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Kelly Malek photo

From distance: Sharon 41, Oil City 19

Sharon scored at will from all points beyond the 50 and spanked Oil City, 41-19, Friday, spoiling the previously unbeaten Oilers' home opener.

The win was the first of the season for the Tigers, who lost to Cathedral Prep and Hickory in their first two games. But last night was different as the Oilers couldn't handle them once they got beyond the line of scrimmage. Five of their six scoring plays covered 42, 43, 61, 44 and 59 yards. The other was a 1-yard run after an interception. Junior Marius Best scored four touchdowns and finished with 265 yards on 12 carries and four TDs.

The Tigers led 13-0 at the quarter and 20-6 at halftime.

The Oilers scored on Dylan Van Wormer's 4-yard run in the second quarter. That climaxed a 63-yard drive. But on the next play, the Tigers extended their lead to 20-6 on the 61-yard TD.

Oil City didn't score again until sophomore Clark Findlay (pictured) hit pay dirt from 2 yards out with 4:51 left in the game. A fourth down pass interference call deep in Tiger territory kept that drive alive. And by that time, Sharon led 34-6.

Findlay scored again on a 35-yard run with less than a minute left. He opened the drive with a 29-yard run. Declan Cunningham added the extra point.

Findlay was one for three tailbacks used in the absence of the injured Carter Thompson, the team's top rusher. Fullback Blake Stevens also got more carries than usual. The Oilers were also without LB/RB Tycen Sindlinger, but welcomed back Noah Lucarelli, an all-state defender who, it was previously thought, wouldn't be with the team this year.

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Thursday Night Lights
Harbor Creek 62,
Franklin 0 

Slippery at times Gavin Zillman scored four touchdowns on runs of 33, 39, 4 and 51 yards as homestanding Harbor Creek blanked Franklin, 62-0.

The Huskies (3-0) led 28-0 at the quarter, but had to wait until early in the second half to put the mercy rule into effect. It was 34-0 at intermission after a pick six late in the second quarter.

Interceptions stopped a couple of promising drives for the Knights (0-3), including their third possession after Harrison Doty passed to Anthony Martin for 26 yards and Freddie Blackhurst ran for 16 yards. But Zillman intercepted on the next play. 

Doty threw for 99 yards. The Knights used several tailbacks in the absence of the injured Caden Mincer, including Luke Marsteller and Conor Johnson. Blackhurst had several of nice pickups both running and catching the ball. He had some 135 all-purpose yards.

Zillman rfinished with 178 yards on 13 carries, bringing his season total to 684 yards rushing.

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This is the tuba the late James Self  of Hollywood fame donated to OCHS, his alma mater. (Kelly Malek)

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Photo by Christy Fackler

A LISTERS

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Heading into the 2026 season Oil City's Ethen Knox is 10th in rushing and Franklin's Ian Haynes is 12th in passing on Pennsylvania's all-time lists.

One little discrepancy: I have Knox with 7,870 yards.​

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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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