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Rocket's are pretty solid, cruise to big homecoming win

9/22/2024

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It took Titusville only three plays to hit the end zone in the 56-0 homecoming route against the winless Warren Dragons. It was like deja-vu -a week prior against Conneaut it also only took three touches to score.
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Titusville’s offensive line is powerful and they create enough mayhem up front to allow the backs time to develop big plays. 

​Titusville’s all-time leading rusher Jaxon Covell’s first gain was a modest four-yard run. That play was follwed by a 20-yard pass from Ian McDonald to Kameron Mong. Covell then added 33-yards on his touchdown scamper.
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In that opening drive the Rockets showed they were going to mix up their plays in order to achieve success.

​Against the struggling Dragons they could try a few things on for size.
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“We brought in a couple bunch sets that we wanted to work out that worked pretty well,” coach Mike Reynolds said after the game. “(McDonald) is beginning to read some things. That, we like to see this time of the year. When you get into week six, seven, eight ,nine, ten in the season everybody sees everybody on film and it gets tougher and tougher.
​ Teams get better and are more prepared for you because they understand what you do. So we need to continue to evolve.”
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Warren was no match for the Rockets. Of the Dragon’s 54 players only two are seniors. They are now riding a 15 game losing streak.

Brett Schmidt, Covell and Mong set the tone on defense with a four and out on a Mong snuff fourth and one attempt. Four plays later on a 19-yard pass from McDonald to Mong the score was 14-0. Max Chatham was perfect on the night kicking extra points.
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One play after the Dragons punted aginl, McDonald tossed an almost lateral pass to Covell who took it 60-yards for the third score in the quarter.

The Rocket’s had only run eight plays and were up 21 nothing.
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Mong again came up big on defense knocking down a Warren pass to force another punt.
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On their next position to touchdown machine went right back to work.

​Covell had a big 43 -yard run followed by an 18-yard reception to Brett Schmidt from McDonald before Covell took two plays to go 18 yards and run the score up to 28-0.
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Warren ran eight plays but didn’t get very far before punting away again.
 

On the next drive Mong carried the bulk of the load capped off with a 17-yard touchdown.

The Rockets added another score on a seven-yard pass to Schmidt.

They took a 42-0 lead into half as well as a running clock mercy rule to start the second half.

Covell scored again on a 21-yard run in the third.

Jaydin O’Neill capped off the Rocket scoring with a seven-yard run for a touchdown.
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Covell had just over 200-yards on the night putting him over 1,000 on the season.

McDonald had another stellar night with 214-yards passing - 89 to Mong, 67 to Covell and 58 to Schmidt.


“Titusville does homecoming unlike any other team,” Reynolds said. “The kids feed off that energy.”
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The coach said the team functioned on a high level in all three phases of the game Friday… we took a step up.”

Reynolds is hesitant to put a player up at the top of the list, because this is a team that plays together as a full unit. “We just have so many guys doing a great job,” he said, crediting his offensive line.

​But he credited Mong for his monster game both defensively and offensively. 
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“You gotta talk about Kamo, because when you see big runs  and scoring opportunities he is blocking underneath and we had some nice passes to him, but defensively he was a lights out night, I believe he had at least three sacks and more tackles for losses than I could count.” 

JJ Miller was his usual brick wall on defense recording 14 tackles 

Titusville moves to 4-1 halfway through the season.
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They face North East next week who are 1-4 with a tough loss 28-23 to LeBoeuf two weeks ago and getting their first wi with a 38-7 crushing of Franklin.

Though North East’s season isn’t lighting up the W’s column Reynolds knows they cannot take them lightly.
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“You can’t overlook those guys. Look at District 10, it’s a tough conference,” Reynolds said prior to knowing North East beat Franklin.“The triple A bracket is overloaded, so when you look at (North East) and what they do in games… even though they haven’t won any yet, we see them doing effective things.”
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After next week the regional schedule kicks in with huge tests against Hickory at home and Slippery Rock and Sharon on the road.

Their playoff hopes will likely be determined by these three games.
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“We definitely took a step  this week, there is no doubt. Last week we scored points, but there were things we made mistakes on that we needed to correct. We were hitting on all eight cylinders tonight. We had great communication… we had great composure,” Reynolds said. “We had a couple situations where it got heated on the field and we saw our guys back out of it and control themselves. That’s really important as the season goes on to have that kind of composure and character because we know we’re going to be in some barnburners coming down the road and we need to be able to handle that kind of mental adversity. I’m very proud of that.”​
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See who won homecoming queen at Eight & 27.
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More photos below.

For photos from all season please click 
sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p902630512.
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For photos from all season please click sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p902630512.
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Finally got to see the struggling Knights

9/22/2024

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Sometimes life gets in the way. I had to miss the firs Franklin game of the season due to a prior commitment. I called up the Franklin Stream TV Facebook livened just in time to witness the injury to the quarterback on a sack followed by a bad snap that ended up in the endzone for a safety. 
Up to that point they were ahead 7-6.
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That was a terribly unfortunate way to lose a hard fought opening round game.
The game, despite the outcome seamed hopeful that the Knights defense was at least solid keeping the score low.

I was excited to get to a game.
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But because of road games and other commitments it took until week five to get to a game.I was hopeful to be able to witness a win. North East was 0-4 on the seas, though their schedule had been tough, the Knights were 1-3 with sound pounding of winless Warren a couple weeks earlier.

​Nobody expected them to compete against a very good General McLane team the week prior.
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Through the first quarter of the North East game it look as though the Knight's were in this game.

