This site is about the sports doings -- mainly football -- of the high schools in Venango County, Pa. Contact:
True Grit
District 10 champs!!!
Oilers score by safety, fumble recovery, QB sneak
to take out previously invincible McLane, 16-14
Nursing that two-point lead, Cole Findlay's 26-yard scramble on third-and-25 from his own 38 with 1:23 left sealed the deal. And he was just trying to get a couple for a decent punt. But plans change.
“I found a lane and kept running. I got a good block from my receiver on the outside and was just able to keep getting more yards," Findlay later told The Derrick's Joe Sager. “Once I realized I got the first down, I knew we’d win the game, for sure.”
Four plays later, including two victory formations, the Oilers were posing for pictures and celebrating their first district title since 2020 and their fifth overall. They were greeted on their return to town with a hero's welcome. (Photo and video by Jeff Uveino of the Erie Times News. )
Here's a team photo after Oilers beat McLane.
Here's a team photo after Oilers beat McLane.
slide show gallery photos by Kelly Malek
OILERS
The Oilers have scored 48 touchdowns this season, and Cole Findlay and Steven Heise have had a hand in 39 of them. Plus, seven different receivers have been the recipients of Findlay's 15 TD passes, Landon Baker leading the way with six.
Blues Brothers...
Total Offense
Defense
After making some big plays his last two home games, senior linebacker Brayden Buzard kept it up against General McLane with a 42-yard fumble return for a touchdown to go with eight tackles, 3 TFLs and a blocked field goal. He returned an interception 43 yards for a TD against Warren on Oct. 10, and then made two sacks totaling 18 yards against Franklin on Oct. 17. Buzard has 170 career tackles. (Photo by Eric Elliott).
There were a lot of tackles to be made against McLane and these three, My'Saun Mills, Spence Singleton and Blake Stevens, along with Brayden Buzard led the way. Mills and Stevens made 12 apiece (100 on the season) and Singleton added 10. Stevens was credited with the safety. And in addition to his interception, Steven Heise made nine tackles and defended four passes. (Findlay slapped away three). Tycen Sindlinger matched Buzard with eight stops. Other stat sheet tidbits: Abdul Stanton the only sack plus seven tackles and a TFL, Noah Lucarelli and Caleb Sparks two tipped passes apiece. Lucarelli had the other of the six TFLs. Sparks' turnover was listed as a pick, not a fumble recovery. (Photos by Kelly Malek)
Passes Defended Last 10 Years
Williams' 96-yard return was a walk-off.
Center Carson Foster is pictured with Dave "The Bossman" May, longtime hydration engineer and jack of all trades on the Oiler sideline, who is holding the District 10 championship trophy. The Bossman has been with the team for all five district titles, the first one coming in 1998.
The Dope
Clearfield
QB -- Xavier Curry (6-1, 185, Sr.) 76/146 passing 1,211 yards 10 TDs, 10 INTs; 96/641 rushing
RB -- Colton Ryan (5-10, 175, Sr.) 229/1,417 rushing. 20 TDs, 7 100-yard games
Receivers -- Cooper Broad (6-0, 180., Sr.) 29/581
Perennial power, worst season in last 20 years was 6-5 in 2005, eight seasons of 10 or more wins since 2004
Punxsutawney
QB -- Maddox Hetrick (5-9, 175, Sr.) 93/145 passing 1,557 yards 14 TDs, 4 INTs; 64/372 rushing
RB -- Jordan Rutan (5-8, 170, Sr.) 154/1,035 rushing, 15 TDs, long 81
Receivers -- Logan Moore (5-10, 180), 50/701; Beau Thomas (6-2, 225, TE, Sr.) 33/528
10-1 in 2010 and then nine of 10 losing seasons including 0-10 in 2019; 5-6 last year
​
IDLE Kirtland returns to action Nov. 7 vs. Wickcliffe in Ohio plAYOFFS
Pairings
The Kirtland Hornets finished another 10-0 regular season -- their 12th under coach Tiger LaVerde -- and will face No. 8 Wickcliffe in the quarterfinals of Ohio's Division VI, Region 21 tournament on Nov. 7.
​
Wickcliffe eliminated No. 9 New Middletown Springfield, 17-15, in a first-round game on Halloween night.
​
Kirtland is the tournament's top seed, and had a first-round bye.
