KARNS CITY — Karns City may have only gotten one half of football on Friday night, but it got more than its fair share of offense in a 61-0 thrashing of Saint Marys at Diehl Stadium.

The Flying Dutch rested their starters from the outset and, after the Gremlins stacked up an eight-score lead by halftime, Saint Marys refused to play the second half. Karns City coach Joe Sherwin wanted to get more meaningful football in before the playoffs kick off.

“It's just, I’m disappointed,” Sherwin said. “It’s disappointing for the kids and I think everybody involved.”

The Gremlins put 28 points on the scoreboard after running just seven total plays from scrimmage, thanks in part to consistent overwhelming pressure from their punt defense unit. His team played well, but it was difficult to measure what experience was truly gained.

“I mean, we executed, but with them not playing their starters, how much of a benefit it was I don’t really know,” Sherwin said. “I don’t think it was much of a benefit for us,” Sherwin said.

After the Gremlins went up big early, it is generally expected they would have a heavier rushing attack to play it safe and run the clock, especially considering the talent they have in the backfield between Hunter Scherer, Braden Slater and company.

With a big lead though, they continued to pass, taking the opportunity to get game experience on certain plays even though it was not the game experience they desired.

“We’re just trying to work on things,” Sherwin said. “We’ve got a playoff game next week, so we are trying to work on some things.”

Hunter Scherer took the opening kickoff 48 yards to the Flying Dutch’s 21-yard line. Karns City then scored on its first play from scrimmage as Braden Slater ran in from just outside of the red zone 19 seconds into the game.

Their next series was equally impressive as it went 55 yards on four plays. The first three were all first downs and the fourth was a Cole Johnston rushing touchdown.

After forcing a quick three-and-out on the ensuing Saint Marys drive, CJ Emrick added one of the most exciting plays of the evening. The junior blocked a punt, picked it up and took it into the end zone himself for Karns City’s third touchdown with just over six minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Things only snowballed from there.

The punt block team forced an awkward punt on the Flying Dutch’s next drive. Shane Peters hauled in a pass for six as the Gremlins scored on their first play of a drive for the second time to bring the score to 28-0.

Owen Heginbotham made his name known after that with a rushing score while Scherer and Slater accounted for the other three remaining touchdowns.

Slater had about as complete of a game as you could ask for, especially across just one half of play. The senior went over 100 yards rushing and receiving, scored two touchdowns, knocked in eight extra points and tacked on a 25-yard field goal for good measure.

Scherer was not too far behind as he finished with 97 yards rushing and receiving and tallied two ground scores.

Cole Johnston, the Gremlin’s quarterback, finished the night with just under 30 yards per completion, throwing for 146 yards and seeing his skill position players break tackles left and right.

The Gremlins are heading into the playoffs with momentum at their back coming off four straight wins where they scored at least 51 points.

Saint Marys 0 0 — 0

Karns City 31 30 — 61

First Quarter

KC — Braden Slater, 21 run (Slater kick), 11:41

KC — Cole Johnston, 7 run (Slater kick), 8:00

KC — CJ Emrick, recovered blocked punt in end zone (Slater kick), 6:19

KC — Shane Peters, 29 pass from Johnston (Slater kick), 4:17

KC — Slater, 25 field goal, 2:43

Second Quarter

KC — Hunter Scherer, 5 run (Slater kick), 8:29

KC — Slater, 13 run (Slater kick), 7:42

KC — Scherer, 32 run (Slater kick), 3:08

KC — Cameron Coudriet, tackled in end zone for safety, 2:49

KC — Owen Heginbotham, 24 run (Slater kick), 1:53

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Karns City, Braden Slater 4-75, Riley Hamilton 1-10, Hunter Scherer 4-52, Owen Heginbotham 2-38, Cole Johnston, 1-7. Saint Marys, Mike Miller 4-5, TJ Singer 6-(-1), Grant Jin 6-18, Cameron Coudriet 2-(-3).

Passing: Karns City, Cole Johnston 5-10-146. Saint Marys, Cameron Coudriet 2-7-31-1 INT

Receiving: Karns City, Shane Peters 1-29, Troy Nagel 1-27, Braden Slater 2-45, Hunter Scherer 1-45. Saint Marys, Mike Miller 2-3.

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