Here's an article about a girl from Zanesville who played for Rosecrans back in the mid-90's.
She went on to play basketball at UC I believe.
Black teen-age girl stars on all-white, all-male football team - Kwame Clark of Zanesville, OH
Jet, Nov 20, 1995 by
Katara A. Washington
<Q class=noquote cite=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n2_v89/ai_17755926>No opponents would ever guess that number 15 on Bishop Rosecrans' varsity football team was very different from the rest of the players. And that's the way Kwame Clark, the only girl and the only Black on the team, wants to keep it.
</Q>When Clark, a 17-year-old senior, joined the team in Zanesville, OH, she told her coach: "Don't treat me any different than anyone else."
Clark said she joined the football team this year to stay in shape for her much anticipated senior-year basketball season. Her 5-foot-10, 165-pound body looks as solid, if not more solid, than most of her teammates.
"I usually run cross country to stay in shape for basketball ... but coach said he wasn't going to coach cross country this year," Clark said. "That kind of gave me the idea that since he wasn't going to coach, I was going to go ahead and try to play football."
Coach Paul Nestor, the football coach said he wasn't certain Clark was serious when she called him about playing on the team.
"I've had a number of girls threaten to play football," Nestor said. "Kwame's the only one who followed through....She kept insisting that she wanted to play so I told her to come out and meet with me....She ended up being a part of the team."
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Clark didn't settle for becoming a punter or kicker, the position the majority of girls play on all-male teams. She chose more physical positions--tailback and linebacker.
While no one seemed to think negatively about a girl on the all-male team, her basketball coach and mom were concerned about Clark getting hurt and ruining her chances for a basketball scholarship.
"She said'mom can I?'" Katherine Clark recalled. "I said `Oh no.'.....I looked at her and she was crying and I said okay."
Clark said she's not concerned about getting hurt because she takes the necessary precautions to protect herself.
"When I run the ball, I try to bust through the line," Clark said. "I know not to stick my head down, (so I don't) get any neck injuries. I basically know the fundamentals of playing so I won't get hurt."
Clark said the hard hits and knocks she encounters in the game don't bother her either.
"During the game, you're so pumped up," she said. "You run, you get hit, you get back up and you're ready to do it again."
Clark said she's happy with her performance on the football team but she wishes she could play more.
"Coach Nestor's just trying to watch out for me for basketball," she said.
The boys on the team said they treat Clark the same way they treat other teammates.
"I don't think it matters all that much," said Derrick Moorehead, a 16-year-old junior. "She's the first girl I've played football with. I think she's doing good, better than I thought."
When Clark stepped on the all-male team this year, she made school history. But her coach says she probably made state or national history when she scored a touchdown at a recent game. To Clark, the fact that she was probably the first girl to score a touchdown for a high school team didn't mean much. She said the touchdown was no big deal because the ball was already on the 2-yard line.
"I would have felt more comfortable with myself and proud of myself if I would have ran it in like 15 yards or further out," she said. "Anyone could probably score from two yards out. But I'm a girl so everyone probably figured that was great."
Teachers and students alike at Rosecrans said they thought Clark was great.
"She has improved so much," said Mark Dosch, who taught Clark English last year. "She takes her school work seriously. She's an academic athlete. We're pretty proud of her."
Academics was one of the reasons Clark decided to attend the Catholic school where students are permitted to wear jeans only on Fridays. She said she thought she'd have to work harder at the school. She now has a 2.5 grade point average.
Only two of the 243 students at Rosecrans are Black, but Clark said she fills comfortable at the school.
"When I first came over, everyone had a lot of questions (about Black people)," she said. "Now it's fine....I try to do stuff to make myself look respectable. Everyone respects me and I respect them."
Joe Brannon, the principal at Rosecrans said: "I don't know of anyone who doesn't like her."
As for her future in football, Clark said there is none. She plans to concentrate on basketball and go on to play in college, where she'll major in pre-med.
At JET press time, Rosecrans' football record was 8-2 with one more game left to play. Clark said her football experience would help her during the basketball season.
"I feel like from lifting weights and playing football, my upper-body will be a lot stronger and I'll be able to use my arms and get a full follow through on my shot," Clark said. "My legs will be stronger too. I'll be tougher on the boards."
