Rolling along
KARNS CITY — Suffocating defense. Explosive offense. Still undefeated.
Led by big performances from junior Collin Dunmyre and senior Cody Deal, and a ferocious defense that racked up six sacks in the first half, the Karns City Gremlins cruised past Union 56-20 Friday night during homecoming at Diehl Stadium.
It didn't take long for the Gremlins to inflict their will.
On the third play from scrimmage for the Knights, Karns City defensive lineman Dalton Callihan sacked quarterback Lane Cicciarelli and forced Union to punt from its own 7 yardline.
The Gremlins (6-0) took over at the Union 32 and ran a pitch play to Dunmyre on the near sideline. The offensive line opened up a gaping hole and Dunmyre made a cut and burst through on his way to the score.
After Deal plunged into the endzone on Karns City's next possession, Dunmyre delivered again by breaking two tackles and outrunning the secondary on a 58-yard scamper for six.
Not to be outdone, Deal showed his athleticism and elusiveness by juking and weaving his way to a 60-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-0 in the second quarter.
“Every week it's somebody different, and tonight was their night,” Gremlins coach Ed Conto said. “They did a nice job. A lot of times we play a lot of kids so they don't get that many carries, so we tell them, 'You touch the ball five times, you gotta do something with it.'”
But it wasn't just the offense shining.
Karns City's defense shut down the high-flying passing attack of Union in the first half by getting after the quarterback. Cicciarelli was constantly under pressure, being harassed by a flock of Gremlins.
Callihan, Deal, Ben Ealy, Cooper Shepard and Tristan Rhoades all had sacks, while Cicciarelli had to scramble multiple other times to avoid losing yardage.
The six-sack defensive effort led to the Knights finishing with minus-30 rushing yards on 19 attempts.
Despite the setbacks, Union had some highlights and fought its way to the finish. Wideout Cole Morris caught four passes for 163 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown grab in the second half.
Also, standout wide receiver Chet Carmichael returned a kickoff 95 yards for a score in the first half and caught a 66-yard touchdown late in the game.
“At halftime we challenged them to show us the heart they have. They aren't quitters, that's for sure,” Union coach Dave Louder said. “We were exploited by mistakes. One guy misses and Karns City is going to make you pay.”
And Karns City was able to make the Knights pay on the scoreboard and the stat sheet.
By the end of the game, the Gremlins had amassed 393 yards rushing on just 31 carries. The quarterback duo of Deal and Caleb King also tossed three scores. The win keeps Karns City unbeaten and rolling, as it has played only one game that was decided by 10 points or less. And with the postseason slowly creeping up, the Gremlins took some time to fine-tune their game.
“I was real pleased with the defense, and I was pretty much pleased with the overall,” Conto said. “We wanted to work on a lot of different things. We took time to do some different things tonight, and I thought the kids did a good job.”
