The Oilers didn’t have to face Gavin Zillman Friday night, but they did have to confront a battle with rainy night fumbles –three of them in the second quarter alone. But overcome them they did and came away with a 21-7 homecoming victory over Harbor Creek.

Zillman, in case you don’t know, is District 10’s second-leading rusher, averaging over 190 yards per game. He sat out the second half of last week’s game against Meadville, and could only be seen on crutches on the sideline Friday.

Obviously, the Oilers didn’t miss Zillman, and probably could’ve/would’ve/should’ve done better without the fumbles. But the running of Carter Thompson (unofficial 192 yards on 35 carries) and timely passing of Bryce Marchinke (143 more yards, two touchdowns) were enough to take care of the Huskies, the former second-place team in Region 5.

Thompson scored the Oilers’ first touchdown on an 11-yard run on their opening possession and then kicked the first of three extra points. A 40-yard pass to Logan Heath came one play before the TD. Heath also caught a 10-yard pass to keep this early threat alive. 

The barrage of fumbles would follow. The Huskies didn’t do a great job of taking advantage of them, except for the first one on the first play of the second quarter when Gavin Galbreath’s 23-yard return tied the score.

But other than that, zilch.

The score remained tied until Marchinke found Thompson for a 33-yard screen for a TD with 50 seconds left until halftime. This came after Heath planted a 42-yard punt on the 6 that eventually led to the scoring pass to Thompson.

The Oilers got some breathing room when Marchinke and Blake Stevens hooked up for  a 53-yard score with 6:46 left in the game.

Heath caught five passes, most of which went for short yardage, but otherwise made some big plays that set the Oilers up for big things – which didn’t happen. He ran the ball once for 14 yards, but that abbreviated march was cut short by one of the fumbles. He also returned a punt 30 yards to the Harbor Creek 45, but that drive stalled on downs on the 27. 

What's more, Heath unloaded a 65-yard punt to the 4 early in the second half. It is believed to be the longest in program history, breaking the previous record of 62 yards shared by Josh Cherish against Central in 2004 and Ralph "Gunner" Gates against Farrell in 1942.

However, Harbor Creek hardly threatened and wound up with 97 yards total offense, (68 rushing).

The victory evened the injury-riddled Oilers’ record at 4-4. They’re idle this week, and their next scheduled game is with Karns City at home on Oct. 30. Then come the playoffs.

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OIL GUSHERS:  While the Oilers turned the ball over four times (INT), Harbor Creek lost two fumbles. Carter Bialo had one of the recoveries...