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Warren Dragons
Coach (season, record): Brad Wright (5th season, 15-26)
2011 overall record: 2-8
2011 region record (place): 1-5 (tied for fifth)
2011 playoff results: Did not qualify for the District 10 Class AAA playoffs.
Top players lost: Nathan Zigler, Chris Danielson, Bobby Atkins, Mack Engstrom
Top returning players: Austin Jerman, Mark Cecco, Mark Davis, Mike Manderfeld, Geoff Stewart, Luke Wortman, Jordan Willetts
Assistant coaches: Greg Latimer, Mark Bupp, Gregg Miller, Ken Hinton, Paul Genis
Outlook: Warren went through some changes in the offseason. With a few teams shifting around, the Dragons were taken out of Region 6 and put into Region 5. Warren is an instant contender in the region and could be a tough out this season. The Dragons will have to replace Nathan Zigler, Chris Danielson, Bobby Atkins and Mack Engstrom. Zigler was a second-team all-region wide receiver, who caught 52 passes for 732 yards and six touchdowns. Danielson ran for 127 yards and one touchdown as a senior and caught 21 passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns. Atkins and Engstrom were all-region lineman this past year. Atkins was a second-team pick on the offensive line and Engstrom, a second-team defensive lineman.

Warren will have to plug some holes but the Dragons have its potent passing offense in place. Quarterback Austin Jerman, a second-team punter, threw for 2,206 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior and rushed for 135 yards and five touchdowns. Luke Wortman returns in the backfield and could see a huge increase in carries this season, while wide receiver Jordan Willetts and tight end Mark Davis are also back. Willetts had 26 catches for 441 yards and two touchdowns last fall and Davis had 35 catches for 551 yards and nine touchdowns. Mark Cecco, Mike Manderfeld and Geoff Stewart return on the offensive and defensive lines for the Dragons. Warren is in an interesting situation with a brand-new region. The Dragons have new opponents and have a solid chance at winning the region. Warren opens at East before a non-region game against Clarion-Limestone. The ensuing two weeks will be important for the Dragons. Warren travels to rival Bradford before hosting Meadville. Those two games could decide if the Dragons are serious contenders in the region or not. Warren later has a tough stretch against Slippery Rock, Corry and DuBois. If the Dragons can develop a few more targets for Jerman to throw to and make a concerted effort in stopping the run, Warren could not only contend for a playoff spot but for the Region 5 title.

Schedule
August
31 at East 7
September
7 Clarion-Limestone 7
14 at Bradford* 7
21 Meadville* 7
28 Oil City* 7
October
5 at Slippery Rock* 7
12 at Corry 7
19 DuBois* 7
26 at Franklin* 7
November
2 Titusville 7:30
*Region 5 games

Sunday: West Middlesex

– 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

Warren Dragons
Coach (season, record): Brad Wright (4th season, 13-18)
2010 overall record: 7-4
2010 region record (place): 4-2 (third)
2010 playoff results: Lost 41-21 to Oil City in the District 10 Class AAA quarterfinals.
Top players lost: T.J. Latimer, Matt Stapleford, Andrew Morrison, Logan Morley, Brett Ball, Matt Jaskolka
Top returning players: Mack Engstrom, Bobby Atkins, Nathan Zigler
Assistant coaches: Greg Latimer, Mark Bupp, Ken Hinton, Paul Genis and Gary Campbell
Outlook: Coach Brad Wright is hoping to see his team get to the playoffs for the second straight year. Warren has some work to do in camp for that to happen. The Dragons lost T.J. Latimer, Matt Stapleford, Andrew Morrison, Logan Morley and Brett Ball to graduation, leaving some big holes on both sides of the ball. Austin Jerman, who led the junior varsity team to a 9-1 record last year, could be in line to start at quarterback. His biggest competition would have been Matt Jaskolka but he has decided to concentrate on baseball this year. The Dragons also have all-region lineman Mack Engstrom back as well as two-way starting lineman Bobby Atkins. Nathan Zigler provides some depth at wide receiver and defensive back.

