Titusville has a solid group back, including second-team defensive lineman Armand Rickerson and running back Jayce Corklin. Rickerson had 41 tackles last year, while Corklin ran for 354 yards and two touchdowns on 120 carries. He also led the Rockets in receiving with four catches for 62 yards. Sam Bodamer, Xavier DeRose, Austin Christy, Ryan Ernecoff and Bill Brittain are also back to lead a young Titusville team. Bodamer led the Rockets with 88 tackles, while Corklin had 51. Corklin also had three interceptions on defense. Titusville is looking to improve on its three wins from last year but Region 3 isn’t the easiest region to improve in. With Grove City and Saegertown being added to the region, the schedule gets even tougher for the next two years. The Rockets also get Class AAA Franklin, Oil City and Warren in the non-region portion of the schedule. Titusville needs a quarterback to step in and lead the inexperienced Rocket backfield this season.

Schedule
August
31 Franklin 7
September
7 at Reynolds* 7
14 at Sharon* 7
21 Wilmington* 7
28 Hickory* 7
October
5 Greenville* 7
12 at Oil City 7
19 at Grove City* 7
26 Saegertown* 7
November
2 at Warren 7:30
*Region 3 games

Friday: Union City

– Tom Reisenweber

Schedule
September
2 Warren 7
9 at Hickory* 7
16 Greenville* 7
23 at Sharon* 7
30 Reynolds* 7
October
7 at Harbor Creek 7
14 Wilmington* 7
21 at Franklin 7
28 at Corry 7
November
4 Meadville 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.

Saturday: Union City

– Tom Reisenweber

Coach: Scott Salvo
2008 overall record: 4-6
2008 league record (place): 2-5 (fifth)
Playoff results: Did not qualify for the District 10 Class AA tournament.
Top players lost: OL/LB Adam Schwab, RB John Proano, QB/S/P Sean Clark, SE/S Cameron Atha, K Luke Berlin, RB/CB Arin Berryman.
Top underclassmen: QB/LB James Pattison, TE/DL Alexander Kline, K Trevor Foley, OT/DT Kyle O’Neill, RB/LB Zack Tarr.
Key games: Oct. 2 Oil City, Oct. 23 Wilmington, Nov. 6 at Franklin
Outlook: Titusville will be challenged just to make it into postseason action. The Rockets are not only in a region with Wilmington, the defending PIAA Class AA champion, but 2008 District 10 qualifiers in Greenville, Slippery Rock and Sharon. If that’s not enough, they only play four times at Carter Stadium. … Sean Clark and James Pattison split most of the quarterback snaps for the 2008 Rockets. Clark graduated, which means Pattison (23-of-68, 398 yards, four touchdowns) should go into camp as coach Scott Salvo’s clear-cut favorite. … Replacing John Proano, an all-region running back last year, will be a huge question for Salvo. Proano ranked among District 10′s best backs with 1,197 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Alexander Kline was Titusville’s third-leading rusher in 2008 (123, 1 TD) even though he was listed as a tight end. Kline also caught nine passes for 152 yards, second to Cameron Atha’s 18 receptions for 369 yards. … A plus for Titusville could be its line play. The Rockets have Cole Beauchat, Carl Bickel, Charles Hall, Kyle O’Neill and Van Stefaniszyn, as linemen who were listed at more than 200 pounds on their 2008 roster.

Schedule
September
4 at Corry 7
12 at Hickory* 7
18 Greenville* 7
25 at Reynolds* 7
October
2 Oil City* 7
9 at Slippery Rock* 7
16 Sharon* 7
23 Wilmington* 7
30 at Central Tech 7
November
6 at Franklin 7

*Region 3 games

Wilmington's Derrick Burns, one of the top running backs and linebackers in District 10, already has committed to the University of Pittsburgh.

Region 3 was the best Class AA region in 2008 with the best AA team in the state: Wilmington. The Greyhounds blew through the regular season schedule not losing on region game before making an impressive run to the PIAA championship. In fact, Wilmington’s only loss last year was a surprising 22-21 setback to Karns City in the final regular-season game. The Greyhounds return plenty of starters and should be a force once more in the region. Sharon is perenially a tough team but still fell short to the Greyhounds. Slippery Rock almost pulled off the upset of the year as the Rockets pushed Wilmington to overtime in the District 10 championship. Region 3 had three of the final four teams in the D-10 playoffs, including both teams in the title game. Here is a look at last year’s final standings:

Region 3
Region Overall
x-Wilmington 7-0 15-1
z-Sharon 6-1 10-2
z-Greenville 4-2 7-3
z-Slippery Rock 4-2 9-3
Titusville 2-5 4-6
Hickory 1-6 2-7
Oil City 2-4 3-6
Reynolds 0-6 0-9
x-region champion
z-qualified for playoff spot

Key 2009 games: Sept. 25 Slippery Rock at Sharon, Oct. 9 Wilmington at Sharon, Oct. 30 Slippery Rock at Wilmington
Predicted champion: Wilmington