Archives

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

Union City Bears
Coach (season): Joe Sanford (1st season)
2010 overall record: 5-5
2010 region record (place): 5-3 (tied for third)
2010 playoff results: Lost 33-0 to Farrell in the District 10 Class A quarterfinals.
Top players lost: Greg Reinke, Ryan Myers, Luke Hetrick, Shane Rankin
Top returning players: Justin Bengel, Austin Shettler, Cole Lewis, Curtis Brown, William Manross, Shane Russell, Tim Vargo, Kyle Hetrick, Coltin Warner, Tyler Lindsley, Jarad Brooks, Jeff Burger, Josh Reinke
Assistant coaches: Randy Gunther, Paul Yoculan, Dan Clark, Brian Patten, Josh Kerns and Ray Salmon
Outlook: Union City looked for a new direction in the offseason and hired long-time coach Joe Sanford. Sanford has been a head coach at Corry and Seneca as well as an assistant and defensive coordinator at McDowell. His first priority is to get to know the team and start developing a gameplan that will work. Sanford hasn’t coached on the Class A level and will have to get used to a different style of football.

The Bears lost a few key players from last year’s playoff team, including Greg Reinke, Ryan Myers, Kurt Hetrick and Shane Rankin. Union City has plenty of experience, however. Justin Bengel, Austin Shettler, Cole Lewis, Curtis Brown, William Manross and Jeff Burger are back to anchor the offensive and defensive lines, while Tim Vargo, Coltin Warner and Shane Russell could compete for the starting quarterback job. Kyle Hetrick and Tyler Lindsley are back to compete for carries in the backfield along with Jarred Brooks and Josh Reinke.

Union City will be in for some changes in the offseason and could sneak up on some teams under Sanford. The Bears have a huge test to start the season at Lakeview before an interesting home opener against Youngsville. Union City’s chances for the region title and a playoff spot should be determined in October with games against Cambridge Springs, Maplewood, Iroquois and Mercyhurst Prep.

Schedule
September
2 at Lakeview 7
9 Youngsville* 7
17 at East 7
23 Cochranton* 7
30 at Saegertown* 7
October
7 Cambridge Springs* 7
14 Maplewood* 7
21 at Iroquois* 7
28 Mercyhurst Prep* 7
November
4 at Eisenhower* 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.

Sunday: Warren

– Tom Reisenweber

Union City will try to regroup this season after losing Jared Burger, District 10′s top rusher during the 2009 regular season. Coach Brian Patten will look for leadership from quarterback Ryan Myers, who was second on the team in rushing last season with 681 yards. Another running prospect is Greg Reinke. Check out the preview:

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

Fairview’s Peter Jackson ran for 249 yards — his third consecutive game with at least 227 yards rushing — to lead District 10 rushers. Strong Vincent’s Brandon Akins-Jones scored four touchdowns in a win over East. Those were among the highlighted top performances Friday.

We’ve added two players from Saturday’s games — Iroquois’ Jake Szoszorek and General McLane’s Nick Lombardo.

Vote in the poll at upper right through Monday night. The winner will be featured in Friday’s sports section. Here at the Week 8 nominees.

Peter Jackson, Fairview: 33 rushes, 249 yards, 77-yard TD run; now has 714 yards in his past three games and 1,129 yards on the season.

Brandon Akins-Jones, Strong Vincent: 15 rushes, 186 yards, TD runs of 66, 1 and 44 yards; eturned a fumble 92 yards for a TD.

Scottie Frisina, Corry: 7-of-17 passing, 135 yards, 2 TDs; 16 rushes, 152 yards, 2 TDs

Greg Garmon, McDowell: 8 rushes, 160 yards, TD runs of 64 and 3 yards; returned a kickoff 95 yards for a TD

Aaron Horton, Mercyhurst Prep: 16 rushes, 140 yards, TD runs of 59 and 5 yards; now has 1,117 yards on the season

Jared Burger, Union City: 25 rushes, 117 yards, TD runs of 11, 10 and 10 yards; now has District 10-leading 1,218 yards

Justin Wiley, Cathedral Prep: 8 rushes, 92 yards, TD runs of 1 and 51 yards; 2 receptions, 70 yards; returned punt 59 yards for a TD

Jake Szoszorek, Iroquois: Rushed 23 times for 226 yards and hade TD runs of 5, 6, and 9 yards; also became the Braves’ all-time leading tackler.

Nick Lombardo, General McLane: Rushed 10 times for 75 yards and 2 TDs; completed both of his pass attempts for 30 yards; returned an interception 43 yards for a TD.

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

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

Here are some candidates for the top honors this weekend:

Brandon Akins-Jones, Strong Vincent: 7 rushes, 129 yards, TD runs of 1, 61, 9 and 38 yards.

Gary Brown, East: 7-of-10 passing, 107 yards, 2 TDs; 6 rushes, 61 yards, TD

Jordan Elchynski, North East: 22 carries, 131 yards, 2 TDs

Zach Greenawalt, McDowell: 11 rushes, 178 yards, 2TDs; 57-yard TD pass

Aaron Horton, Mercyhurst Prep: 12 rushes, 165 yards; TD runs of 12, 35 and 60 yards

Dakota Schultz, Saegertown: 9 rushes, 102 yards, 3 TDs

Corey McWilliams, Fort LeBoeuf: 5 catches, 109 yards, 2 TDs (now has six TD receptions in three games)

Trevor Litwiler, Linesville: 21 rushes, 174 yards, 3 TD; 5-of-9 passing, 106 yards, TD

Jordan Kerner, Fairview: 7 rushes, 100 yards; TD runs of 11 and 63 yards

Jared Burger, Union City: 23 rushes, 164 yards, 2 TDs

Shyquawn Pullium, Cathedral Prep, 7 rushes, 225 yards, TD runs of 54, 69 and 72 yards, 4-of-8 passing, 73 yards, 2 TDs

There were many other worthy performances this weekend — more than we can list here. Who would you vote for? Who did we miss? Let us know.

