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Luke Muye

Seneca running back Luke Muye is looking to wrap up 
his high school career with a solid season.

Last Friday, Muye put together a memorable performance in a 20-6 win over Harbor Creek.

The 5-foot 10-inch, 180-pound running back carried the ball 21 times for 183 yards and two touchdowns to help the Bobcats earn their second win this season.

Muye has two games left this fall and already has rushed for 590 yards and five touchdowns on 106 carries for Seneca.

He will face a test against a tough North East defense tonight.

Poll results:

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Seneca Bobcats
Coach (season, record): Dave Frank (2nd season, 1-9)
2011 overall record: 1-9
2011 region record (place): 1-5 (tied for sixth)
2011 playoff results: Did not qualify for the District 10 Class AA playoffs.
Top players lost: Joe Hibbler, Matt Mongera, Kyler Sonney, Brad Beiter, Neville Askins, Dan Teed
Top returning players: Luke Muye, Trevor Beiter, Jake Whitman, Kamron Brace, Scott Groenendaal, Jason Brown, Garrett Duda, Zach Muye, Davyn Wettekin, Michael Gibbens
Assistant coaches: Matt Glass, Joe Yuhas, Dave McQuiston, Mike Pettinato, Bob Hammer, Ricky Goodenow
Outlook: Seneca will be young this season with only a few seniors coming back. The Bobcats graduated Joe Hibbler, Matt Mongera, Kyler Sonney, Brad Beiter, Neville Askins and Dan Teed this past spring, leaving some huge holes to fill. Hibbler was an all-region first-team selection at all-purpose during his senior year. Hibbler threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 1,413 yards and 13 touchdowns on 238 carries. Hibbler also caught nine passes for 129 yards and one touchdown. Mongera was a first-team punter and second-team defensive lineman. He led the Bobcats with 11 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns last fall.

Seneca is basically starting over under second-year coach Dave Frank. The Bobcats will have a new-look offense this season after graduating most of their production from last year. Luke Muye, Trevor Beiter, Jake Whitman, Kamron Brace, Scott Groenendaal, Jason Brown, Garrett Duda, Zach Muye, Davyn Wettekin and Michael Gibbens are back to lead a young team. Luke Muye could have a breakout season, especially on defense, and Seneca should have an intense competition in camp for the starting quarterback position. The Bobcats are experienced on the line and have a year of experience in Frank’s system. Seneca’s depth could be a problem with a small senior class and no experience in the secondary. With a region that is wide open this year, Seneca could be an interesting team to watch as the program develops. Seneca opens with a winnable game at Cochranton before jumping right into two home games with region opponents Northwestern and Fort LeBoeuf. The Bobcats have a tough game with West Middlesex and another winnable game with Youngsville, but Seneca will need to win at least three region games to contend for a playoff spot.

Schedule
August
31 at Cochranton 7
September
7 Northwestern* 7
14 Fort LeBoeuf* 7
21 at Girard* 7
28 at Fairview* 7
October
5 at Corry* 7
12 Youngsville 7
19 Harbor Creek* 7
26 at North East* 7
November
2 West Middlesex 7
*Region 4 games

Sunday: Sharon

– Tom Reisenweber

The Erie Times-News and GoErie.com are continuing District 10 football preview coverage this week, leading up to Friday’s season openers. Starting Sunday, the preview coverage included Region 6, McDowell and Region 4. The coverage will continue through Thursday. Included in each preview are complete rosters for each team.

Earlier, the Times-News published the 112-page Kickoff preseason guide and posted the online Summer Huddle series on the Varsity blog.

