I'll go on record because my name was on this Cathedral Prep deal. Yes, FH has dropped Cathedral Prep for the return game in 2020 so I am told. FH did at least pay Cathedral Prep for last year's visit to Cumberland. Hedgesville also dropped FH for the return game in 2020, same thing. This process happens much too often in both directions. There is nothing I can do to stop it. Very frustrating. No out of state contract can hold the agreement because there are no legal ramifications for dropping it.
I did not put the 2019 FH football schedules together last year for various reasons (other than the Quad scrimmage). But once summer got here I was asked to see if I could help find a final 9th game for FH because they had no options. It got to be the first week of August and the only game out there was Cathedral Prep. It was them or only 8 games for the kids. I told Coach Appel they would only take a two year deal. He took it and I reaffirmed this was a two year deal. It was agreed. FH signed the contract. I was 100% positive this would be a two year deal knowing full well CP would be heavily favored to beat FH both years. But since the playoffs changed I figured FH was good with it.
Well I apologize because I was dead wrong. I admit it so I deserve the criticism in that department. And I will take it like a man who admits he was wrong. But I DID NOT CANCEL THE GAME!!!!!! Nor would I ever have cancelled the game. Nor would I have ever cancelled the Friendship Collegiate game in 2018. I'm not happy about it to put it very mildly. Very frustrated on many levels. But that is not my call and never was because I am not a coach and I don't have to prepare these kids for games. I don't have to put in 50-60 hours a week. I have not put 25 years of my life into FH football.
The last 10 years I have been putting FH schedules together -- I only find games, it is Coach Appel who always decides whether to take them or not as it should be and as it is for every other team I help find games, as it should be. It has led to many hardcore disagreements that few even know about, as is normal, but it never took my respect away because I try to walk in his shoes. It's a load, trust me. He has given up a chunk of his life, including his family, to do what he does for FH and those kids. Many may not like the route he chooses to win games, but there is no disputing his success with it. To Coach Appel, he truly believes that his FH kids should be afforded the same opportunities as every other MPSSAA 1A school. That 1A teams should be who he plays like everyone else. Since we can't get those games we have filled them with Capital Christian, Silver Oak, MATHS, Pittsburgh City teams, etc. I keep using the same expression these days - Southern won't play Keyser, Keyser won't play Fort Hill, Fort Hill won't play Martinsburg and Martinsburg won't play a good DC private school. These are the lessons being taught to kids today from every direction.
So if people in this community want to take issue with Coach Appel, that is your prerogative. I won't on a place like social media because he does so much and I'm extremely appreciative of everything he has done for the school where we both graduated. I have known Todd Appel since Washington Jr. High School. We both went to the same elementary school. We don't see eye to eye sometimes. And what's wrong with that? People don't see eye to eye in many phases of life. It can sometimes be a healthy thing, sometimes it can lead to problems. Fortunately, football is not life.
With that said, I have to repeat...I DID NOT CANCEL THE CATHEDRAL PREP GAME. I do not like in the least that it got cancelled and do not agree with it at all. I'm the one who the Cathedral Prep AD and head coach had to give a painful earful to because I set it up. I had to take that and apologize multiple times. There is much that goes on behind the scenes that I don't state publicly. The football schedule is 100% Coach Appel's call and always has been. I'm the one who always pushes for better competition. Most people here don't know this and so I get much of the flack about it. I never believed in overloading our kids, especially the way the old playoffs used to be set up. But I can't stand watching 7-8 games with a running clock every year as a fan of the game much like everyone else. IT'S NOT MY DECISION, none of the teams FH plays are my decision.
At the same time it can be a joke to see what some people type here and other social media outlets because they think they know things. None of these people were involved in talking with 400 schools every year for the last 10 years trying to make games happen. It is a fact that for every game FH says no to, there are 40 other schools that say no to FH. Whether you like it, don't like it, agree or disagree...it is a massive dilemma every year. People want to hold FH accountable for things they would never hold other schools accountable for. There is not a 1A school in Maryland that would even remotely consider picking up Cathedral Prep or Melbourne CC or Friendship Collegiate other than FH and maybe Dunbar. It certainly has been a double standard, but that comes with winning so much. So as I always tell Coach Appel...when people stop complaining and celebrating your losses, then it will be time to be concerned with the Fort Hill program.
Also note...I am about the only person who is willing to share thoughts and info online through social media. I sometimes show my blue collar emotions but try to stay professional. I take heat for that from many administrators through the years. The way I see it, the truth (or what you believe in) should not need to be kept behind closed doors. This has burned me at times and earned thanks other times. You don't have to agree or like it, but at least I try to stay open and honest.
FYI, I type super fast as one can tell from the length of some posts. LOL
