It might be difficult to believe, but the high school sports season is only a few days away.

Fall sports teams open practice Monday throughout the state. Football headlines the list of sports, but there’s also boys and girls soccer, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls golf, girls tennis and girls volleyball.

Golfers will open their season first, as the regular season gets under way the following Monday, Aug. 18. Girls tennis follows Aug. 25.

Football season, of course, begins on a Friday, Aug. 29, along with soccer, cross country and girls volleyball.

However, those who crave football action don’t have to wait for the Aug. 29 openers. A slew of scrimmages will take place Aug. 16, followed by another batch of scrimmages Aug. 21-23.

For coverage of the opening day of practice Monday, visit the Varsity blog and read Tuesday’s Erie Times-News.

What an opening weekend it will be for District 10 football at Veterans Stadium.

Most D-10 fans are aware that archrivals Cathedral Prep and McDowell will meet Aug. 29. That game -- nicknamed the “Courage Bowl” -- has received plenty of publicity because the teams will use it as a fundraiser for cancer research ... and because it’s Prep-McDowell.

But that’s not the only rivalry taking place. On the next night, Strong Vincent will host General McLane at the Stadium in a matchup that has been one of the district's most heated in recent years.

Both rivalries have similarities.

For instance, Prep and McDowell have been perennial D-10 title contenders in Class AAAA, but the Ramblers have dropped to AAA. McLane and Vincent have dominated Class AAA in recent years, but McLane has dropped to AA this year. As a result, there will be no playoff rematch in either case.

Both rivalries also feature star players returning for each team. McDowell brings back standout running back A.J. Fenton, while Prep will rely on skilled wide receiver Shyquawn Pullium.

The McLane-Vincent game will feature two of D-10’s premier returning big-play men. Quarterback Kellen O’Neill is back to run the Lancers’ vaunted option offense. The Colonels’ Deonte Flemings is a top quarterback, return man and defensive back whose play mirrors former Mercyhurst Prep standout Jovon Johnson.

Look for more on these teams in the Times-News football preview edition Aug. 28.

It’s been a heck of a season for Millcreek’s American Legion teams – and it’s not over yet.

-- The Post 773 Senior Legion team won the Erie County championship recently with a victory of Hamot East Erie. Millcreek made a bid for the Region 8 title in St. Marys this week before being eliminated.

Led by players such as Ryan Skellie, Chad Oberacker, Tyler DeCrapio and J.P. Frey, Millcreek went 3-2 in the regional. Post 773 eventually lost an elimination game 13-5 Bradford.

The highlight of the tournament for Millcreek might have been a 6-5 victory over New Castle. Eric Hansen stole home on a double steal to score the winning run in the ninth inning of that game.

-- The Post 773 Junior Legion team has had an even better summer. The team won its first 26 games of the season before suffering its first loss in the Western Regional this week in Punxsutawney. Post 773 eventually lost to Fezell Enterprises 7-4 in the semifinals, but it already had locked up a berth in the state playoffs with a top-three finish.

Millcreek (27-2) will begin competing in the eight-team state tournament Saturday when it faces Spring City at 4 p.m. at the Heuser Baseball Complex in Valley Forge.

Other teams in the tournament field are Punxsutawney, Swoyersville, Shaler, Shillington, West Lawn and tourney host Valley Forge.

The highlight of Post 773’s regional tournament was a 17-8 victory over Homer City's Gorell Windows. In that game, Jeff Clark had three singles, a double and a homer, scored three runs and added three RBIs to lead Millcreek's 17-hit attack. Alex Margraf had three doubles and four RBIs, and Kevin Stoicovy added two hits and four RBIs.

John Heynoski, a 1980 PIAA wrestling champion for Fort LeBoeuf, died Thursday of injuries suffered during a motorcycle accident.

Heynoski won the 1980 132-pound Class AA championship. He remained connected to the sport he loved, and to arm-wrestling, in the years since.

He was 48.

Corry softball coach Dale Henderson resigned this week, bringing to an end a 19-year coaching career that will go down as one the finest District 10 has seen.

Corry is one of just seven teams from District 10 to have advanced to a PIAA championship game, in any classification. Only Iroquois (three times) and Harbor Creek (once) have won a state title, but Corry made its move in 1996, losing 10-2 to Northampton in the AAA championship.

That was one of five seasons that the Beavers advanced to the state semifinals round. And they closed out Henderson's career this past spring with their fourth straight District 10 title, and the team's 11th overall under Henderson.

So where would you rank Henderson among District 10's great softball coaches, such as Joe Sholtis, Bernie Fitch, Ron Niebauer, Al Bricker and their peers?