​
The Hornets have withstood injuries to quarterback Jake LaVerde and tackle Jack Turk of late. Linebacker Mario Lorber filled in for LaVerde and threw for 170 yards and two TDs in their last game against Rootstown.
​
Kirtland, however, has relied on its defense (14 points allowed in the last six games) and ground game. John Silvestro has more than 1,400 yards rushing and Ty Bledsoe has added 980.
​
Jake LaVerde, Tiger's son, has played in six games. He's rushed for 614 yards (9.3 ypc) with four 100-yard games and has completed 21 of 38 passes for 435 yards and three TDs.
​
Tiger LaVerde is a 1991 Oil City High School graduate. He was Franklin's head coach from 2001-03.
cross country state medalists
Cranberry's Beatrice Kolesar, Rocky Grove's Isabel Griffin and Oil City's Corabel Shiley came home from Hershey with state cross country medals. Click here for more. (Photos by Connor Malek)
​
Turk steps down as Franklin coach
Matt Turk has stepped down after six seasons as Franklin football coach.
The news first came to light early Monday night via a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Tom Reisenweber of the Erie Times News.
The Knights posted a 10-50 record after Turk succeeded Tom Haynes following the 2019 season.
Franklin hasn't had a winning season since 2006 (6-4), although it "broke even" in 2015 and 2008 -- the last campaign it didn't yield a 50-point game. It has given up 50 or more points 59 times since then, 20 times since 2020. And Franklin's last playoff appearance was 2015 when QB Porter Rembold, RB Zak Lynn and WR Khalil West were the stars of the team.
Turk told Joe Henderson of The News-Herald that he needed a break from the grind of traveling back and forth from his home in Fairview (Erie County) nearly every day for the better part of a year -- every year -- to head the program.
He said he planned to do spend more time with family, do some traveling and think about what he wants to do next football-wise.
But Turk said he is optimistic about the future of Franklin's program.
“...I think I’m leaving it in a good spot,” Turk told Henderson. Not only is there some grit on this year’s varsity, but the lower grades appear to be well stocked with talent.
“I’m very happy where the seventh- and eighth-grade program is... There are going to be a lot of really talented ninth-graders that are going to help evolve that program over the next two years,” he told Henderson.
Turk played center for Franklin at the tail end of the Jim McCullough/Joe Stewart/Rich Hancox glory years (184-116-2 from 1958-92). He was an all-leaguer in 1989, blocking for Ian Quarles, the Knights’ all-time leading rusher (since much of Red Law's deeds on the gridiron have been lost.) That 1989 team lost to Cathedral Prep in the first round of the District 10 4A playoffs and finished 8-3-1. Turk later played college ball at Gannon.
One of Franklin's returning players is Caden Mincer, who has a shot at surpassing Quarles on the rushing list -- if he stays healthy.
Franklin is 113-217 since 1993, despite some stellar seasons led by Fred Blackhurst, Tiger LaVerde and Dave Smith -- Nate Byham's coach back in the oughts.
(Photo by Richard Sayer)
KNIGHTS
(File photo Tammy Curry)
Caden Mincer ran for 249 yards on 35 carries in Franklin's 34-12 decision over Lakeview on Oct. 24 and was named Jim Kelly Player of the Week by D9and10sports. com. The junior is the fourth Franklin player to run for more than 2,000 yards. He finished the season with 1,065 yards. Mincer scored three touchdowns. Seniors took care of the rest of the scoring: Jayden Wilmoth returned a kickoff for a touchdown, blocking back Evan Steigerwald scored on a 22-yard run and Connor Ritchey kicked four extra points during the Senior Night game. The big linemen in the picture are senior (78) Jake Riddle (6-2, 285) and junior (76) Aaron Moore (6-6, 340.)
200-Yard Rushing Games
(File photo by Tammy Curry)
Jayden Wilmoth returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown in the Knights' victory over Lakeview. The 5-7 senior, listed at 5-4 in 2024, caught 30 passes for 419 yards the last two years.
Senior Evan Steigerwald's duties mainly are blocking back, but against Lakeview he broke loose for a 22-yard TD once he got one of his rare carries. This photo from earlier in the season shows him protecting then quarterback Freddie Blackhurst. Blackhurst had an interception and stopped a two-point conversion Friday. (File photo Richard Sayer)
(File photo Tammy Curry)
Although stats are not available for the North East and Erie games this season, Connor Ritchey otherwise punted an astounding 80 times the last two years for a 36.5-yard average.