Check out the links to the Times-News team previews:
Sunday: McDowell preview
Sunday: Region 6
Monday: Region 4
Tuesday: Region 5
Wednesday: Region 2
Thursday: Region 3
Thursday: Region 1

Seneca Bobcats
Coach (season): Dave Frank (1st season)
2010 overall record: 1-9
2010 region record (place): 0-6 (seventh)
2010 playoff results: Did not qualify for the District 10 playoffs.
Top players lost: John Fuller, Jake Muye, Russell Bean, Randy Alexi, Jake Skinner
Top returning players: Dan Teed, Neville Askins, Cody Robinson, Joe Hibbler, Luke Muye, Kyler Sonney, Kamron Brace, Mike Fletcher, Jason Brown, Michael Gibbens
Assistant coaches: Matt Glass, Dave McQuiston, Mike Pettinato, Joe Yuhas, Bob Hammer and Jim Stalford
Outlook: Seneca coach Dave Frank is looking for some continuity as he takes over the Bobcats’ fooftball program. With three coaches in three years, Frank is hoping to instill his offensive and defensive philosophies right away. The Bobcats were young last year which could pay off this fall. Seneca lost several talented players to graduation in John Fuller, Jake Muye, Russell Bean, Randy Alexi and Jake Sinner.

The Bobcats developed depth along with experience in 2010 and they will look to surprise a few teams this year. Dan Teed, Neville Askins, Cody Robinson, Joe Hibbler, Luke Muye, Kyler Sonney, Kamron Brace, Mike Fletcher, Jason Brown and Michael Gibbens could be impact players on the varsity level, while Scott Groendaal, Jake Whitman and Bob Lorman look to transition to varsity.

Frank is looking for the Bobcats to play physical football this year and work on limiting turnovers and penalties. Seneca’s schedule is tough this year in Region 4 and in non-region play. Youngsville could be a surprise team in Class A, while Sharpsville is a perennial power. Central Tech is on the rise and Reynolds is not an easy team to beat at home. Seneca will need to use its chemistry and experience to develop as a team and earn some wins this fall.

Schedule
September
2 Youngsville 7
9 Sharpsville 7
16 at Northwestern* 7
23 at General McLane* 7
30 Fairview* 7
October
7 at Central Tech 7
14 at Harbor Creek* 7
21 Girard* 7
28 North East* 7
November
4 at Reynolds 7

Look for the Kickoff magazine at a Country Fair near you beginning Aug. 15. The 112-page magazine previews the upcoming District 10 football season, including top returning players, schedules, stats and more.

Monday: Sharon

– Tom Reisenweber

Seneca has struggled to put together a string of winning seasons throughout the years, but the Bobcats have had several brief stretches of success. Seneca, which never did win an Erie County League title, is still searching for its first region title.

Seneca

1967: The Bobcats broke a string of seven consecutive losing seasons with a 5-2-1 record. Seneca began another string of six straight losing seasons after 1967.

1974-75: Seneca ended a six-year run of losing records in impressive fashion. The Bobcats went 7-1-1 in 1974 and followed with another 6-1-1 mark in 1975.

2001: Under Randy Gunther, the Bobcats stopped a streak of 25 consecutive losing seasons with a 6-3 mark. Seneca closed the season in style, upsetting first-place Harbor Creek 14-2. Paul Nies, Scott Brumagin and Shawn Lynch starred for the Bobcats.

2005-06: Gunther led the Bobcats to a milestone season in 2005 as they went 6-4 and reached the playoffs for the first time in school history. Seneca then made it two seasons in a row in 2006 as they finished 7-4 and advanced to the postseason again. The season included a regular-season upset of D-10 runner-up Fairview. Jim Stalford, Shawn Giewont, Shane Cyphert and Mike Gdanetz were key contributors.

Former Mercyhurst Prep coach Jeff Nichols takes over as head coach at Seneca after Randy Gunther resigned in the offseason. The Bobcats will try to improve on last year’s 3-7 record. Nichols talks about the approach with his young team a camp:

Jeff Granger, RB, averaged 6 yards per carry and 26 yards per catch last year

Seneca Bobcats

Randy Gunther

Coach: Randy Gunther
2008 overall record: 3-7
2008 region record (place): 2-6 (T-5th, Region 4)
Playoff results: Did not qualify for the District 10 AA playoffs
Top players lost: QB/DB Joe Hewel, TE/LB Derek Brown, OL/DL Jack Learn, RB/LB Justin Skinner, RB/LB Scott Fletcher, RB/LB Tim Eibl
Top returning players: RB/LB Jake Muye, RB/DB Jeff Granger, RB/DB Joe Hibbler, RB/DB Jake Post, WR/DB Nathan Smith, RB/LB Rich Horn, OL/DL Ben Cermak, OL/DL Ryan Murphy, OL/DL John Fuller, OL/DL Jordan Drohn, OL/DL Russell Bean, P/OL Matt Mongera, K/WR Garrett Smith
Key games: Sept. 18 vs. Fairview, Sept. 26 at Girard, Oct. 2 vs. North East, Oct. 9 at General McLane

