Karns City Overpowers Ridgway @KC_GremlinFball @RidgwayFootball

Tagged under: District 9, Gameday Hub, News

Phil Myers | October 16, 2021

The Karns City Gremlins chalked up win number seven on the 2021 season by overpowering the Ridgway Elkers 35-0 on a warm and humid Friday evening in Johnsonburg at the Paper City’s Memorial Field.  The win by the Gremlins enabled them to get one step closer to the top seed in the District Nine AA playoffs that begin in three weeks.

Karns City ran the ball 30 times in the first half and threw only two passes, completing them both.  “Offensively, we wanted to keep things simple.  We wanted to establish the run game and we hit a couple passes to keep them honest,” said winning head coach Joe Sherwin.

The running game was led by 6’2” 225-pound Luke Garing and the smaller but faster Jayce Anderson.  They make the perfect pair in complimenting each other.  Garing seems to enjoy running over and through people breaking tackles and carrying two or three guys with him as he drives those powerful legs.  Anderson searches for holes to burst and glide through so he can utilize his quickness and speed.  Garing rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown while Anderson ran for 84 yards and a couple of scores.

Garing #20

The Gremlins gained 258 yards on 41 carries as their offensive line was able to push the Elker defense around most of the night.  One of the linemen who stands out literally and figuratively is 6’7’ 390-pound T.J. Vlassich.  Most times on short yardage situations, he’s the guy that the ball carrier follows.

The only score in the first quarter was on Jayce Anderson’s 20-yard sprint up the middle where he put a nice move on the safety and was home free.  The run by Anderson capped a 61-yard, 7-play drive to open the game.

The purple and gold’s next possession began at their own 11 with five and a half minutes left on the first period clock.  Twelve plays later on the first snap of the second quarter, Micah Rupp hauled in a thirteen-yard touchdown pass from Eric Booher.  Zach Kelly’s second of five PATs put the visitors up 14-0.

Coach Joe Sherwin left of center in shorts, offensive coordinator Zach Kepple talks to quarterback Eric Booher #7. Big T.J. Vlassich #70 far right.

Karns City increased their lead to 21-0 when Garing scored from two yards out with only 21 seconds remaining in the half.  That 13-play 72-yard drive was only the Gremlins third possession of the game and it took over six and a half minutes off the clock.

Ridgway began the second half by methodically moving the ball into Gremlin territory and chewing up time on the clock for the third time of the game.  The first two ended in a punt and a turnover on downs.  This one ended with a fourth down interception by Rupp.

Karns City capitalized when a 30-yard run by Garing was followed by Anderson’s 33-yard race down the sidelines to the end zone.  Suddenly KC was now ahead by 28 points which pretty much sealed the Elkers’ fate.

The Elkers drove into Gremlin real estate in the last quarter only to fumble the ball away.  Another fumble by Ridgway, this time fielding a KC punt gave the Gremlins the ball at the Elker 25.  The next play saw back-up quarterback, Mason Martin, find Nate Garing in the end zone for the score.  With Karns City up by 35 points the mercy rule took affect for the last minute and thirteen seconds of the game.

When asked about Garing’s impact on the team with the way he runs, Sherwin stated, “I’m glad he’s on our team and we’re not trying to tackle him.  He’s also the heart and soul of our defense too.”

Karns City is now 7-1 on the year with their only loss coming to 3A St. Marys 35-28.  “We learned a lot in that St. Marys game.  We watched the film closely and hope to correct mistakes we made.  We’re also getting healthy which should help us down the stretch,” Sherwin said.  The Gremlins host Bradford next week.

Ridgway, who did not have the services of starting quarterback Jonathan Hinton, fell to 5-3 and will travel to Brookville next week.  That contest will have a huge impact on who will get the number two seed in the D-9 playoffs for the 2A classification.

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