The second came late in the first quarter when Madden McMillen stripped Downer at the Brockway 5.

Jones again capitalized with a touchdown run on the first play for a 14-7 lead.

But the Gremlins' good fortune did not last and the offense sputtered most of the night.

“We have a brand new offensive line — we graduated all five guys from last year — but that's no excuse,” said Karns City coach Joe Sherwin. “We still need to sustain our blocks. We were hitting guys, but we weren't staying on them.”

The Gremlins managed just 149 yards and five first downs.

After another short field helped Karns City increase its lead to 24-10 on a 1-yard plunge by Mitchell Kelsea in the third quarter, the Gremlins' next four drives ended with three punts and an interception.

The pick came with less than 30 seconds on the clock on a desperation fourth-and-3 pass.

“It is a long season,” Sherwin said. “As I said before, I expect all these games to go right down to the wire, especially with this new league that has formed.”

After bottling up Brockway for the most part in the first half, the Rovers found more running room, especially in the fourth quarter.

Brockway rushed for 187 yards — 138 coming in the second half.

Tyler Serafini finished with 148 yards on 21 carries. He had 110 yards in the second half.

Sherwin said it wasn't a matter or the Rovers wearing down the Gremlins — Brockway ran 20 more offensive plays in the first half than Karns City — but a breakdown in technique.

“The tackling was not what it needed to be,” Sherwin said. “A couple of times in the second half we'd have him wrapped up, and he'd get a couple of extra yards or even more.”

Both kickers had strong games, Puhala in particular.

Puhala hit a 23 yard field goal in the first half and banged through a 30 yard attempt late in the fourth.

“Thank God for good kickers,” Weaver said.

Brockway 7 3 0 17 — 27

Karns City 14 3 7 0 — 24

First Quarter

KC — Hunter Jones 4 run (Steve O'Donnell kick), 9:52

B — Tyler Serafini 7 run (Zane Puhala kick), 5:55

KC — Jones 5 run (O'Donnell kick), 2:14

Second Quarter

B — Puhala 23 field goal, 6:20

KC — O'Donnell, 23 field goal, 2:18

Third Quarter

KC — Mitchell Kelsea 1 run (O'Donnell kick), 4:27

Fourth Quarter

B — Conner Ford 15 pass from Peter Downer (Puhala kick), 8:27

B — Jonathan Wood 25 run (Puhala kick), 5:37

B — Puhala 30 field goal, 2:50

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Brockway, Tyler Serafini 21-148, Jonathan Wood 11-55, Joshua Solnosky 1-1, Peter Downer 9-(1-6), TEAM 2-(-35). Karns City, Hunter Jones 9-49, Devin Ryan 4-28, Hunter Rowe 7-21, Josh Wimer 2-11, Dalton Pyle 2-3, Mitchell Kelsea 2-2, Anthony Kamenski 6-(-9), TEAM 1-(-9)

Passing: Brockway, Peter Downer 7-17-76-0. Karns City, Anthony Kamenski 9-17-53-2

Receiving: Brockway, Jonathan Wood 3-9, Joshua Solnosky 2-54, Conner Ford 2-20, Tyler Serafini 1-7. Karns City, Mitchell Kelsea 3-13, Devin Ryan 2-11, Josh Wimer 1-12, Hunter Jones 1-10, Erik Pfeifer 1-5, Madden McMillen 1-2.