KARNS CITY — The snow looked like it might be an early Christmas present for Karns City.

But Farrell wasn't in a giving mood.

Despite snow falling for much of the game and accumulating on the field, the Steelers (11-0) threw for 208 yards and received 139 yards rushing from 2,000-yard back Anthony Stallwoth in hanging a 30-12 PIAA 2A quarterfinal football loss on the Gremlins Friday night at Diehl Stadium.

“Yeah, I thought the conditions favored us,” KC coach Joe Sherwin said. “But I never thought they'd be able to throw the ball as well as they did.

“We wanted to contain that running game. I thought we did a good job there. But they hit some big pass plays that killed us.”

Neither team scored in the first quarter. Farrell put together a 15-play drive that are more than nine minutes off the clock. Penalties forced the Steelers backward and they wound up punting on 4th-and-35.

The Steelers were flagged nine times for 85 yards on the night. The Gremlins (11-2) were penalized only once.

Farrell got the ball right back on a short punt, taking possession at the KC 38. Two plays later, Trian Holden found Omar Stewart Jr. for a 34-yard touchdown pass. Stallworth's conversion run upped the lead to 8-0.

After KC turned the ball over on downs at the Farrell 39 with 1:22 left in the half, 8-0 appeared destined to be the halftime score. But the Gremlins' Austin Brown leaped and picked off a flare pass on the next play.

The interception was the first thrown by Farrell all season.

“Trian is not our usual starter,” Farrell coach Anthony Pegues said. “That would be No. 2 (Kabron Smith), but he got a little banged up last week.

KC converted the turnover into points, Eric Booher tossing a 9-yard scoring pass to Micah Rupp. Rupp made a leaping catch between two defenders.

“Given the conditions, I thought Eric threw the ball well tonight,” Sherwin said.

The attempted two-point conversion failed due to a botched snap.

Farrell began the second half with a 91-yard scoring drive, capped by a 20-yard Stallworth run. He ran for the conversion as well.

“Absolutely huge,” Pegues said of the drive. “We needed to take back the momentum there. I told Kabron he needed to go in (at quarterback) and give us a spark. That's what he did.”

Smith hooked up with Stewart for an 84-yard touchdown pass on the Steelers' next possession. Trailing 22-6, KC completed a 45-yard drive with a 7-yard Luke Cramer touchdown run. The conversion failed and it was 22-12.

The Gremlins then recovered an onsides kick — Rupp diving on the ball — but wound up turning the ball over on downs.

A 15-yard interception return for a score by Dwight Allen finally settled the issue with 4:05 to play.

“I asked our kids to come out here and give all they had,” Sherwin said. “They did that. Our seniors were great leaders all year. We went down fighting tonight.”

Booher threw for 104 yards, putting him over 1,000 passing yards for the season. Garing and Jayce Anderson rushed for over 1,000 yards this season as well.

“This type of field played right into Karns City's hands,” Pegues said. “That combination of snow and ice ... It was like playing in mud. It neutralized our speed.

“We knew Karns City would run right at us. That's the kind of team they have. But I'm also not surprised we threw the ball as well as we did. We've got some guys who can sling it and they were giving us those slant and deep routes.”

Farrell converted a number of fourth downs, including one for a touchdown. KC was stopped a number of times.

“A lot of those (fourth down plays) were so close,” Sherwin said. “That was a big factor in this game.”

Farrell moves on to play Serra Catholic in the PIAA semifinals next week. Karns City ends it season as two-time District 9 champion.

Farrell 0 8 14 8 — 30

Karns City 0 6 0 6 — 12

Second Quarter

F — Omar Stewart Jr. 34 pass from Trian Holden (Anthony Stallworth run), 7:58

KC — Micah Rupp 39 pass from Eric Booher (run failed), 1:01

Third Quarter

F — Stallworth 20 run (Strallworth run), 8:40

F — Stewart 84 pass from Kabron Smith (pass failed), 1:49

Fourth Quarter

KC — Luke Cramer 7 runj (run failed), 10:07

F — Dwight Allen 15 interception return (Stallworth run), 4:05

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Farrell, Anthony Stallworth 20-139, Taidon Strickland 2-6, Anthony Jackson 1-0, Trian Holden 1-6, Kabron Smith 1-2, TEAM 1-(-5). Karns City, Eric Booher 3-10, Luke Garing 12-39, Jayce Anderson 15-72, Nate Garing 3-0, TEAM 2-(-26), Cooper Coyle 1-2, Luke Cramer 2-10.

Passing: Farrell, Trian Holden 7-11-97, Kabron Snmith 2-3-111-0. Karns City, Eric Booher 8-19-104-1.

Receiving: Farrell, Tailon Strickland 1-8, Lamont Sqmuels 1-9, Omar Stewart Jr. 6-174, Anthony Stallworth 1-7. Karns City, Micah Rupp 2-50, Luke Garing 2-11, Cooper Coyle 4-43.