Archive
Fort Hill unanimous No. 1
Lattimer coach of year after leading Sentinels to 12-2 season, region title
CUMBERLAND — With a six-game winning streak taking them to the Maryland Class 1A state championship game, the Fort Sentinels locked up the Cumberland Times-News/Document Solutions Area football championship, and for the third time in his eight-year head-coaching career, Barry Lattimer will be the recipient of the 2006 Coca-Cola Golden Helmet Coach of the Year Award.
Lattimer will receive the Coca-Cola Award during the 59th annual Dapper Dan Awards Banquet Sunday, Jan. 28, 5 p.m., at the Ali Ghan Shrine Club.
Lattimer and his Sentinels opened the season with six victories, before falling to Martinsburg, then reeled off six more wins in a row before falling to Dunbar in the Maryland Class 1A title game to finish the season with a 12-2 mark and with the West Region crown. Along the way, Fort Hill played six area teams, defeating Frankfort, Keyser, Hampshire, Southern, Beall twice, and Allegany twice. The Sentinels also defeated Musselman, Hedgesville and Jefferson to finish second with a 3-1 mark in the Cumberland Valley Athletic League, and beat Havre de Grace in the 1A semifinals to gain their berth in the state championship game at Baltimore’s M&T; Bank Stadium.
Coming off a 6-5 season and being eliminated from the 2005 state playoffs in the opening round by Allegany, Fort Hill played with a mission through the course of the season in not only avenging its playoff loss to its crosstown rival, but its Homecoming Game loss of a year ago as well.
As for the Coach of the Year award, Lattimer was previously accorded the honor by the Dapper Dans following the 2000 and 2004 seasons. His father, the late Charlie Lattimer, former Fort Hill head coach, received the award four times.
“This is an honor for our school and for the Fort Hill community, and I can’t emphasize enough what the people of our community do for our school and what they mean to our school,” Lattimer said. “It’s also an honor for our entire program — our kids, and our coaching staff. Our coaching staff — Todd Appel, Jeff Brode, Chris Cassell, Gavin Palumbo, Eric VanSlyke, Thad Burner, Kevin Shupe and Shaun Lewis — is second to none.
“Every one of those guys, players and coaches, are important to what we do. When we meet at the beginning of the year, each person has a role —two-way starters, one-way starters, special-teams players, scout-team players, coaches — and every single one of those guys excelled in his role. Our football players excelled and our coaches excelled.
“To be honest, this was a football season I hated to see come to an end. It was an honor to be on a team with every single one of these guys.”
Lattimer is the ninth head football coach in Fort Hill’s 70-year history, and has guided the Sentinels to an overall record of 64-26, including an undefeated regular season in 2000, one Cumberland Valley Athletic League title, three Cumberland Area championships, and five berths in the Maryland state playoffs.
A former tight end as well as Times-News All-Area and Maryland All-State linebacker while playing for his father, Lattimer graduated from Fort Hill in 1975 and from Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, W.Va. in 1979, where he also excelled as a tight end under Coach Walter Barr.
Prior to becoming the head coach at Fort Hill, Lattimer was defensive coordinator for the Sentinels for 13 seasons under Coach Mike Calhoun, and coordinated Fort Hill’s strength and conditioning program. Prior to that, he served on the coaching staffs of head coaches Jim Chaney and Dick Bittner, giving him 27 years of service as a Fort Hill football coach.
Along with his head coaching duties, Lattimer coaches the Fort Hill offensive tackles and the interior line of the defense.
Fort Hill defensive tackle David White, who was the only Cumberland area player to be named first-team Maryland Prep Football Small Schools All-State this season, will also be honored at the Dapper Dan Awards Banquet on Jan. 28. For ticket information, call The Original Sports Shoppe at (301) 722-5490.
Mike Burke can be reached at mburke@times-news.com.
