Mark Iammarino’s new college jacket fit like a glove.
Hawken had just put the finishing touches on a season-opening 42-0 win over visiting Rhodes when the team presented their coach with a Hawken varsity jacket to commemorate the 200th career victory he had just earned.
His wife, Amy, and son, Tommy, attended the postgame celebration. Tommy Iammarino, a former All-Ohio quarterback at Chagrin Falls, is on his father’s staff at Hawken.
Iammarino retired from teaching and coaching at Chagrin Falls, where he became the school’s all-time winningest coach with a 184-99 (.650) record, leading the Tigers to state runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2010 and to the state championship final four again in 2011.
With his 16th win at Hawken, he has now reached his 200th career win and there are more to come.
“This is really special,” Iammarino said of his 200th career win. “When I left at Chagrin, I didn’t feel like I wanted to be a head coach again. So to be back in a great place like Hawken is special. The people here have really accepted me. They make quite a fuss after the game.”
The Hawken college jacket features the number “200” on the left sleeve.
“I’m blessed,” he said. “I’ve been to some great schools with great players, coaches, administrators and parents too.”
Iammarino, who was an assistant coach at Gilmour between his stints as head coach at Chagrin Falls and Hawken, said he never expected to reach 200 wins early in his career, after all, he took over a Chagrin program that had fallen on hard times.
“Damn, it took us a while to get to No. 1,” he said with a laugh. “The first season we were 0-8. When I took the job they were 0-18, so we had lost 26 games in a row. I’ll never forget the first game against West Geauga in 1995.”
Number 200 will also be remembered, not only for the milestone victory, but for the clear manner of his team’s victory. Jordan Johnson ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns, Donovan Moorhead completed 14 of 19 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns, and the Hawks defense limited Rhodes to 135 total yards in the scoreless victory.
Hawken travels to Berkshire for a Week 2 game on August 29, a rare Thursday game for the Hawks.
“We played well,” Iammarino said. “We played well in our first two practice games, especially on defense, and we continued that on Friday night. We made a few mistakes on offense and got penalties, but we protected the ball and never punted. We were able to put it away.”
As for the quest for win No. 201 at Great Lakes Cheese Stadium, Iammarino mentioned Berkshire’s victory over Cuyahoga Heights.
“It will be a big challenge for us,” he said. “It’s a short away week against a good opponent.”
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