District 10 athletes who have committed to colleges

Player (high school) college

BASEBALL

Derek Carr (Titusville) Youngstown State

Jeremy Cressley (Corry) Mercyhurst

Kevin Gnacinski (Villa Maria) Mercyhurst

Kyle Harpster (McDowell) Gannon

Marcus Paradise (Northwestern) Slippery Rock

Ryan Skellie (McDowell) St. Bonaventure

GOLF

Derek Forese (Grove City) Clarion

Ross Pringle (Titusville) Clarion

HOCKEY

Morgan Nickerson (Meadville) Colgate

LACROSSE

Megan Gillespie (McDowell) Notre Dame College

Phil Johnson (McDowell) Mercyhurst

SOCCER

Julia DeLuca (Mercyhurst Prep) Seton Hill

Mike Kickel (Cathedral Prep) Gannon

Ross Matthews (Cathedral Prep) Slippery Rock

Megan Macko (McDowell) Mercyhurst

Aaron Meehl (North East) Penn State Behrend

Courtney Mercier (McDowell) Michigan

Bobby Mohr (Cathedral Prep) Lock Haven

Jennifer Talarico (Iroquois) Mercyhurst North East

Edin Sabic (Cathedral Prep) Missouri State

Mark Tattersall (Cathedral Prep) Lock Haven

Elizabeth Velez (General McLane) – going to Point Park (HoF program)

SOFTBALL

Stacie Balkovic (Strong Vincent) Edinboro

Ali Grab (Villa Maria) Niagara

Julie Norris (Sharon) Westminster

Jessica VanDamia (Fort LeBoeuf) Edinboro

Shannon Zoltowski (Mercyhurst Prep) Gannon

SWIMMING & DIVING

Colleen Harriger (McDowell) Gannon

John Hill (Cathedral Prep) Dartmouth

Kaitlyn Karl (McDowell) Seton Hall

Robert Morris (Titusville) h Gannon

Philip Myrick (Prep) Gannon

Max Niggel (Corry) Edinboro

Hannah Rankin (Oil City) h Edinboro

Andy Rish (Cathedral Prep) –Washington & Jefferson

TRACK & FIELD and CROSS COUNTRY

Lindsay Dill (McDowell) o Point Park

A.J. Dohanic (Girard) Appalachian State

Steve Gibbens (Seneca) Penn State Behrend

Caitlin Hancox (Meadville) Slippery Rock

Andy Hellman (Cathedral Prep) Gannon

Jacquelyn Kerr (Titusville) Slippery Rock

Laura Kosiorek (McDowell) Youngstown State

Dan Kwiatkowski (McDowell) Pitt

Nora Nies (Seneca) Penn State

Melissa Smith (Mercer) Bucknell

VOLLEYBALL

Drew Barnhart (Titusville) Juniata

Angela Groshner (Maplewood) Edinboro

Amber Schaef (Maplewood) Westminster

WATER POLO

Colleen Harriger (McDowell) Gannon

Andy Rish (Cathedral Prep) Washington & Jefferson

WRESTLING

Jordan Easter (Cathedral Prep) Pitt-Johnstown

Adam Trimble (Harbor Creek) Ohio Northern

Randall Wagner (Cathedral Prep) Seton Hill

District 10 football players who have committed to colleges

Player (high school) college

Bill Altman (Sharon) Slippery Rock

Nick Arrigo (Mercyhurst Prep) Gannon

Brendan Barber (Cathedral Prep) Northwestern

Chris Burns (Wilmington) Pitt

Matt Cirell (Franklin) Mercyhurst

Andrew Clark (Titusville) Westminster

Joe Conde (Mercyhurst Prep) Gannon

Tony Eggleston (North East) Clarion

Shane Goodwin (Fairview) Baldwin-Wallace

Calyn Hamilton (Strong Vincent) Edinboro

James Harvey (Cochranton) Akron

Mike Keller (Strong Vincent) Heidelberg

Bryant Kimball (McDowell) Mercyhurst

Marquis Knight (Strong Vincent) Slippery Rock

Pat Michael (Fairview) Bloomsburg

Dan Miller (Seneca) Gannon

Ralph Ord (Warren) Westminster

Matt Orzechowski (McDowell) St. Vincent

Mike Parsons (Cathedral Prep) Gannon

Doug Perhacs (McDowell) St. Vincent

Jeff Pollard (Fairview) Mercyhurst

Josh Prischak (Cathedral Prep) Gannon

Brian Roberts (General McLane) Edinboro

Tyler Sargent (Fairview) New Hampshire

Akeem Satterfield (Cathedral Prep) Slippery Rock

Ryan Skelton (General McLane) Edinboro

Mitch Straight (Eisenhower) Akron

Tom Takash (Hickory) Lock Haven

Phil Thomas (Iroquois) Mercyhurst

Shawn Walker (General McLane) Edinboro

Andy Wallen (Iroquois) Westminster

Jesse Wattle (Strong Vincent) Edinboro

Josh Williams (Fort LeBoeuf) Gannon

Jesse Wilson (Reynolds) Westminster

Blidi Wreh-Wilson (General McLane) Connecticut

District 10 basketball players who have committed to colleges

Player (high school) college

Mark Blazek (Cathedral Prep) Hartwick

Alyssa Cooley (East) Walsh

Kristi Ewanick (East) Walsh

Megan Hoffman (Villa Maria) Mercyhurst

Becky Innes (McDowell) Gannon

Zach Spronatti (McDowell) Penn State Behrend

Ti’Eshia Stubbs (Farrell) Akron

Tiera Tate (East) Walsh

Matt Triana (North East) Baldwin Wallace

Brittany Wilwohl (Villa Maria) Siena

On Thursday, Indianapolis Colts star Bob Sanders met with Jackson King and King's family at Gannon University Field. Following is King's story, which was published in the Erie Times-News Varsity edition on Oct. 10, 2007.

Continue reading "Jackson King's story" »

Look for the Erie Times-News District 10 Spring All-Stars in Sunday's sports section.

We'll have the region and District 10 all-star teams, athletes of the year in each sport, photos and a column by high school beat writer Joe Mattis.