By Sheldon Shealer

Stepping In

The question of who really quit on whom may never be answered regarding the St. Frances football program, but one thing is certain – the fledgling program will continue beyond the 2009 season.

Last week it was reported that coach Mike Clay, who started the program last year, resigned with three games remaining in the season. Clay told MDVarsity.com that, "St. Frances was not the place for me.” That response came on the heels of St. Frances losing its quarterback to injury and its star player to transfer, and having only 11 players – nine of them freshmen – show up at practice last Monday.

At an emergency team meeting last week, Dave Owens, the school's girls' tennis coach, volunteered to finish out the season as head coach. Owens dressed 38 players Friday in the team's 40-0 loss to St. John's Catholic Prep, which oddly was the first private school that Owens had been associated as a coach in the 1980s.

"I don't know what happened, I guess the Holy Spirit came over me,” Owens said his impromptu decision to coach football. His most recent football coaching experience was more than 20 years ago in a Frederick County youth league. Owens said he was not going to let down the students who wanted to continue playing football.

St. Frances' tennis season ended with a loss in the IAAM semifinals on Oct. 21 and Owens was coaching football on Oct. 27. He will coach St. Frances' final two games, but does not plan to remain as head coach. He said the school hopes to have a new coach in place by late-December and that St. Frances will definitely keep its football program. Owens said he will recommend that school petition the MIAA to be placed in the C Conference for 2010. St. Frances (2-7 overall, 2-6 league) is playing in the B Conference this year after being an independent program in 2008.

New Kid on the Block

If Cap Poklemba has his way, the MIAA soon might be growing by one new school, but first he needs a few varsity teams.

Poklemba, a former all-state football and soccer player from McDonogh (Owings Mills, Md.), is the athletic director at Gerstell Academy (Finksburg, Md.), a relatively new non-religious affiliated private school in Carroll County.

The school played host to this year's IAAM girls' soccer championships Sunday.

Gerstell Academy is in its eighth year of operation, growing from seven students in kindergarten in 1996 to 270 students in pre-K to 10^th grade this year. Poklemba said the school will field its first full varsity team programs next school year, and in the process the school will apply to be inducted in the MIAA for boys sports. Poklemba said he wants to apply to the IAAM for girls sports but the league is not accepting new applicants, he said. However, the recent closing of Towson Catholic (Towson, Md.) may create an opening in the IAAM.

Gerstell Academy plans to offer varsity soccer, basketball and lacrosse for boys and girls next school year.

Sheldon Shealer is a senior editor with ESPNRISE.com and has covered high school sports in Maryland for more then 20 years. Sheldon can be reached at Sshlr@erols.com.