The school has changed, but the mascot hasn’t.

Former Oak Harbor High School head football coach Dave Ward, who retired from the at the end of the 2007 season, has been hired as the new head coach at Archbishop Murphy High School.

Ward replaces the Wildcats’ legendary Terry Ennis, who died of cancer Sept. 12.

While at Oak Harbor, Ward compiled a 111-67 record in 17 seasons as head coach, and led the Wildcats to the 2006 Class 4A state championship with a 21-14 victory over Bothell in the Tacoma Dome.

In 2007, Oak Harbor finished the regular season undefeated, an accomplishment that has happened only twice in school history.

Ward, 53, retired from his teaching position at Oak Harbor High School at the end of the 2006-07 school year, after teaching for 30 years in the Washington school system.

He will be teaching English at Archbishop Murphy, in addition to coaching.

Archbishop Murphy, a long-time powerhouse in the Class 2A Cascade Conference, finished the 2007 season undefeated, but was forced to forfeit all its wins due to having a player on the roster who did not have a current physical on record at the school. This rendered the player ineligible. The player somehow slipped through the cracks after Ennis died and the school did not discover the irregularity until the season was over.

Telephone calls to Ward’s residence regarding his new coaching position were not returned by press time