Susquehannock officials were stunned Thursday when Deron Gue withdrew his name from consideration as the school's new football coach, hours before a school board was set to vote on his appointment.

The Southern York School District was expected to vote on the hiring of Gue, a Lancaster Catholic assistant, at a school board meeting Thursday night.

Instead, Gue sent school officials a fax late Thursday afternoon withdrawing his name for personal reasons, Susquehannock athletic director Chuck Abbott said.

Susquehannock will restart its search from scratch, school principal Brian Cashman said. It could take several weeks to settle on another candidate.

"We're disappointed. We thought we had a good candidate," Cashman said moments before the school board meeting was about to begin. "Ideally, I'd like to have someone to present to the board by February, but it may not be until March."

Abbott said he didn't know the exact reasons for Gue's change of heart. An attempt to reach Gue on Thursday was unsuccessful.

Gue, a Dallastown graduate, spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at Lancaster Catholic. Last season, he served as the program's varsity running backs coach, junior varsity offensive coordinator and video coordinator. The Crusaders won the PIAA Class AA title last December.

Susquehannock fired former coach Jerry Higgins in November after the Warriors 0-10 season -- the program's first winless campaign since 1990. Higgins compiled a 1-14 record

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as coach after taking over for Tom Waranavage, who resigned in October 2008 for personal reasons.

The Warriors were one of the area's top programs under Waranavage, winning 10 games in 2004 and 2005. But Susquehannock has won eight total games in the last three years.
jclayton@ydr.com; 771-2045