KARNS CITY — Try as it might, Karns City simply had no answer for Trey Wingard.

DuBois Area’s sophomore quarterback passed for 315 yards and four scores Friday night as the Beavers escaped Diehl Stadium with a 41-36 victory to begin the season.

Wingard, the son of DuBois head coach T.J. Wingard, started three games as a freshman and threw for over 700 yards and seven touchdowns.

“I saw him play in a junior varsity game last year,” said KC coach Joe Sherwin. “He’s got a strong arm and being a coach’s son, you know he’s a smart kid. I’m not surprised they threw the ball as much as they did.”

The Gremlins had five different leads in the game, the last coming when Luke Cramer scored from a yard out and kicker Zach Kelly turned a bobbled hold on the point-after attempt into a successful run for a 2-point conversion that put KC up 36-35 with 6:21 left in the game.

But Trey Wingard completed three passes on the ensuing drive. The second was good for 33 yards to Kaden Clark that set the Beavers up at the KC 7. Three plays later, he found Carter Vos for the clinching touchdown.

Wingard connected with six different receivers in the game. Vos finished with five catches for 96 yards and Clark reeled in five for 98 yards.

“There’s a lot of guys out there. The offensive line did their job and the receivers played well,” said Coach Wingard. “It was a team effort.”

But big plays for the Beavers did not come strictly from the offense. With the Gremlins leading 21-19 and on the doorstep of another score late in the third quarter, Garret Nissel picked off a Mason Martin pass, made use of a clutch block at midfield and scored on a 97-yard interception return.

Martin responded with a 48-yard scoring run early in the fourth period, but Wingard again moved the Beavers through the air, finding Nathan Kougher from 21 yards out and DuBois led 35-28 with 9:31 left in the game.

It was that type of seesaw affair — nine lead changes — and certainly some bright spots for Karns City. Cramer, who missed almost all of his junior season, rushed for three touchdowns. Hunter Scherer scored on a 60-yard run in the third quarter.

But when victory is the goal, anything less tastes a bit sour. The Gremlins will now turn their attention to next Friday’s home game against Redbank Valley.

“We had some chances at turnovers, plays that could have changed the outcome tonight,” said Sherwin. “Defensively, we need to make stops and get off the field.

“I don’t fault our effort and there’s a lot of football left.”

DuBois Area 6 6 15 14 — 41

Karns City 8 7 6 15 — 36

First Quarter

KC — Luke Cramer 3 run (Cramer run), 7:25

DA — Garret Nissel 11 run (kick failed), 2:39

Second Quarter

DA — Kaden Clark 18 pass from Trey Wingard (kick failed), 5:15

KC — Cramer 1 run (Zach Kelly kick), 1:08

Third Quarter

DA — Isaiah Korney 3 pass from Wingard (Isaac Brigger kick), 9:13

KC — Hunter Scherer 60 run (kick failed), 8:56

DA — Nissel 97 interception return (Brysen Delaney pass from Wingard), 1:04

Fourth Quarter

KC — Mason Martin 48 run (Kelly kick), 11:49

DA — Nathan Kougher 21 pass from Wingard (Clark pass from Wingard), 9:31

KC — Cramer 1 run (Kelly run), 6:21

DA — Carter Vos 7 pass from Wingard (run failed), 4:08

Individual Statistics

Rushing: DuBois Area, Garret Nissel 12-72, Trey Wingard 3-(-3), Danny Dixon 6-17. Karns City, Mason Martin 14-83, Luke Cramer 14-41, Mason MacTaggart 5-50, Hunter Scherer 7-79, Owen Heginbotham 1-1, Zach Kelly 1-(-6).

Passing: DuBois Area, Trey Wingard 20-35-315-0. Karns City, Mason Martin 10-17-99-1.

Receiving: DuBois Area, Carter Vos 5-96, Kaden Clark 5-98, Garret Nissel 3-28, Brysen Delaney 2-16, Nathan Kougher 3-54, Isaiah Korney 2-23. Karns City, Luke Cramer 4-23, Shane Peters 1-14, Taite Beighley 3-40, Hunter Scherer 1-20, Zach Kelly 1-2.