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Oil City 14, Meadville 8 -- Soph Bryce Marchinke's INT with 13 seconds left preserved the win. Oilers took a 14-0 lead into the fourth quarter, but yielded a 14-yard TD pass on fourth down.
MASH missed the XP with 3:14 to play and then kicked deep.
with 3:14 to play and then kicked deep.
The Oilers couldn't move but wisely took a safety and held of the homesteading Bulldgos with smart anagement and Marchinke's pick.
The Oilers' first TD came after a failed fake punt. Oilers got the ball on the 25; Tycen Siindlinger scored from the 12 and Oil City led 6-0 at the half.
Marchinke, who shared QB with senior Alex McIntyre, scored from the late in the third quarter and tossed to Carter Bialo for the PAT.
All and all, the punting game was not kind to MASH, and neither was the Oiler defense, which limited the Bulldogs to 108 total yards.
Led by Carter Thompson (61 yards) and Sindlinger, the Oilers, despite completing just one pass. finished with 175 yards.
Sindlinger had tackles and all-stater Blake Stevens 11 to go with a fumble recovery.
Oil City 63, Franklin 3 -- Logan Heath returned a kickoff 97 yards right after Franklin had taken a short-lived 3-0 lead, triggering a string of 63 unanswered points. The return was the third longest in Oiler history, and Heath was not finished, catching two TD passes, one from Alex McIntyre (33 yards) and the other from Bryce Marchinke (17).
Carter Thompson added two touchdowns, one of a 63-yard run and ran for 148 yards to lead all rushers. Dylan Van Wormer also had a 57 TD, a 57-yarder.
Blake Stevens blocked a punt and recovered in the end zone to extend the lead to 12-0. That play covered 31 yards and helped Oil City take a 34-3 halftime lead.
The mercy rule went into effect soon after the second half began.
Also scoring TDs for the Oilers were Owen McCullough on a 32-yard pick 6 and Declan Cunningham on a 7-yard run.
Oil City outgunned Franklin, 341-82.
It was the Oilers' 10th straight victory over the Knights.
Sharon 41, Oil City 19 -- All but one off Sharon's six TDs came from beyond the 50 as it racked up 405 yards total offense. Oil City gained a respectable 303. Junior Marius Best ran for 265 yards on only 12 carries and scored four TDs for the visiting Tigers..
Sophomore Clark Findlay r(pictured) rushed for 135 yards for Oil City -- all but 12 coming in the fourth quarter -- and scored on runs for 2 and 35 yards. Workhorse Dylan VanWormer scored the Oilers' first TD on a 4-yard run, and soon after, Bryce Marchinke completed a 41-yard pass to Carter Bialo to the 15. This was late in the first half, but penalties, which crippled the Oilers all game, saw them turning the ball over on downs at the 20. VanWormer, fullback Blake Stevens and Findlay were filling in for Carter Thompson and Tycen Sindlinger, both bench with injuries.
Logan Heath continued to give opponents something to think about when kickoff to the Oilers. Marchinke led Oil City with 11 tackles.
General McLane 23, Oil City 0 -- Limited to 121 yards total offense, the Oilers fell to General McLane in a battle for the region lead. All three McLane touchdowns came on fourth down. The Lancers held a 7-0 halftime lead and scored again win the third quarter. The rest of their points, including a safety, came in the last five minutes of the game. The Oilers were no slouches on defense, holding the Lancers to 242 yards -- 74 below their average. QB Josh Caro threw for 164 yards and two TDs and scored the other on a 5-yard run. Blake Stevens had 13 tackles for Oil City. He also filled the stat sheet with four TFLs and two receptions for 38 yards. Clark Findlay added 10 stops and Dylan Van Wormer, Noah Lucarelli and Bryce Marchinke notched nine apiece. Findlay also had four TFLs. Another player from the Cranberry pipeline, soph Matthew Antrilli was in on eight tackles. The game marked the first time Oil City had been shut out since 2023 vs. Hollidaysburg.
Cathedral Prep 14, Oil City 0 -- The Oilers battled unbeaten Prep to a 0-0 halftime tie, but gave up two explosive plays in the third quarter and felll to the Ramblers, 14-0. A 55-yarrd run from scrimmage by Cameron Lewis on the fourth play after intermission broke the tie; later the Ramblers added an 83-yard punt return for a TD by Eli Elwell. Oil City had no answer as it was limited to 178 yards total offense and never approached the Prep goal. The defense held the Ramblers to 128 yards, including 11 in the first half to go with zero first downs. Blake Stevens led the Oilers with 12 tackles, giving with 46 for the season. Junior DE Xander Piercy (pictured) had a big game with seven tackles, a TFL, an. 8-yard sack and three QB hurries. This was Oil City's closest game in four tries with Prep. The game also marked the first time the Oilers were blanked in back-to-back games since 2007.