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OIL CITY
All-staters Stevens, Lucarelli
tackling Oiler defensive charts
Noah Lucarelli (26) and Blake Stevens (38) have been mainstays of Oil City's defense the last two years. In fact, both were all-state last season.
Stevens is racking up the stops again this season. He has a team-leading 84 with a chance of making 100 again, depending on how many games the Oilers get to play.
He's No. 5 all-time with 253 behind Brayden Crocker (287), Kris Tawney (265), Kevin Pearsall (264) and Mario Fontanazza (263).
(Keep in mind tackle stats have been sporadic over Oil City's 130 years of playing football.)
Lucarelli boasts a smorgasbord of defensive stats, which include 144 tackles. His 28 tackles for loss rank No. 3 all-time behind Pearsall (38) and Fontanazza (30).
Plus, he has 11 sacks, 20 QB hurries, 6 forced fumbles and a recovery, three passes defended and 11 blocks and tips. So he has reason to do some smiling.
Junior linebacker Tycen Sindlinger made 100 tackles last season. He missed some time this year, but is now up to 159 career stops.
The Oilers are maybe as little suspect on pass defense but have yielded an average of 85 yards per game rushing this season. Six teams have been held to under 200; Prep had the most with 161.​
Week 9 finds Oilers with no game; Karns City up next in home finale before heading to playoffs
Dan York's tailbacks at Oil City
Longest punts in Oiler history
Dan York, who played tackle on Oil City's Cinderella 1975 team, has been the Oilers' head coach since 2016.
Dan York's tailbacks at Oil City
Blake Stevens and Meadville's Ben Howe discuss matters at hand in the 2026 season opener. Stevens and teammate Tycen Sindlinger were 1-2 in Region 5 tackles; Howe was also top 10.(Kelly Malek).
Oil City was idle this week and will host Karns City (it's official) on Oct. 30 to end the regular season. The Oilers are looking to make a repeat trip to the District 10 4A playoffs where they are a projected third seed -- which means another date with Cathedral Prep in the first round. (Top-seeded General McLane would face Harbor Creek in the other semi.)​
This has been an unusual season of sorts for the 4-4 Oilers who have no big-name rusher, partly because of injuries. Carter Thompson leads the way so far with 490 yards, but he is one of four players with 200 yards or more. The others are Tycen Sindlinger (258), Bryce Marchinke (245) and Clark Findlay (227).​
Only twice in coach Dan York's 11 years as coach has Oil City not had a player rush for at least 500 yards. The first time was 2016 when Jahmeer Jordan was No. 1 with 470. The next time was 2024 when Dawan Cruz led with 492.​​
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Up Next: Karns City is 8-1 and no slouch. The Gremlims have wreaked havoc over the years, not just in District 9, but in interdistricts. Just ask Mercer County...​
The last two years the Gremlins have gone 9-3 and 7-3. From 2012-16 their records are 10-4, 12-2, 11-2, 12-1 and 10-3. The Oilers played the 2012 and 2013 teams, splitting the two games. Oil City won 33-21 in 2012, but Karns City reportedly had some injury issues. The Gremlins answered in 2013 with a 48-28 decision...​
Karns City's only loss this season was to Central Clarion by a surprisingly lopsided 43-14. The Gremlins have beaten Butler, Keystone and DuBois and are coming off a 35-20 victory over Port Allegany...​
WR Owen Kaufman was the star against Port. He scored four TDs, one on a 75-yard run. One of the others was a Pick 6...For the season Kaufman has 24 catches for 719 yards...He's the favorite target of senior QB Cole Johnston, a 6-2, 215-pounder who has thrown for 1,048 yards and 12 touchdowns. Johnston also has rushed 85 times for 824 yards...No. 2 rusher Bryce Galan is 84/569...​​
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FRANKLIN
Freddie Blackhurst (4) made some big plays here and there on receptions and returns. One was a 32-yard reception from senior tackle Aaron Moore Junior (6-6, 325) the last time the Knights had the ball. Blackhurst, another senior, is second on team in all-purpose yards with 430...Harrison Doty was 15 of 32 passing for 179 yards for Franklin...Doty, a soph, has more than 1,500 yards passing...
Unbeaten McLane has no trouble
in Knights' home finale, 41-0
The highlight of the game, at least for Franklin, was 6-6, 330-pound senior tackle Aaron Moore-Junior not only attempting, but completing a 32-yard pass to Freddie Blackhurst.
It came in the midst of the Knights’ last threat, which resulted in a pass into the endzone by regular quarterback Harrison Doty that fell incomplete to end the game.
The game went according to Hoyle – a 41-0 triumph for unbeaten and Region 5 champion General McLane. But the Lancers did all they could not to get in their own way of their ninth victory of the season, what with 11 illegal procedure calls.
Still, McLane was way too much for the 1-8 Knights, returning the opening kickoff 60 yards to the Franklin 28 and scoring on an 11-yard pass three plays later.
McLane scored on its next possession when Josh Caro threw his second TD, this one to Donny Burke for 30 yards.
In the meantime, the Knights fumbled on their first two possessions before the two teams traded turnovers. One, a 50-yard Pick 6 by freshman Jack Ponsoll put the Lancers up, 21-0.
Ponsoll wasn’t the only freshman to star for the Lancers. Elliott Williams, Caro’s understudy, took the reigns late in the second quarter, and quarterbacked them the rest of the way. Both Caro (28 yards) and Williams (19) scored on keepers to stake McLane to a 34-0 halftime lead.
