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Oiler Slide Show '25
Oilers gather for a team photo after their signature victory over Erie.
Coaching probably decided the game against Erie.
Landon Baker makes a catch over a Mercyhurst defender.
Oilers gather for a team photo after their signature victory over Erie.
Photos by Malek (Kelly, Connor) and Eric Elliott
Banner year for Oiler Football
JAYVEE FOOTBALL
Oil City 34, General McLane 7 (Sept. 8)
Clark Findlay's 45-yard interception return 6 climaxed a 22-point first quarter for the Oilers (2-0). Oil City added a second TD off a turnover on Matthew Plummer's 35-yard fumble return.
Bryce Marchinke passed for 103 yards. Clark Findlay, Aaden Hibbard and Zach Shumaker also had INTs, while Seth Boocks, Lincoln Fento and Jamarcus Cooke registered sacks.
Oil City 24, Meadville 6 (Sept. 15)
Marchinke 81 yards rushing, 90 passing. Dylan VanWormer 63 yards rushing, 51 receiving. Marchinke and Carter Thompson intercepted passes. Sacks by Xander Piercy and Dylan Gregory. Oilers are 3-0.
Oil City 14, DuBois 7 (Sept. 22)
Oilers rushed for 185 yards with Clark Findlay and Carter Thompson scoring touchdowns. PAT for Marchinke. INT for Logan Heath.
Oil City 36, Grove City 0 (Sept. 29)
Alex McIntyre threw TD passes to Carter Bialo (7 yards) and Brad Smith (20) and picked off a pass. Later on, Marchinke threw a 56-yard scoring pass to Bialo. VanWormer (3) and Findlay (25) scored rushing touchdowns. McIntyre, Bialo and Sabin scored PATs. Bialo and Carter Thompson also had interceptions, while VanWormer recovered a fumble.
Oil City 38, Erie 0 (Oct. 4)
McIntyre and Marchinke each ran for a touchdown and threw for another. Marchinke's scoring pass to Bialo covered 70 yards. His TD run was for 8 yards. McIntyre's TD pass was to Alex Shumaker for 15 yards. Earlier, he scored from the 4. Hunter Montgomery returned an interception 15 yards for a TD. Bialo scored three PATs and Lucas Brown had the other. Findlay, Hibbard and Boocks had sacks.
Oil City 48, Warren 8 (Oct. 13)
Bialo caught three touchdown passes and scored on a 25-yard interception. His first two TD catches, covering 23 and 19 yards, came from McIntyre. The third was for 40 yards from Marchinke, who played quarterback the second half. Bialo's 25-yard Pick 6 gave the Oilers a 34-0 halftime lead.
Marchinke also threw a 5-yard TD to Smith. Two more Oiler TDs came off turnovers: a 33-yard fumble return by McIntyre and a 22-yard interception return by VanWormer. Bialo, Brown and Eli Sabin scored PATs.
Piercy, Findlay and Boocks had sacks for the 7-0 Oilers and Sabin picked off a third Warren pass.
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JUNIOR HIGH FOOTBALL
Oil City 12, Franklin 6 (Sept. 4)
Kannon Speerstra's 22-yard TD pass to Xavier Piercy broke a 6-6 tie.Piercy also recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
Oil City 0, Warren 0 (Sept. 10)
Oilers are 1-0-1.
Oil City eighth grade 22, Conneaut 6 (Sept. 17)
Oilers scored touchdowns on offense (Wyatt Brown 1-yard run), defense (Mason Hartle 45-yard INT return) and special teams (Declan Cunningham 75-yard KO return). Speerstra threw two PATs.
Oil City eighth grade 12, Titusville 8 (Oct.. 8)
Brown and Speerstra scored on short runs for the Oilers.
Oil City seventh grade 8, Conneat 6 (Sept. 17)
Bradley Heckathorn's TD and Jackson Kasunic's pass to Stephen Miller for the PAT in the fourth quarter stood up.
Titusville seventh grade 23, Oilers 6 (Oct. 8)
Jackson Kasunic, on a 1-yard run, scored Oil City's lone TD.
Oil City 46, Conneaut 26
Gavin Loll scored two touchdowns, and passed for another along with four PATs. Loll's TD runs covered 15 and 73 yards. His 22-yard pass to Brown accounted for a third score. He threw two conversions to Brown and two others to Hartle. Cunningham added touchdown runs of 36 and 6 yards and Hartle scored the final TD on a 55-yard run. Hartle also took a pass from Speerstra for a PAT.
Dawan Cruz (pictured) made his own case for unofficial Player of the Game against Meadville II in 2024. He ran for 202 yards while scoring two TDs and adding a PAT, threw a 48-yard touchdown to De'Vaughn Griffin and picked off a Bulldog pass. Cruz ran the ball on 42 of Oil City's 44 rushing plays. He wound up being the leading rusher among Oil City's three-headed tailback this season with 492 yards, followed by Steven Heise with 475 and Shia Sanchez with 356. (Photos by Richard Sayer, https://www.8and322.com/sports)