This site is about the sports doings of the high schools in Venango County, Pa. Contact: pennyweichel@gmail.com
Franklin baseball great Gary Shingledecker dies
Gary Shingledecker, the first Franklin High School player to be selected in the MBL draft, died in September after battling pancreatic cancer. He had just turned 59.
He was remembered during the FHS Hall of Fame ceremony Monday. Shingledecker and his brother Steve were 2024 inductees into the Hall.
Gary, after starring in Franklin's youth baseball programs, earned 11 letters in the golf, baseball and basketball in high school. He scored 1,176 points in basketball and later was an assistant coach for the Knights' 2006 state championship team.
But baseball was his sport. He played at North Carolina State (1987-89) and was drafted as a second baseman/third baseman by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th round of the 1989 draft.
He played a few years for Erie and and then Wausau in the minor leagues.
While he was an assistant coach for one of the Knights' state championship basketball teams, he had said the coaching job he was most proud was baseball. He took over a Franklin program that was 0-20 and in two years the Knights won a District 10 title.
His brother, Steve, followed a similar career path, playing baseball at NC State from 1989-91. He's now the golf coach at Robert Morris.
LEFT 'EM DRAGON
Oilers find their way on offense, smother Warren on defense to even record at 3-3
This season appears to be one of either feast or famine offensively for the Oilers. And it was a feast against Warren during a rare Thursday night game at the Oil Field-- a 57-0 Oil City victory.
After three straight less-than-medicore outputs against Sharon, McLane and Prep, the Oil City O"" exploded against Warren, and left the visitors, well, draggin' (Dragon).
The Oilers churned out (mostly) 465 total yards, including 396 rushing on 42 carries. Junior Tycen Sindlinger led the way with a career-high 169 on 21 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 2, 23 and 33 yards.
Oil City opened with two of its linebackers at running back, the other being all-state defender Blake Stevens who ran hard eight times for 85 yards.
Junior Carter Thompson came off the bench to contribute 53 yards on seven tries, score TDs on runs of 5, 18 and 10 yards and kick five straight extra points. (Last year's placekicker, Landon Riley, was busy booming kickoffs.)
A freshman running back, Declan Cunningham, got into the scoring act late when he dashed 46 yards for the Oilers' final TD, with a pass from 6-3 junior Skylar Hanlon to Joey Palczer accounting for the PAT.
QB Bryce Marchinke, threw a 24-yard TD pass to Logan Heath in the midst of a 21-point first quarter and connected with Carter Bialo for a PAT that made it 14-0.
Marchinke also had a nice 28-yard run to set up Sindlinger's third touchdown, which put the mercy rule into effect.
The sophomore did throw two picks, one of which was kind of fluky.
And the Oilers had two interceptions of their own by Sindlinger and Heath off Warren's soph QB, Parker Kiser.
The Oiler defense was as stingy as ever, yielding 44 total yards, much of that coming against reserves on Warren's final possession. The 1-4 Dragons were stopped dead in their tracks most of the first half when they totaled minus 5 yards, including minus 23 rushing.
Oil City ended a three-game losing streak and evened its record at 3-3 with big road tests coming up against Grove City a week from today, and then Harbor Creek. After a week off, the Oilers end their eight-game schedule at home with Karns City -- which might be their biggest test of the last three games.​
The game was streamed by exploreVenango, which honored junior Tycen Simdlinger (169 yards, three TDs) as Player of the game. Carter Thompson also scored three touchdowns and all-state linebacker Blake Stevens ran hard for 85 more yards.
OCHS: 2 different players with 3 or more TDs in a game
Iroquois 34, Knights 14
Caden Mincer’s return to the lineup wasn’t enough Sept. 25 as the winless Knights bowed to visiting Iroquois, 34-14.
The teams were tied at the half, 14-14, before the Braves pulled away.
Mincer, who missed the last two games with an injury, carried 17 times for 94 yards. He also had a 28-yard punt return that set up his second TD – a 14-yard run on the next play. His first TD was a 1-yard run.
Jacob Fleming added both extra points.
The Braves broke the tie to start the second half, and then recovered an onside kick. But they had to wait to extend their lead as an 11-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 4 kept them out of the end zone.
Franklin then reached midfield on an 11-yard dash, a 28-yard catch and a four-yard run on fourth-and-two by Mincer before being stopped on downs.
Later on, Ryheem Abu-Zahbiba went 66 yards on a reverse on third-and-18 to make it 28-14. Iroquois added another touchdown on a 60-yard fumble return by Noah Olowinski. This came after Cooper Carll recovered a fumble at the Iroquois 28 with 4:18 to play.
Luke Marsteller had 14 more tackles, bringing his season's total to 49.
The Knights hit the road for three straight games, beginning Friday at Meadville. Mincer needs 796 yards in the last five games to tie Ian Quarles' school rushing record. Still doable.
Bulldog Bites
Knights vs. Meadville, today at Bender Field
First game was in 1909 with Meadvillle pulling out a 6-0 victory. Except for one, big hiccup from 1958-1992 when Franklin was dominant, the Bulldogs have owned the series, 66-45-2.