Warren has some experience back but filling in holes left by graduation will be crucial. The Dragons made their way to the District 10 playoffs in 2010 but could find a tougher road to the postseason this fall. Region 6 was a little down last year but it could be on its way back up. Warren will travel for three of its first four games, including two big region games at Fort LeBoeuf and Strong Vincent. The Dragons need to take care of those teams and East before showdowns with rival Bradford and powerhouse Cathedral Prep in October.

Schedule
September
2 at Titusville 7
9 East* 7
16 at Fort LeBoeuf* 7
23 at Strong Vincent* 7
30 Harbor Creek 7
October
7 at Franklin 7
14 at Bradford* 7
21 Central Tech* 7
28 Cathedral Prep* 7
November
4 Corry 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: West Middlesex

– Tom Reisenweber

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.

Warren Dragons

Coach: Brad Wright
2008 overall record: 2-8
2008 league record (place): 0-4 (fifth)
Playoff results: Did not qualify for the District 10 Class AAA playoffs.
Top players lost: WR/DB Mitch McTavish, OL/DL Patrick Zigler, RB/LB Coti Snyder, OL/DL Josh Cochrane, OL/LB Kyle McIntyre.
Top underclassmen: WR/DL/K Colter Johnson, WR/DB Travis Larsen, QB/DB Matt Stapleford, RB/LB T.J. Latimer, WR/DB Cody Bupp, OL/DL Cole Cerra, OL/DL Josh Morici.
Key games: Sept. 11 at Meadville, Oct. 9 at Franklin, Oct. 23 at Corry, Oct. 30 Grove City.
Outlook: Last season, the Dragons doubled their 2007 victory total in coach Brad Wright’s first year. Problem was, it was only two wins against small-school entries Iroquois and Northwestern. Warren will be challenged again this fall, with three of its four Region 5 games on the road and a non-region schedule that includes District 10 power Strong Vincent. … Warren didn’t lose a lot to graduation, however, Mitch McTavish was one of them. McTavish ranked among District 10′s elite receivers for 2008, hauling in 53 passes for 685 yards and four scores. His reception total more than doubled the combined numbers for returnees Cody Bupp and T.J. Latimer. … Quarterback Matt Stapleford posted solid numbers as a sophomore. Stapleford completed 54 percent of his attempts for 1,512 yards and 12 touchdowns. His 196 rushing yards were second on the team, a statistic that Warren will need to rectify. … The Dragons have two returning starters who were all-region picks as juniors. Colter Johnson was tabbed a second-team defensive lineman, and Travis Larsen was a second-team defensive back.

Schedule
September
4 Harbor Creek 7
11 at Meadville* 7
18 at Iroquois 7
25 Bradford 7
October
2 Strong Vincent 7
9 at Franklin* 7
17 at East 7
23 at Corry* 7
30 Grove City* 7
November
6 Northwestern 7

*Region 5 games

Wednesday: Our look at Region 6 begins with Bradford.

Region 5 was one of the most exciting regions to watch in 2008, not only because the standings were so close, but each team had a high powered offense. Grove City, the defending region champion, had many offensive weapons and a disciplined defense. Dwayne Martin, one of the region’s best playmakers, powered the offense and defense but has since graduated. Grove City’s signature win that basically clinched the region came in Week 8 with a 17-0 shutout of Meadville at Meadville. Meadville surprised a few teams and made the D-10 Class AAA playoffs. The Bulldogs’ ground game and defense made the difference but wasn’t enough to get past Strong Vincent. The Region 5 game of the year came in Week 4 when Meadville hosted Corry. The Beavers were rolling and looked like a playoff team. With both teams not getting past Grove City, their meeting on Sept. 19 was for a playoff spot. Both offenses put on a show and Meadville squeaked out the win with a Jarrod Kilburn touchdown run as time ran out. Corry quarterback Scottie Frisina is back, but the Beavers’ defense must improve dramatically. With key members from every team graduating, Region 5 is anyone’s region to win.

Region 5
Region Overall
x-Grove City 4-0 7-3
z-Meadville 3-1 6-5
Corry 2-2 6-4
Franklin 1-3 5-5
Warren 0-4 2-8
x-region champion
z-qualified for playoff spot

Key 2009 games: Sept. 11 Corry at Franklin, Sept. 25 Meadville at Corry, Oct. 16 Corry at Grove City, Oct. 23 Meadville at Grove City
Predicted champion: Grove City