Football Coach

Let's take a whirl around the county, sports fans, and catch up on afew local happenings, including Friday night entertainment for thoseof you who don't feel like watching hoops and wrestling.We should know by the middle of next week who will be named the new head football coach at Archbishop Spalding in Severn."Our committee has made its choice, but we can't say who it is, because we have to first offer the position to the coach," said Spalding Athletic Director Domenic Pachence. "So, I would say by about Wednesday or Thursday of next week, we should make the announcement."

Reginald Corwin "Reggie" Johnson, a longtime Baltimore County and Carroll County football coach who helped lead Randallstown High School to the 1984 state championship, died Wednesday of heart failure related to diabetes at Northwest Hospital Center. He was 84. Born in Waynesboro, Pa., Mr. Johnson played on his high school football team and followed his coach, Rip Engle, to Penn State. He left after his freshman year to enlist in the Navy during World War II, serving in the Pacific, said his son, Kenith "Speedy" Johnson.

Victor J. Woods, who was one of the area's top football and basketball coaches in the 1950s, died Monday at Franklin Square Hospital of injuries sustained in a fall at his Perry Hall home. He was 84.Mr. Woods coached at Mount St. Joseph High School from 1947 to 1961, when he turned over the coaching jobs to Ben Petrilli and Gene Nieberlein, two of his former star athletes.He remained at the Irvington school as a physical education teacher until 1968. He left Mount St. Joe's to become athletic director at Atholton High School in Howard County before retiring in 1977.

Joseph Anthony Yates Sr., who became the first black football coach in Baltimore County public school history when he was named head coach at Parkville Senior High School in 1971, died Saturday of a brain tumor at Good Samaritan Hospital. The longtime Forest Park resident was 83. Mr. Yates was born in Eufaula, Okla., and raised in Mesa, Ariz., where he graduated from high school in 1940. In 1942, he joined the Army and served with a combat trucking unit in Europe that carried ammunition for the 3rd and 6th tank divisions of Gen. George S. Patton Jr.'s 3rd Army.

Matt Martello, a longtime assistant at Loyola High, who has led the Dons' JV team to two straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association titles, was named football coach at North Carroll on Wednesday. An assistant to coaching legend Joe Brune since 1983, with the exception of a short stint during the mid-1990s, the Johns Hopkins graduate originally had thrown his name into the mix to replace Brune, who retired after last season. He becomes the third coach in as many years at North Carroll, which is coming off consecutive 1-9 seasons.

Mount Hebron High School athletic director Mark Cates has been namedthe school's head football coach.Cates, a 40-year-old social studies teacher who has served as an assistant football coach for the past four years, replaces Steve Benninghove, who resigned in December."

Paul Johnson is 27-9 in his three years as Navy's football coach. Navy won the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy this season, finishing with a 10-2 record. Navy ended its season with a 34-19 victory over New Mexico in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 30. Johnson was also a unanimous selection for the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award. Barbara, Baltimore: Congratulations on such a terrific season and congratulations on the Coach of the Year award. Any ideas on who we're likely to see in key positions next year?

Ricky Diggs, an assistant coach at the Air Force Academy, is expected to be named head football coach at Morgan State University this afternoon when the school holds a news conference.Diggs, the wide-receivers coach in his year at Air Force, would replace Ed Wyche, who was fired after three years and a 1-10 record in 1990.This will be the first head coaching position for Diggs, 37, a Harrisburg, Pa., native.Morgan State has not had a winning record since the 1979 team went 9-1 and lost in the first round of the Division II playoffs.

The face of football in Howard County continues to change. River Hill athletic director Don Van Deusen is ending a 28-year football coaching career and handing the reins to his 25-year-old son, Brian. Van Deusen, 54, who will remain as athletic director and physical education teacher, is the second veteran football coach to resign since the season ended. Hammond coach Joe Russo announced his resignation in November and was replaced by Bill Smith. Van Deusen opened up River Hill four years ago, and the Hawks embarked immediately upon varsity competition.

Dale Castro, the former University of Maryland All-America kicker, has resigned after one season as football coach at Annapolis High. "I had hoped to get a full-time position at the school and it couldn't be worked out," said Castro, who lives in Bowie and is a guidance counselor at High Point High in Prince George's County. "The kids deserve to have a coach in the school." Castro, a member of the Anne Arundel County Sports Hall of Fame who was a three-sport standout at Southern-Harwood, succeeded Roy Brown.