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130 years of Oil City and Franklin football (1896-2026)

Neither school on list of 500 wins,
but Oilers (489) getting close 

Both Oil City and Franklin will be playing their 130th season of high school football in 2026. Their rivalry, which also began in 1896, is one of the oldest in Pennsylvania -- not the oldest, but it's right up there.

Since both schools have had their ups and plenty of downs on the gridiron over the years, neither has reached 500 wins. Oil City, thanks to its surge since 1994, is getting close with 489 victories (by my count, which means unofficially). Franklin, thanks to its dominance from 1959-92, isn't as close with 449 wins after a miserable last 35 years or so.

The accompanying chart of selected schools is from easternPafootball.com. I'd say go and see the full list, but after one view, you find yourself behind a paywall.

I included Mount Carmel, since it is No. 1 in the state, Aliquippa since the Oilers faced the Quips in the playoffs last season, and Southern Columbia because it's the gold standard in the state at the moment. (I was surprised that the team has existed only since 1963.)

I included every District 10 team, I think, except for Sharpsville and Farrell since neither the Knights nor the Oilers play them hardly ever. Anyway, y'all know Farrell is good.

DuBois and Punxsutawney are on this list. DuBois used to be in the same region as Oil City and Franklin and the Oilers played Punxsy in the state playoffs last season. Also in there is Bradford, an old on-again, off-again rival of both schools. 

And Redbank -- the Bulldogs are coached by FHS grad Blane Gold, and his teams have contributed greatly to the Bulldogs' record.

Also surprising, at least to me, is General McLane. I didn't realize the Lancers have been around as long as they have -- 1916.

I'm also surprised Fairview is right up there.

How did I come by this list? Well, it hit me that Oil City and Franklin are in a round-number year of existence. And I knew the rivalry was an old one state-wise -- not the oldest, but, again, right up there.

UPDATE -- I did find Titusville via Google. It was on that easternPafootball site. Titusville's record is only 10 games better than Oil City's -- all in the loss column. Records for Oil City and Franklin were close to what I have. They have 489-564-49 for the Oilers and 448-578-45 for the Knights. A big difference is the first year for both. They have 1898 for Oil City and 1897 for Franklin. But I KNOW Franklin and Oil City first met in 1896. 

News-Herald (Page 1) account of second         Oil City-Franklin game played on Nov. 14, 1896.

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Oil City Slide Show
Franklin Slide Show

IT WAS ALWAYS
PENN STATE BLUE
FOR LA VERDE CREW

Years ago, the late Dr. Philip LaVerde was shaking his head as he told me his sons, Tiger and Matt, then teens attending Oil City schools, would watch Penn State football games on TV and call all the plays before they were run. Where did they get this from, he seemed to be saying. Certainly not me.

Point is, both boys were huge Penn State fans. (His home room teacher told me Tiger wore a Penn State shirt to school every day.) Later on, Matt, who played quarterback for Oil City in 1995, got to see Penn State up close and personal as a preferred walk-on.

He later starred at middle linebacker for Mount Union, the Division III power, where he was teammates with some future famous football types. including Matt Campbell, now the head coach at Penn State.

Both LaVerdes coached at Franklin, and Matt later was the head man at Oil City (2008-15). Tiger moved on to Kirtland, Ohio, where he has coached eight state championship teams and many standouts, including his sons, Phil and most recently Jake.

And wouldn't you know? Jake, a QB at Kirtland, is a preferred walk-on safety at Penn State -- where he will be a classmate of cousin Steven Heise who graduated No. 2 in his class as he helped Oil City win titles in both football and basketball this past season. Derrick/News-Herald correspondent Joe Sager offers a look at the family here -- and it all starts with wiffle ball.

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Tiger LaVerde is pictured with sons Jake (left) and Phil. Tiger was Franklin's head coach from 2001-03. His brother, Matt, was an assistant at Franklin before serving as  head coach at his alma mater, Oil City, from 2008-15. Tiger moved on to Kirtland, Ohio, where he is one of the nation's top schoolboy coaches.  

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SPRING ALL-STARS

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Some candidates...

DREAM TEAMS

FOOTBALL

4A ALL-STATE (PFW)

Noah Lucarelli, DL

Blake Stevens, LB

4A all-state (coaches)

Cole Findlay, Oil City, DB

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All-DISTRICT 10

Erie TimesNews Super 72

Brayden Buzard, Oil City, LB

Cole Findlay, Oil City, DB

Steven Heise, Oil City, RB

Noah Lucarelli, Oil City, DL

Blake Stevens, Oil City,  LB

YDL

First team

Cole Findlay, Oil City, DB, co-Athlete of Year

Carson Foster, Oil City, OL

Blake Stevens, Oil City, LB

Second team

Landfon Baker, Oil City, WR

Steven Heise, Oil City, RB-DB

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All-REGION 6

First team

Landon Baker, Oil City, WR

Brayden Buzard, Oil City, LB

Cole Findlay, Oil City, QB-DB (Player of Year)

