Cradle of tight ends

Venango County has produced three tight ends who have played Power 5 football in the last 50 years.

Lou Fogle
Franklin 
Clemson

Nate Byham
Franklin
Pitt
 

Ben Koyack, Oil City, Notre Dame

NCAA all-time KO return leaders

Forrey Hall, an Oil City St. Joe graduate, at one time held the NCAA record for kickoff returns average, 38.2 yards for San Francisco (Bill Russell's school) in 1946. He still ranks ninth all-time. Hall later played for the 49ers.

Backyard Brawl rivals

The rivalry didn't stop after high school for these three early 21st century stars. Oil City's Adam Lehnortt and Ben Lynch went to West Virginia and Franklin's J.J. Horne went to Pitt. And all three had their moments, which resulted in free agent deals with NFL teams.

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Lehnortt (6-4, 230, left), a linebacker, racked up 301 tackles, including 139 for the Mountaineers as a junior in 2003. His 30 tackles for loss ranked sixth on WVU's all-time list. He was named second team All-Big East before signing with the Chargers.

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Both Lehnortt of Lynch were two-years starters for WVU.

Lynch (6-4, 280, center)  had his best season as a junior in 2003 when he registered 64 of his 123 career stops and 11.5 TFLs. Lynch later signed with the Redskins.

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Horne (6-3, 230) shined with Will LB for Pitt as a redshirt senior in 2005 when he made 52 tackles and 4.5 TFLs. Horne, who started his career at strong safety, signed with the Cowboys.​

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