Memories of the 2020 championship season  have been moved  to their own page: 2020 Oilers. Main page streamlined week of March 1. Features  previously on that page have been moved to Stuff That Was in the Paper (or not). 

These seniors played on three straight District 10 title teams! (Scott Stahl)

District 10 Class AAA champs

• Ninth district title overall

• Eighth D-10 crown since 1995

• First D-10 championship since 2011

2020-21 seasons

FRANKLIN

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BOYS 19-7, D-10 3A champs

The Knights' season ended March 20 in the state quarterfinals with a 53-45 loss to District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle.

Easton Fulmer 530 points, (1,018 career), Hayden Adams 335 (879 career), Luke Guth 242, Damon Curry 207, Zak Smith 156, Cade Adams 104

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D9 and D10 sports

Coach Jason Fulmer is on the right in a mask with the red sleeves giving the No. 1 signal. He's standing beside regulars (from right) Damon Curry, Cade Adams (the blond), Zak Smith, Hayden Adams (surrounded by arms), Easton Fulmer and Luke Guth.  Johnathan Leccia, the  6-7 soph, would be the tallest guy in the back behind E. Fulmer.

Parade of District 10 basketball champions

From 6th seed to

District 10 champs!

Franklin was the sixth seed in the District 10 4A tournament this spring, but upset Warren and then Hickory before blanking Villa Maria, 3-0, May 31, for the championship.

It was the first district title in program history. The Lady Knights were ousted, 15-0,  from interdistrict play June 7 by Elizabeth Forward, the WPIAL's No. 3 team, but the top seed going into that tourney. It was Franklin's first appearance in interdistricts since 2000.

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Pictured are (front row, from left): Kirsten Hicks, Kaylyn Fry, Christa Rose Hawke and Erin Janidlo; back: Brandy Atwell, Trinity Edge, Bailey Roberts, Gabby Wimer, Syndi Hoobler, Autumn Fry and Autumn Fitzgerald.

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Longtime coach Ed Winger will retire at the end of the season.

D-10 diamond champs

1921 Oilers: coach Bill Fountain (top); middle row Pete Fox, Ellis Hall, George Chacona, Harold Peterson and John Foley; bottom row Earl Bolton and Russell Detar

District champs:

100ish years ago

I stand corrected.

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For years I believed – and told anyone who would listen – that Oil City never won a district championship in boys basketball.

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I found out differently in March.

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The first state championship tournament was in 1920 with one class – “A.” There were eight teams, but “districts” as we know them were not designated. The list of participants included one school that is located in this area – northwestern Pennsylvania. That would be Farrell.

The next year, in 1921, Oil City was the only northwestern Pa. team; the year after that it was Franklin. READ ON

1922 Franklin Nurserymen: (back row) coach Bob Atticks, Richard Kirker, Ralph Buck and student manager Paul Dwyer; front row, Clark Wolfkiel, Theodore Fry, Eddie Stewart, King Richardson and Harry Snider.

4 District 10 titles

It's easy to overlook, but Oil City coach Dan York actually has four District 10 titles -- the last three with the Oilers and in 2013 with Lakeview.

Coach of the Year

Franklin grad Blane Gold was named District 9 Coach of the Year by D9and10Sports. com and later by the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association after guiding Redbank Valley to the district Class A title this season. He is 14-5 in his first two years as coach.

Six state crowns

Tiger LaVerde' s Kirtland, Ohio, team won its sixth state championship last fall. The 1991 OCHS grad and former Franklin coach now has 205 coaching victories.

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State bronze

Cranberry's Cameron Russell, an all-stater for Oil City in football, won the bronze medal in the 2A triple jump in the PIAA track meet on May 28.

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Russell leaped over 44-8, and had a school record 45-41/2 jump during the regular season.

Cover Boy

Oil City's Mario Fontanazza graced the cover of this year's football tab published Sept. 11 by The Derrick/The News-Herald. Fontanazza anchored an offensive line -- the Oilers' bread and butter -- that this year included Jayson Weilacher, Seth Yeager, Lucas DeGroat, soph Cam Crocker and A.J. Angros. Fontanazza was a four-year starter on the offensive and defensive lines.

Front Page News

Ashlee Douglass was the subject of a front page feature by Judy Etzel that appeared in the Oct. 2, 2020, edition of The Derrick and The News-Herald. Douglass, listed as a senior tackle for Oil City, has played football since her Little Driller days. She performed on the scout and special teams for the Oilers. The story can be found under the Stuff That Was in the Paper link.

Franklin grad

Fiorentino honored

by Westminster

Franklin graduate Nick Fiorentino has been named to Westminster's all-decade team in football as an offensive lineman.

As a senior in 2014, he helped the Titans rank third in the conference in rishing (207 ypg) and produced their first 1,000 yard rusher in 10 years.

Fiorentino and another FHS grad, Jason Frawley, were also named to the Titans all-decade team in track, both as throwers.

Fiorentino, who played football at 6-4, 290, was more decorated as a track athlete with five Presidents Athletic Conference MVP awards. His 47-1 throw in the weights in 2016 still stands as the school record. He won PAC gold medals in all four throwing events, competing in both indoor and outdoor track, during his career.

Frawley, who graduated in 2014, won the outdoor shot and discus and helped the Titans to PAC team titles from 2011-13.