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St. Mary's names Zappas its new football coach Pete Zappas is set to take over the head football coaching duties at St. Mary's High for the 2002 season, the school's athletic director Tammy Volk announced Thursday. Zappas is presently the head coach for the Crusaders' varsity girls basketball team and was an assistant last falls under departing football coach Dick Maurer. St. Mary's went 3-4 under Maurer last season in a schedule featuring junior varsity teams from the area instead of its usual Southern Cascade League slate. The Crusaders had their season halted midway through the 2000 campaign because there weren't enough players to fill a roster. At that time, there was discussion by the school board to disband the football program altogether before finally settling on a JV schedule in an attempt to boost participation. Maurer led the Crusaders to a 9-46 record in seven years at St. Mary's. Zappas, the dean of students and a history teacher at St. Mary's, joined the staff this fall from Pennsylvania, where he served as the varsity assistant football coach, strength coach and head JV football coach at Kiski High School, his alma mater. Zappas played NCAA Division III football at Washington and Jefferson College, then began his coaching career at Durango High School in Las Vegas, Nev., as a football varsity assistant before returning to Pennsylvania. In its heyday, St. Mary's won nine Big Fir League titles in a 10-year span between 1973 and 1982. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.