This site is about the sports doings of the high schools in Venango County, Pa. Contact: pennyweichel@gmail.com
Friday's Results
Oil City vs. Grove City
Franklin vs. Warren
Caden Mincer has rushed for 2,400 yards for Franklin through the Meadville game. The school career record is 3,089 yards set in 1988-89 by Ian Quarles. Mincer has four games to break it.
AROUND REGION 5
Region 5 standings
Today's Games
Karns City (6-0) at Ridgway (5-1)
Cathedral Prep at General McLane
Harbor Creek at Meadville
Titusville (2-3) at Conneaut (1-5)
Sharon (3-2) at Slippery Rock (3-2)
Seneca (2-3) at Fairview (3-2)
Union City (0-6) at Maplewood (5-1)
Saturday's Game
Iroquois (4-2) at Cambridge Springs (6-0)
​(Teams involving Oil City and Franklin schedules)
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
Photo from Mercyhurst web site
Ethen Knox's numbers at OCHS were unreal, now he's finding his place at 'Hurst
He doesn't get to play much, but Ethen Knox is seeing more action this season for Mercyhurst's Division I football program.
Knox, District 10's all-time leading rusher with 7,870 yards for Oil City from 2021-23, is a junior cybersecurity major at Mercyhurst.
Knox has played in four games this season for the 1-5 Lakers, and has seen more action lately. He caught six passes for 38 yards Sept. 26 against Western Kentucky and added four more receptions for 29 yards against LIU, a game the Lakers lost 29-27. (Their only win was 49-20 against Glenville on Sept. 19.)
For the season, Knox has 36 yards rushing on 10 carries and 10 catches for 67 yards.
His 10-game career umbers show 113 yards rushing on 20 carries and his only touchdown plus 10 receptions for 67 yards. Defensively, he was three tackles (two solo) and a block of something.
Looks like he's fourth on team in rushing. Jameir Gamble is 67/310, but nobody is close to him. Next are Emanuel Fincher 18/74 and Byron Cardwell 24/42 and then Knox.
Mercyhurst's next game is Oct. 17 when it hosts Central Connecticut at noon.
They will also be home to Wagner on Nov. 7. Kickoff is 2 p.m.
The Lakers will visit Pittsburgh twice in the coming weeks. They play Robert Morris on Oct 24 (2 p.m.) and Duquesne on Nov. 14 (noon).
In Memoriam
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.