The St. Paul football program is back in the headlines again with more some transfer news.

Apparently, senior quarterback Mark Arce is attempting a return to St. Paul High School, where he played last season, according to Swordsmen head coach Marijon Ancich.

Arce transferred to California after the conclusion of the 2009 football season and put in his transfer paperwork with the CIF-Southern Section office. The CIF-SS denied his request in January and Arce had an appeal to the CIF-State office denied as well, meaning he’s ineligible in all sports until Oct. 7.

None of this is news.

In fact, the paper reported about his state denial in early July.

However, over the last couple of weeks, Arce showed an interest in returning and Ancich even admitted the young man observed a recent St. Paul practice. “I saw him last week,” Ancich said. “He watched one of our practices, which is okay. He didn’t take part and I’m not sure when he will.”

Ancich said he wasn’t comfortable working in Arce until after his paperwork was cleared with the CIF-SS. “We want to make sure everything is squared away,” Ancich said. “He never played a game at California. He just practiced with them over the summer. It should be okay”

Arce impressed during the summer in Condors camp.

“Mark is good, I’m not going to lie,” California coach Jim Arnold said after a passing league at Los Altos on July 1. “The bad news is that I don’t have Mark until game five. He’s ineligible until game five. He was a discipline transfer from St. Paul last year and is not cleared until (Oct. 7).”

My take: If Arce clears quickly, then he has an immediate chance to challenge for the Swordsmen starting quarterback position with Jeremiah Hernandez, AJ Gonzalez and Paul Telles.

In two passing leagues, I thought Arce outshined California starting quarterback Adam Contreras (although Contreras has improved immensely since early July). Arce has a live arm and decent footwork in the pocket. His arrival will definitely be more of a boon to St. Paul than a bust to California, which is comfortable with Contreras.