When Randy Crowe announced his retirement from coaching Dutchmen football, the Gasconade County R-2 School District knew that those would be big shoes to fill.

“I’ve learned a lot of positive and right ways to do things from Randy (Crowe) over the years,” New Dutchmen head football coach Paul Schmanke said. “He will always be a part of this football program as the doors will be open anytime he wants to come back as I won’t let him go away.”

Those shoes were filled last Wednesday Morning as 1995 OHS grad Paul Schmanke accepted the head football coaching post after a unanimous vote of approval by the R-2 Board of Education in a special closed session at the R-2 Admin Building.

“It’s a very good feeling to knowing that I’ll get to be head coach of this team after going to high school here,” Schmanke said. “

Schmanke grew up in Kansas with his family, then relocated to St. Louis and moved into the district during his eighth-grade year.

Football has been with Schmanke for the majority of his life as he started playing in St. Louis while he was in fourth grade. That gave him an edge on the rest of the team when he moved into the district.

“From the first contact during the first game, I was hooked on football,” Schmanke said. “They may have had an edge on me in basketball, but I had an edge on them when football season started.”

Based on the recent success over the last two seasons, Schmanke believes “an excellent foundation has been built since we haven’t had a losing record in a season since my senior year (1995).”

Despite losing a lot of high-quality players that were also starters, Schmanke believes that the 2008 season will be a year of growth and opportunities for players to prove themselves as Dutchmen on the gridiron.

“We may have lost several seniors that were also starters, but we have a lot of players coming back that will be looking to show us what they have to offer on the field,” Schmanke explained.

Schmanke also expresses gratefulness and thanks to all in the Owensville community for their support and encouragement as he takes on this new position.

“I want to thank the R-2 Administration and the community for all of their support I have received recently,” Schmanke said. “We are going to work very hard to put a product out on the field that everyone from the Administration to the community of Owensville will be proud of.”