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Zach Shoemaker got his first glimpse of Urbana High School’s football team when he tagged along with his father, Roy, to watch the 1998 MPSSAA Class 2A state championship game at the University of Maryland’s Byrd Stadium.
A 10-year-old Washington County native at the time, Zach and his father followed the Hawks’ opponent.
“We went down to watch Fort Hill try to defend their 2A title against this new school from Frederick County called Urbana,” Zach said. “I was a big Penn State fan when I was a kid, and immediately, I loved [Urbana’s] uniforms. They looked just like Penn State.”
The Hawks didn’t just look good. They played well enough on that sunny day to beat the Sentinels handily, 24-7. For Urbana, this was the beginning of a dynasty that included 50 straight wins and four consecutive state crowns. And for Shoemaker, it was an introduction to the program he now helms.
Shoemaker has been named as Urbana’s new varsity football head coach, replacing Dean Swink, who stepped down after last season. The official announcement of Shoemaker’s hiring came earlier this week.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “I’ve been enamored with Urbana football since the first time I saw them play in 1998.”
This is the first varsity football head-coaching job for Shoemaker, who has served about 11 years as an assistant, including the past four as the special teams coordinator at Urbana, where he is a PE teacher.
His interest in coaching seemed inevitable, considering he grew up with a football coach for a father.
“I was probably 3. He was coaching then,” Shoemaker said. “I always used to get to go to practice and games, I did the water boy thing. With him being a coach, we would go to the state championship games, all four classifications, every year.”
Roy’s coaching career included serving as…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/zach-shoemaker-hired-helm-urbana-045900362.html
Author : The Frederick News-Post, Md.
Publish date : 2025-02-07 04:59:00
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