EDINBORO — Down two touchdowns to a tough Greenville team, the General McLane Lancers needed to dig deep.

It just so happens, the Lancers are good at digging.

“Every week we dig deep,” said McLane coach Jim Wells. “That’s the character of this team.”

The Lancers battled back and claimed a thrilling 27-19 victory over the Trojans in a back-and-forth District 10 Class AA quarterfinal, held at Edinboro University’s Sox Harrison Stadium Saturday night.

“We had to dig deep last week against Fairview,” said Wells. “We were down 11 points inside of four minutes and we came back to win it. We were down at the half against Northwestern and came back.

“These kids don’t give up. They’re going to battle. They’re going to fight.”

The Lancers (11-0) have another big skirmish lined up againstnext week in the D-10 semifinals. There they’ll face Sharon, which had a comeback of its own in an 18-17 win over Fairview last night.

Greenville, meanwhile, ends the year at 7-4.

“That’s an outstanding Greenville team,” said Wells. “They are very difficult to stop. And I hate playing them.”

It’s hard to blame Wells, considering the lickin’ Greenville gave McLane over the first quarter and some change.

The Trojans scored on their first drive when tailback Dylan Zuschlag broke off a 41-yard touchdown run.

McLane then turned over its next two possessions. And Greenville made the Lancers pay for that second turnover, piecing together a 15-play drive that covered 63 yards, including a one-yard TD plunge from power back R.J. Malson.

Kyle Ponsoll got a hand in front of the extra point try by Greenville’s Mike Simons, and Greenville led 13-0.

Things were getting desperate for McLane.

“We thought, this is for real,” said McLane running back Cory Lee. “(Greenville) was no joke. Not that we took them lightly. We just had to come to grips with the fact that we were going to have to play a perfect game to get back in it.”