Karns City Outlasts Wilmington, 33-28
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Shane Lux | October 25, 2025
New Wilmington – Karns City rushed for 312 yards, holding off Wilmington during a wild fourth quarter in a 33-28 victory over the Greyhounds.
In their final tune-up before the District 9 playoffs, Karns City built a 20-7 lead after three quarters, then had to hold off a furious Greyhounds rally before knocking off the Greyhounds.
“Wilmington is a great program, but we wanted to get this game and challenge ourselves,” said Karns City head coach Joe Sherwin. “We wanted to get ourselves ready for the playoffs. We have a lot of respect for them. They’re a great program and have made long playoff runs before. We want that to be our goal, and we have to beat teams like this if we want to achieve that.”
A week ago, the Gremlins handed Punxsutawney their first loss of the season, 35-23, avening a 22-19 loss to Chucks on September 19th.
Karns City has also scored victories over 5A Dubois and state-ranked Westinghouse.
“I told people before the season that this could be the most difficult schedule we’ve ever had,” Sherwin said. “People can argue that one way or another, but we really wanted to challenge ourselves this year.”
On Friday night at Terry Verrelli Stadium, the Gremlins faced a Greyhounds squad ranked 6th in Class A by PaFootballNews.com. The Gremlins are an honorable mention in Class AA.
“That was our goal completely to play tough teams like that,” said Gremlin tailback Hunter Scherer. “We want teams like that so you can get ready for the playoffs. Once they come around, there’s nothing new. Because you’ve already played teams like that, so it’s just another game.”
Leading 20-7 after three quarters, things looked fine for Karns City, as they had controlled play to that point.
But things started to get crazy when Wilmington took over at their 9-yard line with 4:38 to play in the third stanza.
The Hounds proceeded to drive 91 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 10-yard run by Chase Mitcheltree, who rushed for 52 yards on the drive, but was limited to 73 yards in the game.
The two schools continued to trade haymakers the rest of the way.
“That’s what we were looking for at the end of the season, was a matchup that felt like a playoff game,” said Wilmington head coach Brandon Phillian. “Karns City is certainly that, and we have a lot of respect for that program. It was hard to come up a little short at the end. You want to win the close games, of course, but we’ll look at the film and see what areas we need to improve on heading into the postseason.”
Karns City responded with a 57-yard drive, capped by Hunter Scherer’s second touchdown of the night, scoring on a 16-yard run with 8:16 to play.
That 26-14 cushion lasted 67 seconds as Mitcheltree returned the ensuing kickoff 79 yards to the 4-yard line, where two plays later he scored on a 7-yard run, pulling the Greyhounds to within 26-21.
Again, the Gremlins had the response as they drove 73 yards in seven plays with Scherer scoring his third touchdown of the night with a 10-yard run with 3:03 to play.
Two plays later, Wesley Vas-Gal connected with Freddie Zehetner on a 54-yard touchdown pass as Wilmington closed the gap to 33-28 with 2:50 left in the game.
Karns City recovered the onside kick, but was quickly faced with a 3rd-and-20 from their 39-yard line with 2:27 left on the clock.
In classic Gremlin fashion, a perfectly executed screen pass from Cole Johnston to Hunter Scherer went for 46 yards to the Greyhounds’ 15-yard line, where, after three kneel downs, Karns City could finally breathe as they ran out the clock to finish their regular season campaign at 8-2.
“They told me it was do or die right here,” Scherer said. “If you don’t get this, it gives them time to come back and win this game. We missed those PATs earlier, so they would’ve won if they got in.”
Scherer rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns, while Johnston led the Gremlins with 123 yards on 14 carries with a pair of scores. He also completed 5-of-7 passes for 106 yards.
“The biggest thing was keeping our momentum going for the playoffs,” Scherer said. “It would have been a lot harder in this next playoff game if we had lost. When you play a very good team and win, it just builds you up. Our line does an outstanding job; nothing would be possible without them. They owned the line of scrimmage tonight. We have good running backs, too; they’re not the type of guys that go down on one hit. That makes a difference.”
Cole Johnston’s 15-yard run capped a 5-play 75-yard drive, giving Karns City a 14-7 lead after a quarter, while his 10-yard rush extended the lead to 20-7 early in the second quarter as the run came on a 4th-and-8 and Greyhounds’ 10-yard line.
“That was key to getting our momentum going,” said Sherwin. “But we knew they were going to fight back, being a quality team and program. They fought back, but we were able to hold on in the end. That fourth quarter looked great for the offense, but we need to do a better job defensively. We let up a long pass there, and need to be better in that situation.
“But on offense, we kept coming back at them. Our backs just benefited from our line; it could be any one of our guys. You never know who it’s going to be. ”
Wilmington also scored on its opening drive when Mitcheltree ran a kickoff back to the Gremlins’ 44-yard line, leading to Vas-Gal’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Zehetner.
Freddie Zehetner caught four passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns, while Vas-Gal completed 6-of-12 passes for 122 yards.
Wilmington concludes the regular season at 7-3 and will now prepare for the District 10 Class A playoffs.
“I thought there were a lot of positive takeaways from this game,” Phillian said. “Again, you have to win these close games, but even in a loss, there will be plenty of positive things we can take away from this game. We’ll watch the film, learn, and look to fix them. These guys are resilient.”
Karns City, meanwhile, finished its regular season at 8-2, winning its fifth straight, and will attempt to win its first District 9 title since 2021 as it enters the postseason.
“At this point, we feel like we can compete with anybody,” Sherwin concluded. “If we play our game the way we’re capable of, I think we can compete with anyone.”
Game Highlights
Karns City 33 Wilmington 28
Score by Quarters
Karns City – 14 6 0 13 – 33
Wilmington – 7 0 0 21 – 28
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
KC – Hunter Scherer 6 yd run, (Brock Dittman pat), 8:56 – 7-66
W – Freddie Zehetner 33 yd pass from Wesley Vas-Gal, (Ryder Tervo pat), 5:42 – 6-44
KC – Cole Johnston 15 yd run, (Dittman pat), 2:36 – 5-75
Second Quarter
KC – Johnston 10 yd run, (kick failed), 11:45 – 6-29
Fourth Quarter
W – Chase Mitcheltree 10 yd run, (Tervo pat), 11:30 – 11-91
KC – Scherer 16 yd run, (pass failed), 8:16 – 7-57
W – Mitcheltree 7 yd run, (Tervo pat), 7:09 – 2-4
KC – Scherer 10 yd run, (Dittman pat), 3:03 – 7-73
W – Zehetner 54 yd pass from Vas-Gal, (Tervo pat). 2:50 – 2-54
Individual Stats
Rushing: KC – Johnston 14-123, Nathan Hess 12-97, Scherer 12-70, Riley Hamilton 4-21, Bryce Galan 1-7, Trevor Geibel 1-4, Team 3-(-10). Totals: 47-312. W – Mitcheltree 13-73, Cam Kettering 6-22, Zehetner 2-19, Cael Kettering 4-18, Rowan Miller 4-14, Michael Mistretta 1-2. Totals: 30-148.
Receiving: KC – Scherer 1-46, Galan 1-27, Hamilton 1-22, Keagan Schrecengost 1-6, Geibel 1-5. W – Zehetner 4-109, Mitcheltree 2-13.
Passing: KC – Johnston 5-for-7, 106 yards. W – Vas-Gal 6-of-12, 122 yards, 2 TD.
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