Jake Post

Outlook: The Bobcats will have a tough road to improve on last year’s 3-7 record after the loss of all-region DB Joe Hewel to graduation. Seneca’s lone representative on the all-region teams, Hewel also led the Bobcats in passing and rushing with 1,604 combined yards and 17 touchdowns. He accounted for 104 of the team’s 156 points last season and was the only Bobcat to attempt a pass. Bob Lorman, Dan Teed and Cody Robinson were the other listed quarterbacks on last season’s roster, and they will all be sophomores in 2009. Seneca will also try and deal with the loss of seniors TE/LB Derek Brown, OL/DL Jack Learn, RB/LB Justin Skinner, RB/LB Scott Fletcher and RB/LB Tim Eibl. They will return 41

Jake Muye

players who received varsity experience last year along with a handful of incoming freshman. Jake Post, who led the team with eight receptions for 103 yards last season, will return to the backfield. Jake Muye was second on the team in rushing with 339 yards on 75 carries.  Also back is Jeff Granger, who rushed for 335 yards on 56 carries. He also recorded the team’s biggest play of the year, a 71-yard touchdown catch. On defense, the Bobcats return 10 of their top tacklers, including team leader Jordan Drohn (63 tackles). The Bobcats also will have ample experience on the line. There should be consistency in the special teams where punter Matt Monger and kicker Garrett Smith return along with Granger, the team’s leading return man. To be successful this season, the Bobcats must avoid slow starts like last year when they began the season 1-5 before winning two of their last four. The only Region 4 contender they were competitive with was Fairview, which beat Seneca 14-9. To compete with the likes of North East, General McLane, Fairview and Girard, Seneca needs to make their home field an advantage after finishing just 1-4 at home last season. October will be the telling month when they play five games, four in the region, including games against North East and General McLane, the top two teams from last season.

Schedule
September
4 Youngsville 7
11 at Maplewood* 7
18 Fairview* 7
26 at Girard* 7
October
2 North East* 7
9 at General McLane*
16 Harbor Creek* 7
23 at Northwestern* 7
30 Sharon 7
November
5 at Fort LeBoeuf* 7

*Region 4 game

Friday: Our look at Region 5 begins with Corry

Fairview's Jared Lane is the top returning rusher from Region 4 after piling up 1,153 yards in 10 games last season.

When Region 4 was created, District 10 almost recreated the Erie County League. The only stranger was Maplewood and the only teams missing were Corry and Iroquois. North East surprised a few people and played its way to the region championship over former Class AAA team General McLane.  North East’s only problem last year was running into a hot, underrated Slippery Rock team in the D-10 playoffs. McLane, on the other hand, was the only Region 4 team to advance past the first round of the D-10 playoffs. The Lancers knocked off a tough Greenville team but couldn’t handle eventual PIAA champion Wilmington. McLane will have to replace all-around athlete Kellen O’Neill to run the offense. Fairview and Girard were right in the thick of the region race for most of the year but ran into injury problems late. With the ‘Pickers and Lancers losing important starters to graduation, Region 4 is up for grabs this season: Here is a look at last year’s standings:

Region 4
Region Overall
x-North East 8-0 9-2
z-General McLane 7-1 9-3
z-Fairview 6-2 7-3
z-Girard 5-3 7-4
Fort LeBoeuf 4-4 4-6
Seneca 2-6 3-7
Northwestern 2-6 3-7
Maplewood 1-7 3-7
Harbor Creek 1-7 2-8
x-region champion
z-qualified for playoff spot

Key 2009 games: Sept. 11 General McLane at North East, Oct. 9 Fairview at North East, Oct. 30 Girard at Fairview, Nov. 6 General McLane at Fairview, Girard at North East
Predicted champion: North East