Union City Bears

Coach: Brian Patten (4th season)
2008 overall record: 7-3
2008 region record (place): 5-3 (tied for 3rd, Region 2)
Playoff results: Lost to Farrell 25-0 in the District 10 Class A first round

Brett Smith

Top players lost: QB/DB Eric Albrecht, RB/LB Tyler Boyce, OL/DL Ryan Coleman, OL/LB Tyler Dawson, RB/DB Todd Jackson, TE/LB Andrew Miller, ST Jordan Landis
Top returning players: WR/DB Brett Smith, TE/DE Tyler Williams, OL/DL Evan Wolfe, FB/DL Jared Burger, RB/DB Robbie Hollis, RB/DB Shane Rankin, K Tony Pelc, OL/DL Jesse Vazquez, TB/DB Luke Hetrick, WR/DB Cody Morris, QB/DB Lewis Pisani, OL/DL Kasey Oakes, WR/DB Buddy Arnold, QB/DB Ryan Myers, OL/LB Phil Sewell, ATH Colton Yost, RB/LB Curtis Brown, OL William Manross, QB Coltin Warner
Key games: Sept. 18 vs. Cambridge Springs, Sept. 25 at Iroquois, Oct. 2 vs. Eisenhower, Nov. 7 at Mercyhurst Prep

Jared Burger

Outlook: As Brian Patten enters his 4th season at the helm in Union City, few know what to expect from the Bears this season. The program won two games total in Patten’s first two seasons, being a part of more homecoming games than they would have liked, before busting out for seven wins and a trip to the D-10 Class A playoffs last season. That 2008 run ended at the hands of one of the best Class A teams in the state, Farrell, who defeated Union City 25-0. Much of the Bears’ turnaround had to do with Eric Albrecht, a first-team all-region quarterback and defensive back who was lost to graduation. Albrecht was the team’s leading passer and rusher last season, scoring a combined 23 touchdowns. His top blocker, all-region tackle Tyler Dawson, also graduated. For line play, the Bears will look to Michael and Matt Woodley, Zach Lowry and Bernie Nothum, who will be fighting for playing time. The line also returns second-team all-region Evan Wolfe. The Bears lost four more key seniors in tight end Andrew Miller, defensive lineman Ryan Coleman, linebacker Tyler Boyce and defensive back Todd Jackson. Coach Patten the seniors will be missed on and off the field where they kept things light and led by example. This year’s new group of seniors looks to be led by wide receiver Brett Smith, all-region defensive lineman and crushing fullback Jared Burger, tight end/defensive end Tyler Williams, running back Robbie Hollis and several others. The Bears’ senior kicker, Tony Pelc, required offseason shoulder surgery, but Patten hopes to have him ready for the start of the season. Hollis will likely get the bulk of the carries out of the backfield but will share time with Burger and Lewis Pisani. Along with his veterans, Patten will add four new players to the Union City squad, many of whom are stars in other sports . This group includes basketball player Buddy Arnold, who will look to play wide receiver and defensive back, Ryan Myers, from the cross country team, Colton Yost, from the golf team, and Phil Sewell, a transfer from South Carolina. Look for those four players to receive solid playing time. Whether the Bears make it back to the playoffs or not, Patten wants his players to learn life lessons, have fun and have football be a positive experience for them. And most of all, he’s just glad Union City isn’t on everybody’s homecoming schedule anymore.

Schedule:
September
5 at Lakeview 7
11 at Cochranton* 7
18 Cambridge Springs* 7
25 at Iroquois* 7
October
2 Eisenhower* 7
9 at Saegertown* 7
15 Harborcreek Youth* 7
23 Youngsville* 7
30 Conneaut Valley 7
November
7 at Mercyhurst Prep* 1

*Region 2 game

Sunday: Region 5 and Region 6 previews

In 2008, Saegertown was the class of Region 2 with a very talented team. Unfortunately for the Panthers a lot of talent graduated and the head coach resigned. Dave McDonald takes over as a first-year coach and some rebuilding to do from last year’s team. Cambridge Springs, Union City and Iroquois were all solid playoff teams but did not fare well against the powerful Region 1. There was a little controversy with the playoff selections as Iroquois and Mercyhurst Prep finished with the same region record. The District 10 handbook, at the time, stated the team with the best overall record advanced. Iroquois had the better record even though Mercyhurst Prep beat the Braves head to head. The rules have changed with head to head being the first tiebreaker this season. Mercyhurst Prep, Iroquois and Cambridge Springs will be solid with Saegertown and Union City in the hunt. Eisenhower could be a very dangerous sleeper with plenty of starters returning. Here are last year’s standings:

Region 2
Region Overall
y-Saegertown 8-0 12-1
z-Cambridge Springs 6-2 7-4
z-Union City 5-3 7-4
z-Iroquois 5-3 6-5
Mercyhurst Prep 5-3 5-5
Eisenhower 4-4 4-6
Youngsville 2-6 2-7
Cochranton 1-7 1-9
Harborcreek Youth 0-8 0-10
y-clinched region championship
z-qualified for playoff spot

Key 2009 games: Oct. 1 Cambridge Springs at Mercyhurst Prep, Oct. 9 Cambridge Springs at Eisenhower, Mercyhurst Prep at Iroquois, Oct. 23 Mercyhurst Prep at Saegertown, Oct. 30 Iroquois at Cambridge Springs
Predicted champion: Mercyhurst Prep