Penny Weichel3 days ago3 minFrom the pen of Joe SzafranSome items -- some of them shocking -- from former Blizzard sports editor's "Scanning the Field" column in the 1940s (Editor's note) --...
Penny WeichelMay 21 minGold digs running marathonsCHRIS ROSETTI D9and10 sports.com PITTSBURGH – Redbank Valley football coach Blane Gold ran the Pittsburgh Marathon in under four hours...
Penny WeichelMar 292 minA back seat to Philly? Who cares?(This column appeared in the March 29, 2022, edition of The Derrick and The News-Herald.) When I started at The Derrick back in the...
Penny WeichelMar 264 minFriends, former students fondly remember "Coach Pat"(Editor's note: This article appeared in the March 22, 2022, edition of The Derrick and The News-Herald.) Friends, colleagues and former...
Penny WeichelMar 213 minPat Patterson obituary(This is an edited version of Pat Patterson's obituary submitted by the Barranco Severna Park, Md., Funeral Home and Cremation Care.)...
Penny WeichelMar 84 min'72 Oilers (version that was in paper)I was on the phone talking to Oil City basketball coach Bob Lynch before the start of the 1971-72 season. It was my second year on the...
Penny WeichelMar 63 minLast time Oilers made interdistricts? 50 years!Hard to believe, but it had been 50 years – fifty – since the Oil City boys qualified for interdistricts in the PIAA basketball playoffs....
Penny WeichelJan 185 minBrayden Crocker: an unfinished career(This story originally appeared in the Jan. 18, 2022, edition of The Derrick and The News-Herald.) He appeared destined to be one of the...
Penny WeichelJan 102 minNot open for debate, Knox's performance vs. Franklin one of greatest in D-10 historyNo matter how many yards you want to give him -- and it ranges from 464-492 -- there is no doubt that Oil City sophomore Ethen Knox...
Penny WeichelDec 30, 20212 minGrill burned Titusville with school record 11 treys in 2002Apparently some Franklin fans were asking if the eight three-pointers Easton Fulmer made Monday in a 41-point effort against...
Penny WeichelDec 4, 20215 minPure Gold: Redbank Valley defies all odds to reach state title gameANOTHER UPDATE -- Blane Gold was named Class 1A co-Coach of the Year Dec. 28 by the Pennsylvania Football Writers and three of his...
Penny WeichelAug 28, 20215 minEarly '70s Knights dominated grid scene with two perfect yearsThe only way a high school football team can accomplish what the Franklin Knights did 50 years ago is to win the state championship –...
Penny WeichelAug 20, 20216 minCelebrating some forgotten Oil City sports heroes.(This article appeared in the Aug. 20, 2021, editions of The Derrick and The News-Herald.) This is a piece dedicated to Oil City’s...
Penny WeichelJul 24, 20214 minPat Patterson's "unmean" machine of 1975Oilers hoist Pat Patterson after beating Franklin. (Editor's note -- Pat Patterson died March 18, 2022.) --- One thing about the Oil City...
Penny WeichelJun 3, 20212 minDoes he or doesn't he? We'll still probably never knowUpdate as of Dec. 30: Red Law is over 2,000 career yards rushing -- and still counting. As I said on Dec. 17 in this space, I'm not...
Penny WeichelMar 10, 20214 min100ish years ago: Oil City, Franklin hoop it up I stand corrected. For years I believed – and told anyone who would listen – that Oil City never won a district championship in boys...
Penny WeichelMar 1, 20213 min100 Years Ago: Both Oil City and Franklin had their momentsThe football seasons for both Oil City and Franklin in 1920 – 100 years ago -- were fairly unspectacular, record-wise. Oil City started...
Penny WeichelFeb 2, 20214 minFebruary 2021: 50-year anniversary of 50-point games by Oil City's Mike Emick and VC's Mark GarbaczFebruary marks the 50-year anniversary of two of the three highest scoring individual games in Venango County history, including the...
Penny WeichelJan 26, 20213 minAndrew Burda...Al Foster...Jimmy Johns...I wrote a piece that soon will be in The Derrick/The News Herald about Mike Emick and Mark Garbacz and their scoring heroics 50 years ago...
Penny WeichelJan 10, 20213 minTed Marchibroda: Way ahead of his time in high schoolTed Marchibroda was a football player ahead of his time when he quarterbacked the Franklin Nurserymen from 1946-48. Everybody knows he...