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Drew Astorino

Football and basketball great Drew Astorino is scheduled to sign copies of a newly published book about General McLane High School athletes Jan. 8 at the Erie Book Store.

General McLane is coming off an 11-1 season that ended in the District 10 Class AA semifinals last season. A year after the Lancers went 10-0 in the regular season, big things are expected from the perennial D-10 power. Quarterback Josh Ponsoll talks about the season ahead:

When Cathedral Prep’s football team plays West Allegheny on Friday in the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals, the Ramblers will also be going against history.

WPIAL teams have dominated District 10 teams during the past decade, going 16-4 against D-10. The only D-10 teams to beat WPIAL opponents since 2000 were:

• Cathedral Prep, 2000, in Class AAAA (Mount Lebanon)

• West Middlesex, 2006, in Class A (Clairton)

• General McLane, 2006, in Class AAA (Thomas Jefferson)

• Wilmington, 2008, in Class AA (Aliquippa)

Click below for the complete D-10 vs. WPIAL results from this decade:

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Farrell remains the only District 10 team ranked No. 1 in the state polls as the second weekend of the postseason approaches.

The Steelers (11-0) are ranked No. 1 by the Pennsylvania Football News and No. 3 by the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

McDowell (No. 7, Class AAAA), Cathedral Prep (No. 8, AAA), Wilmington (No. 6, AA) and General McLane (No. 8, AA) also are ranked by the Patriot-News.

Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Football News ranks the following D-10 teams (in addition to Farrell): Cathedral Prep (No. 9, AAA), General McLane (No. 4, AA) and Wilmington (No. 5, AA).

For complete state rankings, click below:

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General McLane receiver Josh Niswonger’s clutch, three-touchdown performance Friday helped the Lancers complete a perfect regular season.

Now, Niswonger is being honored for his efforts.

The 6-foot 2-inch 200-pound junior is the Erie County Athlete of the Week in Wednesday’s Varsity edition. In addition, he won this week’s Breakout Player of the Week Award in voting that was completed on the Varsity blog Monday night.

Niswonger will be featured in Friday’s sports section. Here’s the voting from this week’s poll:

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After reviewing the statistics and overall performances, here are our nominees for the Breakout Player of the Week.  In an oddity, receivers dominate this weekend’s poll.

Vote in the poll at upper right. We’ve added one player from Friday and several players from Saturday.

The winner will be announced Tuesday on the Varsity blog and will be featured in Friday’s sports edition.

Josh Niswonger, General McLane: 4 receptions, 49 yards; TD catches of 10, 18 and 5 yards, including the game-winner in the closing seconds.

Courtney Harden-Pullium, Strong Vincent: 4 receptions, 170 yards, including a 64-yard TD catch

Josh Rzepecki, Harbor Creek: 9 receptions, 125 yards; TD catches of 3, 3, 13 and 7 yards.

Braidy Westfall, Corry: 3 receptions, 132 yards, including TD catches of 80 and 49 yards. Also caught a two-point conversion pass.

Justin Wiley, Cathedral Prep: 8 carries, 91 yards; TD runs of 6 and 49 yards, 12-yard TD receptions — all in the first half Saturday

Ryan Myers, Union City: 80-yard TD reception, 74-yard kickoff return for a TD, 8-for-12 passing for 106 yards, 2-point conversion pass

Dan Odem, Farrell: 20-yard interception return for TD, 5-of-8 passing for 85 yards and and four touchdowns, 11-yard TD run

Chris Kurzik, Mercyhurst Prep: 18 rushes for 122 yards and a TD.

Matt Stapleford, Warren: 16-of-24 passing for 227 yards and 2 TDs, two-point conversion pass, TD runs of 3 and 10 yards

Note: North East’s Jimmy Bailey and Mercyhurst Prep’s Aaron Horton were previous winners and were not eligible to win this week.

Here are some nominees for the Breakout Player of the Week. Remember, the winner will be honored in Friday’s edition of the Times-News. Vote for your favorite in the poll at the upper right.

Let us know if we missed a worthy candidate. We’re limiting nominees to one per school, and no winner can be nominated again.

Gary Brown, East: 11-of-21 passing 174 yards; 17 rushes, 127 yards, TD

Jared Burger, Union City: 24 rushes, 176 yards; TD runs of 4, 10 and 54 yards

Corey Dunton, Cambridge Springs: 65 yards rushing, 2 TDs, including game-winner in third overtime; 3 receptions for 33 yards; 77-yard kickoff return for a TD

Kevin Green, Strong Vincent: 9 rushes, 156 yards; TD runs of 80 and 30 yards

Richie Kolesar, Fort LeBoeuf: 13 rushes, 92 yards; TD runs of 1 and 34 yards

Jared Lane, Fairview: 17 rushes, 114 yards, TD in return from hamstring injury

Cory Lee, General McLane: 27 rushes, 180 yards

Justin Wiley, Cathedral Prep: 15 rushes, 108 yards; TD runs of 1, 3, 3, 5 and 27 yards

There were some amazing performances in District 10 Friday, including two in one game — the North East-Fairview showdown.

Remember, the winner of the poll in the upper right will be featured Friday on the new “spadea wrap” on the front of the sports section.

Here are some nominees. As always, let us know if we forgot someone, and we’ll add them to the poll. Players from Saturday’s games also are eligible.

