Oeming

Former Liberty High football coach John Magee denied Friday night that he is planning to become coach at Westminster High.A little more than 24 hours after he announced his resignation at Liberty, Magee said: "I'm not positioning myself to be the coach at Westminster. I keep hearing that talk, but it's not true."Westminster coach Jeff Oeming has been involved in a lot of controversy since a scuffle on Labor Day with Owls wide receiver Micah Shaffer.Magee said he planned to stay out of football coaching at least a season and "then I'll find something to do. I'll probably coach something else at Liberty.

A pair of Carroll County football teams, both relatively small in stature, are enjoying big success in the early season. Though undersized compared with many of their opponents, North Carroll and Century have used the spread offense to light up the scoreboard, combining to start the season 5-1. That may not seem like much until you consider that the teams were a combined 25-55 over the past four years. North Carroll has posted just one winning season in 20 years. "What we're trying to do is open the game up more offensively," said Panthers coach Jeff Oeming, who led North Carroll to a 6-4 record in 1986, during his first stint as coach.

Yawn. Yawn.That was mostly the reaction from the five Carroll County high schools this week when the state athletic association came out with its realignment of schools for the 1993-94 and 1994-95 academic years.No wonder.None of the five Carroll schools is changing classification, and all of them are locked into their present classes for the foreseeable future.In the new regional alignments, only South Carroll was involved in a major shake-up. The Cavaliers will be moving to Region I from Region III and joining 10 different schools.

A dream-like coaching position, a diamond-in-the-rough with excellent football facilities, a perfect cross section of youngsters and one of the fastest growing schools in the state.All those superlatives have been used by football coaches around the state to describe Westminster High and its vacant football coaching position.Over the next three months, some of the top names in area high school coaching will be competing for the right to replace Jeff Oeming as the head coach of the Owls.Wilde Lake's Doug DuVall (174-41 and four state 1A titles in 21 years at the Columbia school)

WESTMINSTER - Often in the United States you hear proud parents say their child "looks like a football player" when he is born.But how often do you think you would hear it in Northern Ireland?When Malachy and Geraldine McAlonan lived in their native Northern Ireland, Malachy said just that of their second son, Ciaran."When I first saw him I said, 'He's built like an American football player,' " Malachy said.At that time, the McAlonans, of Westminster, had no idea they would one day live in the United States.

Give John Buchheister the ball and let him run with it as the new football coach at Westminster High.That would be the best move the school could make in three weeks, when it names a replacement for Jeff Oeming.Buchheister has coveted the Westminster job for several years and has the ability to bring a state championship to the school.He guided Milford Mill to the Class 1A championship in 1987 and Randallstown to the Class 4A title in 1990, his first year there.In 12 years at Milford Mill and four at Randallstown, Buchheister has a 128-44 record to go along with the two state titles in three championship game appearances and one trip to the semifinals with Milford Mill in 1985.

Home Turf: 1400 Panther Drive, Hampstead Head Coach: Matt Martello (first season) 2011 Record: 2-8 overall; 2-5 county Matt Martello has been here before. As North Carroll's head coach in 2002, he guided the Panthers to a 3-7 record. Martello hopes for better results in his second stint in Hampstead. "We're really emphasizing the weight room," said Martello, who was an assistant to the retired Jeff Oeming last year. "I feel like we're in great physical condition.

Welcome back, Westminster.The Owls' football team brought back memories Friday night of the school's glory days.It not only beat a Class 4A opponent, but it also did it soundly, running off to a 20-0 lead on the way to a 26-15 victory over Meade.Junior quarterback Steve Mays did almost everything right, mixing the run with the pass to keep Meade off balance.Mays, in only his third varsity game, displayed outstanding quickness and footwork in the backfield to get away from the rush. He also showed some of the best faking and ball-handling by a quarterback in this county in recent years.

One game does not make a season.But everything came together last night for Westminster against a solid Meade team in what had to be the best performance by an Owls football team in nearly three seasons.Westminster dominated the first half and the opening minutes of the third quarter to take a 20-point lead and then coasted to a 26-15 victory over the Mustangs on a rainy night at Westminster.Junior quarterback Steve Mays and senior running back Chris DiGasperi were impressive all night for Westminster (1-2)

Awards are being handed out across the state for the top high school athletes, coaches and teams.The people who got the job done this fall rightfully are being honored. But there will be no awards or rewards for the men and women who have to make tough decisions to keep an athletic program running smoothly.Whoever heard of an Athletic Director of the Year? The athletic directors handle the mundane daily chores of scheduling and rescheduling, transportation, security and a long list of game-day operations without any fanfare.