The Oilers get no slack when it comes to the 2002 schedule. They'll visit Erie East on Saturday, Aug. 31, not only for their season debut, but their Northwest Conference opener. "We're taking it one game at a time," said first-year head coach Bill Heber. "Hopefully, we're ready coming out of the gate because we start out with a league game." East upset the Oilers, 28-26, last season, but Heber said they won't be out for revenge. "We just want to win our conference," he said. "(It'll be) nothing personal, just business." That loss triggered a three-game losing streak before the Oilers renewed a commitment to their running game and won four of their last five games to gain a share of the Tri-County Athletic Conference title with Franklin and finish with a 5-4 record in 2001. It appears the commitment to the ground game will continue this season. Not only does junior Corey Schwab return at a halfback, but he'll get help at that position --and probably plenty of it -- from junior transfer Jamail Jackson. Jackson (5-11, 205), a former Oil City student (he was here as an eighth-grader) is a transfer from the Bronx, N.Y. Schwab, who is very quick, is, of course, more experienced with the system, and because of that "knows where to look," Heber said. "Jamail has that natural explosive power. He hasn't tapped into his full potential yet," Heber said. Both scored on runs of about 70 yards in the scrimmage Aug. 23 against Kittanning. "They compliment each other very well," said Heber who plans to alternate them on series. "And they're good friends, too." The Oilers will have a new quarterback in junior Cody O'Brien, but the rest of the backfield is, for the most part, experienced. Mike Karnish and Nick Woods will be the Z-backs, and Eric Sabin returns at fullback where he'll be backed by Ryan Stack and Jack Watson. Matt Kulinski is O'Brien's understudy at quarterback. O'Brien threw a 60-yard scoring pass to Joe Sundo against Kittanning. (Heber said the Oilers' "older kids" outscored Kittanning's "older kids," 3-2.) Sundo is the Oilers' deep threat. His understudies at wide receiver are  Ian Bialo and Andy Schwabenbauer. The tight ends are 6-4, 300-pound Steve Drozdo and Kris Tawney. Woods made first team All-Conference at tight end last season. The line will have Matt Dempsey and Jeff Twombly at tackles, Chris Szabat and Corey Tarr at guards and Nathan Vogan at center. All are juniors except Twombly, a senior. Ryan Hartle, a 6-5, 300-pounder, will back up Twombly and Dempsey at tackle. Andrew McElroy will spell Tarr and Szabat at guard and Reid Stewart is the backup center. "They're improved from last year's line. They've looked good," Heber said. The defense returns four All-Conference performers, including  second-teamers Woods at outside linebacker, Karnish at cornerback and Tawney at safety. Sophomore Mason Marsh was an honorable mention at defensive end, where he'll team with Drozdo this season. Backups are Jackson, Nathan Sickler and Josh Lutz. Watson and Sabin will be at inside linebacker where Tarr, Dempsey and Stack will back them up. Matt Wilson is Woods' understudy at outside linebacker. Sundo will team with Karnish at cornerback, and Schwab will join Tawney at safety. Bialo and Schwabenbauer are the backup corners, and Kulinski, Mike Strus, Ryan Murray and Kevin McIntyre are the reserve safeties. "The defense looks fast," Heber said. "I thought they hit fairly well for a second scrimmage." Experience on defense, the improved offensive line and the depth at running back are the team's strengths, Heber said. The weakness is an inexperienced kicking game. "We need to work on special teams," he said. Sabin has experience as a placekicker, but McIntyre, McElroy, Kulinski and Jason McClintock are also competing for that and the kickoff jobs. Candidates to do the punting are Sabin, Vogan, McIntyre and Jim Finnecy. Vogan was the jayvee punter last season, and McIntyre and Finnecy punted for the ninth-grade team. Sabin has practiced punting on the varsity the last two years. Heber said the conference looks "real strong." "I'm predicting Titusville as the top team until somebody beats them. They beat us in ninth grade twice, in jayvee twice and in varsity the last two years," he said. But after clicking off Franklin, Warren and Strong Vincent, he said, "Everybody is just loaded." Posted: 08.24.02