Other than a bad decision to toss a ball under pressure that resulted in an inception returned to the four-yard line, the Knights were in this game. 
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In a weird ping-pong drive, Caden Mincer found the end-zone on 24-yard scamper. The drive was marred by penalties but also included two 30-yard plays. Mincer's touchdown came with just seconds left in the first quarter.

North East had scored on a 35-yard field-goal and a touchdown off the early interception.
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Only a couple minutes into the second quarter, North East up 10-7, play was suspended due to lightning in the area. The delay sent teams back to the locker room for more than an hour.

This could've been good for the Knights. Their only win this season came in a game in Warren when the game was suspended. In that game the Knights were up and the weather was so bad they had to finish the game the following day. The Knight's exploded for 40 points.
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But this game resumed play Saturday night. When they came out of the break, which I had to listen to and watch on The Stream because of another commitment,  it was all North East.

The Grape Pickers came out and drove the ball right down for a touchdown. But Franklin never got got back on track  and the Pickers  racked up 28 points to win 38-7. The game ended after 11 p.m.
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With a lot of injuries and an inexperienced group of players, this is going to be another rough season for coach Matt Turk and crew. 
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Having only seen one game in person, it's hard to say what can be done. 
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They have some talent, but the line isn't moving the defense off the ball proving holes or giving the backfield the time for a play to develop.
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Last year they graduated almost 20 seniors - that usually means youth in important roles, so it's not unexpected they could struggle offensively.
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And unfortunately it's not going to easier for them in the second half of the season with Erie, Meadville and Oil City ahead as well as Lakeview and Eisenhower, buth with winning records. Erie is also only 1-4, but they played Hickory, Cathedral Prep, McDowell and Ohio's undefeated Lake Catholic. The Royals gave both McDowell and Hickory scares.
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Turk needs to find this year's Cole Buckley. Last year the winless Knights, due to injury had to drastically change the offensive alignment and game plan in week six of the season. They took wide-out Buckley, put him behind center with a heavy focus on his abilities and rattled off four wins in the last five games only losing to powerhouse Meadville.
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With half the season still to go, Turk will be looking for something to get the Knights back on track.
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Orioles roll to a 5-0 start

9/5/2024

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Rocky Grove volleyball is off to a great start this season going 5-0. They have only lost three sets all season taking down Jamestown and Kennedy Catholic in straight sets. They gave up one set each to Oil City, Youngville and Commodore Perry .
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"We're doing OK," said coach Mike Stevenson after his squad came back strong after a brief hiccup Thursday night against Youngsville to win in four sets. They were cruising through the first two sets winning  25-14 and 25-20. They dropped the third 24-26, but had a nice comeback to force the extra points after being down 24-20. They then came out hot in the fourth to dominate and cruise to a 25-13 set to end the match. "We have a long way to go, but we're doing OK."
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"The girls are playing aggressive every night. We didn't serve well tonight, but we never took the foot off the gas," Stevenson said. 
This early streak is reminiscent of their 2021 run at the beginning of the season where they won every match before facing eventual region champ West Middlesex. A season they ended up second in the region ending with a 12-5 record, their best season in program history.
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"The thing that is really standing out to me so far is they are playing like a team," Stevenson said reiterating the never quit attitude of the team. "The one that stands out to me is, we were down 24-19 on the road against Kennedy Catholic. I called a timeout and you could tell these girls were just ready to go out there and play hard and not just give up and we ended up winning that game 26-24. It say a lot about this team. They support one another and no matter what the score is they feel they have a chance to win the game."
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Stevenson can look to his bench and see two full rows of players. This program is building and their JV squad is also racking up wins with some good young athletes.
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The season will start to get a bit tougher. Stevenson says this weekend will be a good test to see how good they are and where they need to improve. The Orioles will play many schools in the Franklin tournament Saturday. "We're going to see some good talent there. So this is going to give us a good eye opener as to where we stand and what are going to need to work on," Stevenson said.
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The Orioles will also go on the road for three tough opponents in Reynolds, West Middlesex and Lakeview. They will get a better understanding of their game from this stretch of games. "They are tough teams, but we know what our goal is."
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The Grove will next be home on September 16 to face Cranberry Area.
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Rocket Invite

9/1/2024

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 The Oil City boys took home the trophy in Saturday's Titusville Cross Country Invitational, placing four runners in the top 20. The Oilers were led by Elijah Brosius, who finished in fifth place with a time of 16:15. Overall the team totaled 85 points to second place Central Clarion's 118. Scoring for the Oilers alongside Brosius were Keegan Kirkwood, 14; Elijah Collins, 16; Rilee Matalino, 18; and Elliot Hulsizer, 32.    
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Gauge Gierlach was the top finisher for Rocky Grove, coming in 18 out of 221 runners.  Dalton Wenner was the first Berry across the finish line at 16th. Titusville's top runner was Bryan Johnson, who was 37th. 

Isabel Griffin of Rocky Grove outlasted fellow Venango County runners Corabel Shiley of Oil City and Kelsey Hanna of Cranberry to be the top local finisher. The junior placed third with a time of 19:25. Shiley was fifth with a time of 19:33, just ahead of Hanna who came in sixth with a time of 19:49. 

In the team category, Cranberry, last year's District 9 1A runnerup, came in second to the indomitable Cathedral Prep 2A squad out of District 10.  

Madeline Johnson was the top Rocket, coming in 27 out of 172 competitors. The first Knight to finish was Justeyn Winner. 
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​It was a repeat performance for Franklin's Jay Prettyman, who won the Rocket Invite cross country competition for the second year in a row.

​Prettyman blew away his 2023 winning time, finishing in 15:57 Saturday at the Ed Myer Complex in Titusville. That was 34 seconds faster than last year, according to records kept by Runhigh.com.
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See even more photos at ​sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p641738133
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