Peter Jackson, Fairview: 36 rushes, 238 yards, TD runs of 60, 18 and 2 yards

Jimmy Bailey, North East: 22 rushes 115 yards, 3 TDs, including game-winner in overtime. Also had 68-yard punt return for TD.

Aaron Horton, Mercyhurst Prep: 17 rushes 241 yards, TD runs of 16, 56, 84 and 9 yards

Zach Greenawalt, McDowell: 4 rushes 89 yards, including 83-yard TD run; also went 2-for-2 passing for 54 yards, including 39-yard TD pass

Cory Lee, General McLane: 15 rushes, 125 yards, TD runs of 14 and 19 yards

Trevor Litwiler, Linesville: 12 rushes, 128 yards; 7-of-8 passing, 111 yards, TD

Jared Burger, Union City: 36 rushes, 182 yards, 2 TDs

Dallas Williams, Oil City: Game-winning 94-yard fumble return for TD on final play; also had 6 receptions for 75 yards, including a touchdown

From Thursday:

Kevin Green, Strong Vincent: 9 rushes, 100 yards, TD; also had 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown

Four photo galleries from District 10 games are now available for viewing on GoErie.com.

Check out photos from Thursday’s Cambridge Springs-Mercyhurst Prep game, and Friday’s Cathedral Prep-East, Girard-General McLane and Fairview-Fort LeBoeuf games.

All photos are available for purchase.

Readers can vote for their top performers in the new poll at upper right, or they can vote for one of the following by posting a comment at the bottom of this blog post. We put our finalists in the poll, but they are not the only nominees.

We had many strong performances Friday, including a career milestone and a superb defensive game. Here are some top choices:

Scottie Frisina, QB, Corry: 8-of-19 passing, 217 yards, 4 TDs. He also topped the 4,000-yard passing mark for his career.

Josh Rzepecki, TE, Harbor Creek: 6 receptions, 168 yards, TD catches of 9, 26, 27 and 70 yards.

Josh Giannamore, QB, Harbor Creek: 12-of-20 passing, 235 yards, 4 TDs

Mike Bizzarro, WR, McDowell: 2 receptions, 80 yards, TD catches of 17 and 63 yards

Scott Harris, RB, McDowell: 8 rushes, 113 yards, 2 TDs

Noah Ackerman, PK, Cathedral Prep: Three extra-point kicks and field goals of 35 and 43 yards. The 43-yarder tied him for the third-longest in Prep history.

Jordan Kerner, LB, Fairview: 12 tackles and 2 sacks, including key sack on Fort LeBoeuf’s final drive

Jared Lane, RB, Fairview: 15 rushes, 138 yards, 61-yard TD run, despite playing with injured hamstring

Corey McWilliams, WR, Fort LeBoeuf: 10 receptions, 168 yards

B.J. Arrowsmith, QB, Fort LeBoeuf: 13-of-22 passing, 220 yards

Casey Pace, RB, Fort LeBoeuf: 32 rushes, 147 yards, TD

Courtney Harden-Pullium, WR, Strong Vincent: 3 receptions, 95 yards, 2 TDs

Cory Lee, RB, General McLane: 15 rushes, 155 yards, TD

Casey Baker, QB, Conneaut Valley: 6-of-12 passing, 193 yards, 2 TDs

Nick Copeland, RB, Northwestern: 3 rushes, 102 yards, 2 TDs

Jared Burger, RB, Union City: 33 rushes, 169 yards, TD

Cody Johnson, RB, Oil City: 16 rushes, 200 yards; TD runs of 37 and 68 yards

There were several football standouts this weekend. You pick the best. Or, let us know who we missed.

Casey Pace, RB, Fort LeBoeuf, 15 rushes, 179 yards, 2 TDs

Scottie Frisina, QB, Corry, 15-of-20 passing 250 yards, 2 TDs; 9 rushes
104 yards, 3 TDs

Justin Wiley, RB, Cathedral Prep, 18 rushes, 82 yards, TD; 3 catches
90 yards, 2 TDs

Shyquawn Pullium, QB, Cathedral Prep, 10 rushes, 120 yards, 2 TDs; 92 passing yards, 2 TDs

Zach Greenawalt, QB, McDowell, 16 rushes, 120 yards, 2 TDs

Pat Pascarella, RB, Bradford, 16 rushes, 242 yards, 4 TDs

Matt Sleppy, DB, Iroquois, 42-yard fumble return for winning TD

Cory Lee, RB, General McLane, 12 rushes, 108 yards, 2 TDs

Cody Crosby, QB, Eisenhower, 21-of-30 passing, 315 yards, 2 TDs

Gary Brown, QB, East, 10-of-13 passing, 195 yards, 3 TDs; 5 rrushes, 29 yards, TD

Josh Williams, RB, Girard, 7 rushes, 108 yards, TD runs of 65 and 23 yards

Cathedral Prep remained fourth in Class AAA and General McLane stayed at No. 10 in Class AA in this week’s Harrisburg Patriot-News poll.

Two other District 10 teams are ranked No. 2 statewide. Wilmington, the defending Class AA champion, moved up one spot to No. 2 in AA. Farrell remained at No. 2 in Class A.

For complete rankings, click below:

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