Karns City's Sebastian Troutman bursts through a hole against Armstrong Friday night. It was a tough opener for the Gremlins, who fell to the River Hawks, 41-14.

KITTANNING — The Karns City football team's Week Zero crashed to the grass under the weight of a breakout performance by Armstrong's quarterback.

Armstrong quarterback Dawson Porter dominated in the 41-14 win over Karns City Friday night at Armstrong's stadium.

Porter scored all six of the River Hawks's touchdowns and finished the game with 363 all-purpose yards.

Porter completed 8-of-14 passes for 88 yards with one interception, connecting with senior receiver Ryan Pearce for both touchdowns. He also added two rushing touchdowns and scored on both an interception and punt return.

Armstrong coach Frank Fabian said the six touchdowns came as a shock to even the River Hawks, who saw Porter sidelined last year due to injury.

“We knew that he was explosive, but I don't know if we expected this,” Fabian said.

Fabian said he saw some man-to-man coverage schemes by the Gremlins. He said he likes to challenge corners because Porter has the ability to place passes in tight coverage, or he'll find space in the running game.

“(Porter is) one of our playmakers when he gets the ball in space, and I couldn't be happier for him because I knew last year was really hard for him,” he said.

Karns City coach Ed Conto said Armstrong's play calling along with Porter's performance opened up holes in their defense despite adjustments.

“They'd make a play here, and we'd adjust. Then, I thought we'd made two or three good plays, and then they'd come up with a big play,” Conto said. “They just kept us on our heels.”

Conto said the climbing first half score also affected his young team's mentally.

“I think we got frustrated, and when we got frustrated, we didn't play traps right or we'd bail on a pass,” he said. “Just little things that I believe we can clean up.”

The second half offered Karns City a fresh mindset. The Gremlins scored by recovering a fumble in the end zone in the second quarter, coming one play after turning the ball over on downs on Armstrong's 5-yard line.

“We tweaked things up a little bit in the second half; we got things going a little bit,” Conto said. “So, I liked what I saw there.”

The Gremlins scored again on a drive that saw a mixed attack, but finished with a 6-yard run by receiver Clay Garing, who also kicked both field goals.

Also testing the waters at quarterback, sophomore Anthony Kamenski, struggled early.

“I thought our sophomore quarterback had some inconsistency, but I think he did a good job overall,” Conto said.

Kamenski finished the night with 6-of-17 passes for 52 yards and one interception.

“Sometimes, he held the ball a little too long, but that's a learning stage,” Conto said. That's what you'd expect.”

Karns City 0 0 7 7 — 14Armstrong 15 14 6 6 — 41First QuarterA — Ryan Pearce 18 pass from Dawson Porter (Kaleb Burke kick), 4:14A — Pearce 58 pass from Porter (Tanner Stivason run)), 1:26Second QuarterA — Porter 70 punt return (Burke kick), 1:17A — Porter 35 interception return (Burke kick), 1:05Third QuarterKC — Karns City recovered fumble in end zone (Clay Garing kick), 5:53A — Porter 14 run (kick faikled), :00Fourth QuarterKC — Garing 6 run (Garing kick), 4:29A — Porter 50 run (kick failed), 3:35Individual StatisticsRushing: Karns City, Hunter Rowe 3-35, Sebastian Troutman 12-23, Dalton Behamn 6-20, Josh Wimer 3-18, Noah Kepple 2-14, Clay Garing 3-7, Alan Barnhart 1-2, Michael Kelsea 2-(-3), Anthony Kamenski 9-(-12). Armstrong, Dawson Porter 12-170, Zac Aretz 8-45.Passing: Karns City, Anthony Kamenski 6-17-52-1, Donovan Timlin 0-2-0-0. Armstrong, Dawson Porter 8-14-88-1.Receiving: Karns City, Noah Kepple 2-16, Hunter Rowe 1-13, Sebastian Troutman 2-11, Brandon Hesidence 1-11. Armstrong, Ryan Pearce 4-81, Tanner Stivason 1-7.