Actually, it's been a series of streaks with Meadville in the midst of a 17-2 run since 2007. The 'Dogs have won seven straight and have scored 921 points, averaging 61.4, since 2009. They have five 70-point games, including four of 77. The Knights' last win came in 2018, 55-34.
There have been no defensive struggles lately; the last "normal" score was in 2008 when Meadville won, 14-7.
Getting back to a series of streaks: while Meadville has won the last seven, Franklin had a nine-game winning streak from 1998-06. Before that, the Knights won 12 in a row from 1965-76.
The two teams have taken turns in "mini streaks" since 1923.
Meadville was a perennial power in the early 20th century, going 21-3-2 against Franklin through 1939.
This probably wasn't supposed to be a rebuilding year for the 'Dogs, but it is.
​They are 1-4, the victory against Warren. They lost by respectable scores to Oil City, Erie and Butler before being shown the door, 40-6, last week by the mighty Sharon Tigers.
Meadville returned some experienced linemen, but the skill position guys in the wing T are new. The QB, Harrison Richards, is a freshman, and he mostly hands off. He averages 5.6 passes per, so nothing new here from the Meadville end. Soph Leo Collins is averaging 5.6 yards. His backfield mates are junior Jamel Mitchell (3.1) and senior Ben Howe (4.1). Carries have ranged between 60 (Mitchell, 3.1) and 43 (Collins, 5.6).
Photo by Christy Fackler
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 5-1 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 279-31 overall and 259-21 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.
100 Years Ago: Remembering 1926
The only teams to score on Oil City were the three that beat them: the Alumni (7-2), Warren (13-7) and Steubenville, Ohio (49-0). Otherwise, the Oilers posted seven victories, including two over Franklin, a 0-0 tie with Sharpsville and gained a leg of the Alpha Cup.
Franklin, meanwhile, recorded five wins to go with four losses, the other two coming against Sharpsville and Meadville. Coach Ed Treadwell spent part of the season in Buffalo General Hospital with rheumatic fever, so assistant Earl McGill took over in his absence.
Oiler home games were moved to the West End field from Hasson Ramage, which school officials deemed too rough. They opened the season Sept. 18 against the Alumni, while Franklin kicked off the campaign Sept. 25 against Yougsville.
After tying Sharpsville during Week 2, the Oilers got in the win column when Al Henderson returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown in a 7-0 victory over Erie East.
The Nursery's first loss to Oil City on Oct. 9 was sandwiched around lopsided victories over Yougsville (37-0), Sandy Lake (28-0) and Union City (68-0). Paul Snyder scored four TDs against the Bears. He led Franklin with seven touchdowns that season.
Frank "Bruv" O'Day, who later coached St. Joe, ran for 133 yards before 4,000 fans in that 27-0 victory over Franklin, which included two TDs covering 25 yards by Henderson and Bob Moran and another for 21 by Walter "Spike" McLain.
O'Day also registered a pair of 55-yard plays in the second game against the Nursery, an 18-0 shutout on Nov. 25. One was a run from scrimmage and the other a Pick 6.
The Nursery had some so-so results in between the two games. There were shutouts against Union City, injury-riddled Greenville and Titusville (34-0), their first win over the Rockets in seven years. Ed Billig scored twice, the first on a 48-yard run to start the scoring. Billig scored six TDs on the season and Bob Muse added five.
Franklin lost to Meadville in its next outing before taking on Oil City again.
Before the back-to-back losses to Warren and Steubenville, the Oilers blanked Meadville, 40-0, and the mighty Sharon Tigers, 14-0. Ray "Chubby" Williams' 2-yard plunge clinched the win over Sharon as the Oilers handed the Tigers their first loss of the season.
The week before, Moran scored three TDs, one from Henderson for the Oilers' only scoring pass of 1926.
The Oilers measured Titusville, 33-0, the week before the second game with Franklin. McLain's 64-yard run was the highlight of the game.
Oil City was scheduled to play Greenville, but the Trojans canceled, saying it was unable to field a team. But later it was learned the PIAA was on Greenville's case for using ineligible players.
The Oilers' lineup in 1926 included 275-poound senior tackle Roy "Kippy" Schorman. Moran led the Oilers with eight touchdowns and Henderson added five and 38 points.
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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.​
yardsandpoints.com (formerly venangofootball.com and then route8rivalry.com) covers the grid doings of Oil City and Franklin high schools in Venango County. Not only does it include the football histories of the two schools, which date back to 1896, but of (RIP) Venango Catholic/Chriistian/St. Joe, which dropped the sport in the 1990s. I've recently included more stuff on basketball as well as the other sports.​
You can say what you want about the caliber of football played in northwestern Pa. (few Division I players and state champs), but one thing you can't take away. These schools and their local playmates are old, old OLD. Lots of history here.
Former Derrick sports editor Penny Weichel is webmaster.​
Contact pennyweichel@gmail.com if need be.
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