1938 Irish Front row - Forrey Hall, George Kelly, Mathew Badach, Bill Eckert, Harold Butryn, Ed Reinsel, Phil Stewart, Ed Moran, Tony Czlonka Second row - Jack Reinsel, Max Krasowski, John Singara, Joe Reinsel, Jack McNerney, Joe Dziekciasz, Sheridan Gavin, Max Reichert, Emmet Morkin, William Moses, assistant  manager Back row - Jack Gavin,  manager; Tom Schwakopf, Bill Torpey, Don Feeney, John Kon, John Olon, coach J.J. Connors, Bill Larson, John Summers, Ed Kulinski, Walt Wojtowicz

Year-by-year records:                                   1980s 1970s 1960s 1950s 1940s 1930s Plus... St. Joe's first game VC school records The Forrey Hall years Cowboy Szafran's 109-yard run Potpourri

1973 Vikings Front row (from left): Tom Pfendler, Jim Moran, Joe Everman, John Welsh, Joe Schwabenbauer, Greg Burkholder, Mark Drelick Second row: manager Mark Oliver, Mike Fox, Bill Lauer, Gerry Stephenson, Joe Caffrey, Bob Hughey, Kevin Xander, Ed Moran Third row: Jim Cricks, Bob Lambert, Mike Simons, Gene Pendolino, Steve Nalepa, Dave Clinger, Tom Anderton, Max Dudzic Fourth row: manager Joe Henderson, Greg Lillard, Dave Koerner, Frank Beyerl, Tom Slater, Tom Schell, Eric Piersimoni, Bob Cunningham Missing when picture was taken: Rick Stiller

St. Joseph, located on Oil City's North Side, began playing football in 1931. Venango Christian -- now Venango Catholic -- located in the city's West End -- played its last game in 1988. St. Joseph competed as an independent from 1931-57 before playing in the Erie Diocsan League with such schools as Erie Kanty Prep, Greenville St. Michael, North East St. Gregory and conference power Bradford Central Christian from 1957-64. The school became Venango Christian in 1962, and returned to independent status in 1965. The Vikings stayed independent until 1972 when they joined the Crawford County League. But the CCL disbanded and left both VC and Kanty Prep out when it re-formed into the French Creek Valley Conference in the late 1970s. The Vikings never won the CCL, but finished third in 1973, 1974, 1976 and 1977, fourth in 1975, and fifth (out of 10 teams) in 1978. VC was no threat during the CCL's final season in 1979, finishing dead last in the Eastern Division, but Kanty Prep, meanwhile, had risen to second place in 1978 and won the Eastern Division in 1979 -- the only season there were two divisions. And what's more, VC was still a basketball power in those years. Hmmm... Anyhow, back to football. VC went back to independent status. Its  last great season came in 1983 when it posted an 8-1-1 record. In fact, the Vikings registered back-to-back winning seasons in '83 and '84 (5-4). The Vikings won a school record seven straight games in 1983 before losing to Sharon Kennedy Christian, 14-13, for its only loss.