Williams’ 9-yard run on McLane’s first possession of the second half made it 41-0 and turned on the running clock.
It came after Moore Junior made his first appearance in the Knights’ backfield. He took a handoff, ran for six yards...but, oof, fumbled – Franklin’s third bobble of the game.
The Knights, however, did put together some good looking drives. The best came just before halftime after Austin Brown recovered a McLane fumble 60 yards from the end zone. Doty delivered a 23-yard pass to Blackhurst on the first play, and later Caden MIncer ran 21 yards to the 10.
The Knights thought they had a TD on an 8-yard Doty-to-Mincer pass, but holding negated it. Doty found MIncer again, this time for 10 yards to the 8, but two plays later freshman Jacob Fleming’s 25-yard field goal attempt failed.
Mincer ran for 46 yards before being shaken up in the second quarter. He saw no action after intermission.
The Knights were also stopped on downs at the 21 in the second half, and a 23-yard punt return by Blackhurst triggered their last march – the one that featured the fourth-down pass by Moore Junior. Doty also connected with freshman Gilberto Rivera for a 12-yard gain to the 26 on another fourth down pass.
KNIGHT LIFE – A couple of more big plays for Franklin: a 30-yard Doty to Damian Cassano pass and an INT by Luke Marsteller in the first quarter…Marsteller up to 88 tackles...Cassano, the first-year soph, has 400 yards receiving ...Mincer has 1,054 all-purpose yards, including 310 receiving...McLane now 16-0 vs. Franklin all-time...Final foe Seneca is 2-8 and is led by the junior passing combo of Dalton Boyd (110/216/1,365, 18 TDs) to Donovan Huzinec (59/886, 15 TDs)...Teams played in 2022 and 2023, splitting the two games...
Numbers from 2023-25 are from News-Herald accounts of games. Numbers this season are from what coaches share on MaxPreps; they didn't post prior to this year.
It's going to take an "Ethen Knox game" for Caden Mincer to break Ian Quarles' school rushing record. Mincer's last chance is Friday at 2-7 Seneca. Mincer has 2,704 yards; Quarles' record is 3,089. Oil City's Ethen Knox routinely ran for 300-400 yards a game when he was in high school. He also carried the ball 33 times per. Mincer has averaged about 20 carries.
AROUND REGION 5
Region 5 standings
Standings
Friday's Games
Karns City (8-1) 36, Port Allegany (5-4) 20
Cathedral Prep (7-2) 56, Harbor Creek (5-4) 6
McDowell (6-3) 41, Meadville (2-7) 7
North East (6-3) 42, Seneca (2-7) 28
Sharon (7-2) 20, Grove City (7-2) 13
Ft. LeBoeuf (5-4) 56, Titusville (2-7) 18
Union City (1-8) 28, Cochranton (0-9) 6
Warren (3-6) 60, Eisenhower (2-7) 14
Saturday's Game
Iroquois (4--4) at Saegertown (5-3)
VOLLEYBALL
Playoff-bound Franklin has Hope
Hope Laderer goes for the kill for the 14-4 Lady Knights vs. Cranberry in a tournament early this season.(Photo by Christy Fackler)
DISTRICT 10 3A PLAYOFFS
Wednesday
Top seed --- Cathedral Prep, bye
At Oil City
No. 5 Grove City vs. No. 4 Conneaut, 6 p.m.
No. 3 FRANKLIN vs. No. 6 Eisenhower, 7:15 p.m.
At Hagerty Family Events Center, Erie
No. 2 Fairview vs. No. 7 Greenville, 6 p.m.
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LEGENDS
THE WINS JUST KEEP ON COMING AT KIRTLAND
Oil City native Tiger LaVerde's teams at Kirtland, O., just keeping rolling along -- even though he lost his quarterback due to injury for the third straight year.
Yes, the Hornets lost a game this season, but they are 6-1 and on a collision course with another playoff berth, it would seem.
LaVerde's coaching career began in 2001 with a three-year stint at Franklin before he moved on to Kirtland.
He is 280-31 overall and 260-21 at Kirtland. He sports the highest winning percentage in Ohio history.
He was also the third in Ohio history to claim eight state titles -- (Class VI). The Hornets have reached the state finals in 14 of the last 15 seasons.
LaVerde was national Coach of the Year in 2023.
Giving 'em the old stiff arm
D-10 all-time top rushers
* active
Action photos from Mercyhurst web site
Knox: 173 total yards in first start for Mercyhurst
Ethen Knox had his biggest game yet on Oct. 24 for Mercyhurst's Division I football program.
The Oil City grad made his first start for the Lakers. He didn't score, but he carried the ball 18 times for 95 yards and caught nine passes for another 78 in the Lakers' 28-14 loss at Robert Morris.
Knox has played in six games for the 1-7 Lakers and has 144 yards rushing on 31 tries and 21 receptions for 163. He's No. 4 on the team in receptions.
Knox began seeing more action in late September, catching six passes for 38 yards against Western Kentucky.
His 12-game career numbers show 231 yards rushing on 41 carries and his only touchdown. All of his receiving stats are from this season. Defensively, he has seven tackles (three solo) and a block of something.
Mercyhurst visits Stonehill Oct. 31, and will host Wagner on Nov. 7. Kickoff is 2 p.m.
The Lakers will trravel to Pittsburgh again on Nov. 14 for a game with Duquesne, noon kickoff.
Knox is District 10's all-time leading rusher with 7,870 yards. He is a junior cybersecurity major at Mercyhurst.