High school notes

KW soap opera has happy ending

Two weeks ago, the King William County School Board told Zach Just he would no longer be King William High School's varsity football coach.

Monday night, school board members reversed the decision and reinstated Just.

"It's definitely been a crazy couple of weeks," said Just, 28. "I'm glad it's over. It's been an emotional time."

This is the stuff from which movie scripts are written.

Just came to King William last fall to replace Cavaliers legend Roger Brookes, who left after 35 years to become the football coach at Henrico. It was Just's first year as a head coach after two seasons as offensive coordinator for his brother, Josh, at Hanover High.

The Cavaliers lost their first three games, then won six of the next seven to make the playoffs for the 16th time in a streak of 18 years with a winning record. They finished 6-5 after losing to Washington & Lee in a Region A, Division 2 semifinal.

Despite the success, behind-the-scenes activity led to Just's firing.

Parents and players fought back, spearheaded by team mom and booster club secretary Tracy Akers. Players circulated a petition saying they wouldn't play next year unless Just was reinstated and received an apology. Akers sent emails to school board members and media outlets. Parents and supporters gathered for a meeting last week. A couple of school board members were present.

"Two weeks ago, I thought I was done," Just said. "I'm grateful for the tremendous support from the parents, players and community. Everyone got behind me and fought for me. This will help us grow as a team and bring us closer together. They did it for me. . . . I know they are excited to get back into the weight room. "

The Cavaliers, with 10 of 11 offensive starters returning, are making up the lost time in the weight room. Just's staff will change some because longtime defensive coach Al Tupponce is retiring after 30 years.

"We're all glad things worked out," King William Athletic Director Dan Jones said. "The kids have direction. They have a leader. The community responded well. All the parties came together and did the right thing."

Meadowbrook's Bowles decides to retire

Meadowbrook football coach Bill Bowles has retired after 33 years of coaching.

Bowles, 58, has spent 26 of those years in Chesterfield County. He started at Meadowbrook in 1983 when Jamie Accashian was the head coach. Bowles was an assistant at Midlothian for three years before becoming the Monarchs' head coach in 1998.

Meadowbrook was 14-35 in Bowles' first five seasons. Since then, the Monarchs have compiled a 55-17 mark and been in the playoffs five of the past six years. They lost to eventual Group AAA, Division 5 state champion Hopewell in the Central Region final in 2003 and won the state Division 5 title in 2004. The Monarchs moved up to Division 6 in 2005 and have lost in the region final three of the four seasons.

Bowles said the turnabout came, "When we had a group of kids who started in the [recreation] association [middle school age] and stayed together, and when we changed the way we were doing things. You had to be involved in the offseason program and not just in the fall."

He will continue to teach next year.

"I was trying to leave at an opportune time for the program," Bowles said. "I didn't want to walk away from a bad team. I'm leaving a strong program -- QB Desmond Coble is among the returnees -- for whoever steps in."

-- Arthur Utley