Carson Foster, Oil City, OL

Steven Heise, Oil City, RB-DB

Noah Lucarelli, Oil City, DL

Connor Ritchey, Franklin, P

Caleb Sparks, Oil City, OL-DL

Abdul Stanton, Oil City, DL

Blake Stevens, Oil City, LB

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Second team

Deryk DeLong, Oil City, OL

Kaiden Kiselka, Franklin, OL

Anthony Martin, Franklin, LB

MySaun Mills, Oil City, AP

Caden Mincer, Franklin, RB

Aaron Moore Junior, Franklin, DL

Jacob Riddle, Franklin, OL-DL

Connor Ritchey, Franklin, K

Tycen Sindlinger, Oil City, LB

Spence Singleton, Oil City, DB

Jayden Wilmoth, Franklin, WR-DB

Lucas Wolfe, Oil City, OL

CROSS COUNTRY​

All-DISTRICT 10

Girls

Corabel Shiley, Oil City

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Region3

Boys

First team

Gauge Gierlach, Rocky Grove, and Max Griffin, Rocky Grove

Second team

Maxx Baker, Rocky Grove; Landen Carter, Rocky Grove

Girls

First team -- Isabel Griffin, Rocky Grove; Sophie Wehrle, Rocky Grove

Second team

Bryanna Riley, Rocky Grove; Lucy Haubrich, Rocky Grove; Ellie Coyer, Rocky Grove

 

Region 7

Boys

Keegan Kirkwood, Oil City; Rilee Matalino, Oil City; Elliott Hulszier, Oil City

Girls

Corabel Shiley, Oil City; Alayna Gahr, Franklin; Justeyn Winner, Franklin; Kaelyn Klapec, Oil City; Olive Collins, Oil City

​

KSAC

Girls

MVP -- Beatrice Kolesar, Cranberry

First team -- Elena Ishman, Cranberry

Second team -- Darien Wenner, Cranberry

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Boys

First team -- Dalton Wenner, Cranbery

Second team -- Daniel McCain, Cranberry

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BASKETBALL

KSAC Boys

First team

Blake Marchinke, Cranberry (MV)

Second team

Cole Findlay, Cranberry

KSAC Girls

First team

Darien Wenner, Cranberry

Third team

Jadyn Shumaker, Cranberry

​

District 10

Boys (small school)

Landen Carter, Rocky Grove

Girls (small school)

Payton Liederbach, Oil City 

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Region 5

Boys

First team

Nevin Stinson, Oil City (POY)

Jameson Wofford, Franklin

Second team

Michael Fink, Oil City

Ian Higley,Franklin

Region 2

First team

Landen Carter. Rocky Grove

Noah Baughman, Rocky Grove

Second team

Connor Ritchey, Rocky Grove

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Girls

Region 5

First team

Payton Liederbach, Oil City (co-POY)

​Sophia Garmong, Oil City 

Second team

Laney Smith, Oil City

Zarria Cullins, Franklin

Hailey Hanna, Franklin

Jadyn Blum, Franklin

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WRESTLING

All-District 9/10 (YDL)

First team

Dalton Wenner, Cranberry (139)

All-Retgion 2

First Team

Seth Hollerman, Franklin (107)

Gary Kiselka, Franklin (215)

Kaiden Kiselka, Franklin (285)

Second team

Ethan Hart, Franklin (152)

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SWIMMING

All-District 10 (boys)

John Lander, Oil City

Jordan Stumpf, Franklin

All-Region 1

First team

John Lander, Oil City (50, 100, fly)

Second team

John Lander, Oil City (back)

Jordan Stumpf, Franklin (100, 500)

Franklin medley relay -- (Stumpf, Jacksen Clark, Parker Smith, Jacob Balsamo)

All-District 10 (girls)

Evelyn Highfield, Franklin (breast)

Dani Erdley, Franklin (back)

Natalie Wilson, Oil City (para)

All-Region 1

First team

Evelyn Highfield, Franklin, (breast)

Second team

Dani Erdley, Frankln, back

Franklin medley relay -- Erdley, Highfield, Chloe Switzerland, Sammi Smith)

Franklin 400 relay -- Erdley. Highfield, Switzer, Ellie Coyer)

​

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So far...

KSAC softball

2nd team

Gracee Hess , Cranberry (P-IF)

Kennedy Stewart, Cranberry (1B)

Avery Coe, Cranberry (IF)

3rd team

Jadyn Shumaker, Cranberry (C)

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KSAC baseball

2nd team

Brody Bowler, Cranberry (1B)

Alex McIntyre, Cranberry (OF)

3rd team

Jake McCloskey, Cranberry (OF)

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Region 1 tennis

2nd team

Gabe Loughran, Oil City

ABOUT THIS SITE

If you are from Anywhere, USA, and happened to stumble upon this site, Franklin and Oil City are about eight miles apart along Route 8 in Venango County, Pa. -- which is about halfway between Pittsburgh and Erie in the western part of the state.

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yardsandpoints.com (formerly venangofootball.com and then route8rivalry.com) covers the grid doings of Oil City and Franklin high schools in Venango County. It also includes the football histories of the two schools, which date back to 1896, along with that of (RIP) Venango Catholic (nee Christian and formerly St. Joseph in Oil City), which dropped the sport in the 1990s. I've recently included more stuff on basketball as well as the doings in other sports.

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Former Derrick sports editor Penny Weichel is webmaster.

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Contact pennyweichel@gmail.com if need be.

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