Sports
Prep Football: Junker Steps Down as Coach at Chesapeake
The health and physical education teacher, who went 28-16 in four seasons with the Bayhawks, wants to spend more time with family.
After guiding the Chesapeake football team to playoff berths during three of four seasons, Bayhawks coach Mark Junker has stepped down to devote more time to his family and his teaching career, he told Patch.com on Sunday night.
Under 42-year-old Junker, the Bayhawks went 7-4 in 2007 and 2008, as well as a career-best 10-2 in 2009, a year during which Chesapeake split victories with eventual Class 2A state titlist and Essex-area rival Eastern Tech. Chesapeake also earned the top seed in the Class 1A and 2A North regionals during his tenure.
"I did step down about a week ago," said Junker, whose team was 4-6 in 2010. "It was a personal decision first of all, having to do with my family, with a 3-month-old daughter and a 2-year-old daughter, as well as the fact that there is more of a demand for the time that it takes to devote to teaching.
"Both of those areas in the past couple of years have demanded more of my time, obviously. So, basically, there just isn't enough time for me to coach football the way that I need to coach it in order to be successful. So if I'm not going to be able to do something right, then, for now, I'm not going to do it at all."
The Bayhawks went farthest under Junker in 2009, falling in their rematch to Eastern Tech in the Class 2A North Region title game. Eastern Tech, which lost to Chesapeake in the regular season, went on to win the 2A state title.
The win over the Mavericks notwithstanding, Junker ranks defeating previously unbeaten Baltimore County rival Sparrows Point as an equally memorable experience.
"My first year there, we were 5-1 and Sparrows Point was 6-0, and at that time, they were two or three-year consecutive Class 1A county champions. I mean, they were beasts, and we wound up knocking them off, 8-6," Junker said.
"I mean, beating Eastern Tech was right up there, there's no doubt about it, but beating Sparrows Point was just as sweet," said Junker, a health and physical education instructor at Chesapeake. "There is a lot of work involved in the increase in work, but I'm only 42, so I'll get everything organized and together and I'll be getting back into coaching."