A Gridiron Reunion for Kim and Mencarini

Friday night in Germantown will feature two of the top football teams in the county, battling it out in a pivotal 3A divisional game with playoff implications on the line. But that's only a small part of what makes this week's Seneca Valley-Quince Orchard game intriguing.

Quince Orchard has established itself as one of the premier teams in the state the last several years, having gone 41-4 over the past three-and-a-half seasons under Dave Mencarini—including a 14-0 record in 2007 as the Maryland 4A champions. But it wasn't always this way. Quince Orchard had slipped to obscurity toward the end of the 1990s and into the early part of last decade. From 1997 through 2001, the Cougars won just 14 games. Then, Fred Kim entered the scene.

In 2002, Kim left his position as an assistant at Seneca Valley to become the fourth head coach in Quince Orchard history and, in his first season, he guided the Cougars to their first winning season since 1996, going 5-4. The following year, they finished 6-4 and the future looked bright for Kim and the Cougars. But that's when Kim's alma mater Seneca Valley came calling. For the first time since 1987, Seneca Valley had a vacancy at its head coaching position and Kim seemed like the obvious choice.

As a player for Al Thomas (5 state titles at Seneca) and an assistant coach for Terry Changuris (7 state titles at Seneca), Kim had become one of the best young coaches in the county. And so after resurrecting the Quince Orchard program, Kim returned to Seneca Valley to carry on the proud tradition of the Seneca Valley Screamin' Eagles.

"I didn't want to leave Quince Orchard at that time. I felt excited and that things were headed in the right direction but I felt like I was called to duty by my old coach and I just couldn't say no," Kim said of his decision to return to Seneca. "It was very difficult leaving [after two seasons] because you work so hard to try and get a program back on their feet. But the hardest thing was facing the kids after I had asked them to sacrifice and do all the things that are required to win a championship and commit themselves and I turn around and leave after two years. But I made it very clear that the only reason I left those guys back then was because Seneca Valley was my alma mater."

Meanwhile, Mencarini was Kim's assistant for two years at Quince Orchard and when Kim left, Mencarini assumed the role of head coach. Where was Mencarini before that? At Seneca Valley as an assistant with Kim under Changuris for two seasons. In total, Kim and Mencarini coached on the same sidelines together for six seasons (they were in Poolesville for two seasons as well).  

"When he left, there was some discussion about who wanted to go with him. I just felt like when we got to QO, I could see something building," Mencarini said. "I just had a feeling about it and I wanted to see that through. We had a good thing going. It was tough to leave Fred. I spent pretty much every day for six years either seeing him or talking to him."

If Kim was the one who brought QO back to life, it is Mencarini who is responsible for taking the team to the next level. Mencarini is 69-11 since being named the head coach in 2004 and is the all-time winnengest coach at the school, surpassing Ernie Ceccato (57-36) last season.

While Kim has had success at Seneca—winning 60 games since 2004—it is Mencarini's team that has garnered more notoriety and attention over the last seven seasons. Mencarini also leads in the head-to-head battle, 1-0, after the Cougars got the better of the Screamin' Eagles 27-0 when the two teams played last season for the first time in seven years. Still, Kim has no regrets about his decision to leave QO after just two seasons. 

"I'm happy being at Seneca Valley," Kim said. "I've always bled green and gold. Seneca Valley football has made me who I am today. The things I've learned from this program from Coach Thomas and Coach Changuris, along with my parents, were a huge part of my maturation into manhood. Plus, Dave Mencarini is one of my best friends and I am thrilled to see him do as well as he has done over there. I have no regrets."

Mencarini said of Kim's return to Seneca in 2004: "It was an opportunity for him to go back to where he went to high school, where he won state championships, and to build on the strong tradition that was already in place at Seneca. Seneca was his home."

Still, Kim' acknowledges his connection to Quince Orchard and takes pride in the role he played in helping restore the team.

"I feel proud to have been part of the revival of that program. I take great pride  in seeing them succeed, especially under Coach Mencarini, who has done an unbelievable job over there," Kim said. "I feel I had a small hand in what they've built over there, but at the same time, they've built themselves into a powerhouse program and they're a big rival." 

The two have other history together as well. In 2008, Mencarini and Kim were two of the coaches who led Washington (comprised of mainly Montgomery and PG County players) to a 32-21 win over Baltimore in the first-ever Maryland Crab Bowl in Towson. Kim said it was great being on the sidelines alongside of Mencarini again in that role. And even today, Kim and Mencarini talk every week. The two will always be connected in some way.

"A lot of what I do now is from Fred," Mencarini said. "In the last seven years, I've developed my own way of doing things but there's definitely a lot of similarities in the way we both run our programs."

Kim added: "We're good buddies. But don't get me wrong, I'm going to want to hammer him on Friday night."