After three quarters of forgettable football, Oil City came alive when it mattered most — and on Homecoming, no less — as the Oilers scored all of their points in the fourth quarter en route to a 14-13 victory over Harbor Creek in a Region 5 thriller at the Oil Field on Friday night.

LINESVILLE — As fans of the Franklin High School football team watched Friday night’;s Region 5 game at Conneaut Area High School, they started to notice a metamorphosis taking place on the field.

Nearly 11 months ago, Oil City’s football team welcomed Harbor Creek to the Oil Field with the District 10 Class 4A championship on the line. That night, OC claimed its third straight championship with a 51-14 victory over the Huskies.

Franklin’s girls volleyball team went the distance, but in the end the Knights fell in a five-set thriller to Wilmington, 25-13, 23-25, 25-10, 24-26, 15-9, in a Region 3 clash at the Castle.

WARREN — Franklin’s Nate Pfennigwerth scored on a penalty kick just 4 1/2 minutes into Thursday’s Region 4 soccer showdown against previously undefeated Warren, lifting the Knights to a 1-0 upset victory over the homestanding Dragons.

After putting together their best performance of the season last Saturday night against Warren, head coach Matt Turk and his Franklin Knights football team will be looking to carry that momentum into Friday night’s Region 5 matchup at Conneaut Area. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

CLARION — Clarion University alumnus John Calipari has left his mark on the school’s basketball program — quite literally — as the Moon Township native was honored with a court dedication in his namesake Tuesday night at Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium.

MEADVILLE — Charlie Motter fired an 85 on Tuesday at the Meadville invitational to lead Oil City to a 14th-place finish in the 20-team field at the Meadville Country Club.

TITUSVILLE — Franklin upped its record to 2-3 on the season and 1-1 in Region 3 as the Knights hit the road to take down Titusville, 26-24, 25-15, 20-25, 25-18, on Tuesday night.

NORTH EAST — Despite getting a pair of late goals from Gage Haniwalt, Franklin’s boys soccer team dropped its first match of the season on Tuesday, falling on the road to North East, 5-2, in Region 4 action.

Rocky Grove’s Ethan Knapp won the varsity boys race as the Orioles took the top four places en route to a 17-44 decision over visiting Franklin in a Region 3 meet at Two Mile Run County Park on Tuesday.

Led by Courtney Clark’s 27 points and 12 assists, Rocky Grove’s girls volleyball team improved to 4-0 Monday night following a 25-11, 25-12, 25-10 victory over visiting Sharon in a non-region match at the Nest.

Thanks to another stellar performance by its entire team, Clarion Area High School officially wrapped up the 2021 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference golf championship on Monday at Wanango Country Club.

LOCK HAVEN — Clarion University wide receiver Quinn Zinobile was honored Monday as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Offensive Player of the Week after posting one of the best days of his career this past weekend.

Playing arguably their toughest opponent to date, the Franklin Knights football team put together its best game of the season against Warren on Saturday night in a Region 5 matchup at the Franklin High School field.

SHEFFIELD — Before its offense even stepped on the field, Redbank Valley held a 16-0 lead thanks to two punt-return touchdowns from Ashton Kahle as the Bulldogs easily dispatched of homestanding Sheffield, 55-6, on Saturday in a District 9 Football League matchup.

Clarion’s girls volleyball team lost just one set on its way to the championship of its own tournament Saturday, held at Clarion High School.

Franklin’s boys soccer team stayed perfect on the season and it did so with ease by taking down visiting Corry on Saturday, 12-0, in a Region 4 showdown.

Through four weeks, the 2021 season has been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride for the Oil City football team. Between being on both the winning and losing end of blowouts and enduring a week-plus of COVID-19 protocols, there have been plenty of peaks and valleys for the Oilers.

With youthful miscues and injuries taking a toll, the first three games of the 2021 season haven’t gone the way that head coach Matt Turk and his Franklin Knights football team would have liked.

STRATTANVILLE — Brookville’s Charlie Krug threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns Friday night to power the Raiders to a 40-14 road win against Central Clarion.

Venango Catholic’s Sadie Kalamajka recorded eight blocks while Cheyanne Rudder had seven digs Thursday night as the Vikings won a five-set thriller with Karns City in a KSAC girls volleyball match at Monsignor Antoun Gymnasium.

After a week off, Oil City returns to the gridiron tonight and it will face its toughest challenge so far as the Oilers welcome Sharon to the Oil Field for their home opener. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Oil City’s Emily Russell, Payton Burk and Cassidy Sutley rolled to straight-set singles’ victories on Thursday as the Oilers blanked homestanding Franklin, 5-0, in a Region 1 girls tennis matchup.

RUSSELL — Franklin’s Chippy Whitling scored a pair of first-half goals while Gage Haniwalt and Nate Pfennigwerth added one apiece on Wednesday as the Knights held on for a 4-3 road win over Eisenhower in a Region 4 boys soccer showdown.

CLARION — Korrin Burns amassed 19 kills, seven points, including two aces, and seven digs Wednesday night as Clarion swept visiting Tyrone by scores of 25-11, 25-18, 25-17 in a non-conference girls volleyball match.

KOSSUTH — Cranberry’s Dane Wenner fired a 37 to capture medalist honors on Wednesday, but Clarion once again topped the field in the team standings in the seventh KSAC mega match of the season.

KNOX — Keystone improved to 3-1 on the season with a 25-23, 25-16, 25-23 victory over visiting Karns City in a KSAC girls volleyball clash.

GREENVILLE — Oil City won two of the three singles matches and swept both of the doubles matches en route to a 4-1 win over Greenville on Tuesday in a Region 1 girls tennis match.

Jack Mumford won the varsity boys race to lead Oil City to a sweep over visiting Franklin and Maplewood on Tuesday in a Region 3 cross country tri-meet.

Franklin's Caleb Griffin and Chippy Whitling scored two goals apiece on Monday as the Knights shut out homestanding Oil City, 9-0, in a Region 4 boys soccer match at the Oil Field.

KEYSTONE — Fresh of their victory at the 18th Annual Franklin Spiketacular, Keystone cruised past visiting Venango Catholic, 25-18, 25-5, 25-11, in a KSAC girls volleyball contest on Monday.

Oil City claimed all three singles matches on its way to taking down Punxsutawney, 3-2, on Monday in non-region girls tennis action.

FOXBURG — Kam Kerle and Devon Lauer finished first and second, respectively, to lead Clarion’s golf team to the victory in a KSAC mega match held at Foxburg Country Club on Monday.