Oeming

WESTMINSTER -- Westminster High's Jeff Oeming will step down from his position as the school's athletic director to further concentrate on his positions as head football coach and social studies teacher.Oeming, who could not be reached for comment, will step down as soon as a new AD is hired to replace him, said Sherri-Le W. Bream, the school's principal.Oeming replaced Jim Head as the school's athletic director in 1989 and will enter his fifth season this fall as the Owls' head football coach after coaching at North Carroll in 1986 and 1987.

Westminster High coach Jeff Oeming heads into the season with one good omen -- last year's junior varsity record.But he also has one persistent worry -- the big play.The Owls JV team was 7-1 last year, providing Oeming with a pool of talented, disciplined players to augment the 20 seniors he has on this year's 43-man roster.But Oeming worries about the big plays of other teams. He knows his power-oriented team needs time to play its game on the ground and score touchdowns."Our offense has to bepredicated on not making mistakes," he said.

A behind-the-scenes story reported first by The Carroll County Sun's Ed McDonough is worth retelling.It seems Westminster coach Jeff Oeming accidentally scheduled the Owls' wrestling team for three tournaments, one more than permitted by state rules. Oeming believed the Gilman Duals counted as a dual meet, but the state figures it's a eight-team tournament with a dual-meet format.At any rate, North Carroll coach Dick Bauerlein spotted the problem and alerted Oeming in time for the Owls to pull out of the Delone Tournament in McSherrystown, Pa.Some may have waited until the violation had occurred, then called it to the attention of state officials, thus disqualifying Westminster from postseason competition.

Let's continue the holiday cheer with a refreshing story of a countywrestling coach who helped save another Carroll team from some embarrassment, then was rewarded with some last-minute help for his own team's schedule.Jeff Oeming, the athletic director at Westminster High, accidentally had scheduled one more tournament than state regulations allowed when he assumed the Gilman Duals was simply a large dual meet.In fact, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association considers the Gilman Duals is a tournament -- albeit one with a dual meet scoring format.

Saturday afternoon's showdown between Westminster and Randallstown will be one of the most noteworthy games involving county teams in many years.Among the things at stake in what would normally be just another non-league game are the inside track on a state football playoff berth and some bragging rights in the metro area."