Spalding Movin' On Up After B Conference Dominance

By Amy Russell
Archbishop Spalding will join the elite ranks of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association’s A Conference next year, after clinching their fourth consecutive MIAA B Conference football title over Archbishop Curley last month.
Since the inception of the B Conference championship in 2005, the Cavs have played their way to the title game five of the six years.
“One of the goals our seniors set was to be the class that took Spalding to the A Conference,” Spalding head coach Mike Whittles said. “And they did it. They set out with that goal and they achieved it.”

In the league’s top tier, the Cavaliers will face the likes of Calvert Hall, Gilman School, Georgetown Preparatory, Loyola Blakefield, McDonogh and Mount Saint Joseph next year. Though the level of competition will likely be more of a challenge for Spalding, coach Whittles said he hopes to see the same winning attitude.
“We always have high expectations for our team, every game of every year, and next year shouldn’t be any different. We wanted this and we’re going to have the same expectations when we get there.”
The Cavs took their fourth conference crown November 20 with a 21-13 win over Archbishop Curley. The win vindicated the Cavs’ 17-7 loss to Curley just six weeks earlier.
Spalding earned the opportunity to defend their MIAA B Conference title with the flip of a coin two weeks prior to the game. Boys’ Latin, Archbishop Curley and Spalding all finished with only one league defeat – losing once among the games they played against each other - to necessitate the flip. Earlier in the season Spalding topped Boy’s Latin 39-29, but fell to Curley, which turned around and lost to Boys’ Latin 21-7.
The winner of the coin toss, Spalding secured the bye and a championship game berth leaving Curley and Boys’ Latin to duke it out on the field for the right to face Spalding for the title.
The Cavaliers won their first two titles back-to-back in 2004 and 2005, and the third last year.
Coach Mike Whittles said, “We have great, great kids playing for us. I’m not just talking about football players, but good kids who listen, are focused and very disciplined, and it shows when we play games.”
Among the Cavaliers many talented players are two of the areas strongest running backs, K.K. Smith and J.D. Izon.
“K.K. is our feature back, he carries the ball more than our other backs. He’s just one of those special players that has incredible field vision and balance, and he runs hard. Generally the first guy is going to miss him… he makes the coaches look pretty smart. He’s one of those special players that you get every now and again,” said Whittles adding, “J.D. is also very talented. He has true 4.4 speed, and he’s very quick. He averaged over ten yards a carry. Between the two of them, we make it very difficult for the competition to key on our running game.”
The two have combined to lead a powerful offense this year, but Whittles believes the offense is anchored by the line.
“On offense it all starts with the line. K.K. and J.D. don’t get the yards they get without those big guys up front,” said Whittles. “I’ve got some tremendous kids up there.”
Seniors Nick Allen, and Justin Klimczyk are the oldest of the bunch, which also include juniors Neil Donahue, Matt Wicklein, Eric Garland and Shayne Sullivan. Senior quarterback Donnie Abey was also a key leader on this year’s team.
The Cavaliers’ 8-3 season started with tough back-to-back losses against A-conference teams Gilman and Calvert Hall. Against Gilman, nationally ranked at the time, Spalding fell hard, 41-14, at home. The next week they put up a much stronger fight in a still heartbreaking, 26-20, triple overtime loss to Calvert Hall at Johnny Unitas Stadium in the I-95 Kickoff Classic.
After the tough non-conference games, the Cavaliers stepped it up and put a four-game winning streak together that included two shutouts. The key game was a 47-30 offensive showdown against John Carroll. After taking them down, Smith led the Cavaliers to a 49-21 win over A Conference foe Loyola with an impressive 205 yards on 22 carries, including three rushing touchdowns and a 65-yard punt return for a fourth. Shelley White chipped in with two touchdowns - a 20-yard run and a 23-yard pick six. Izon also had a good game with 123 yards on nine carries. The upset started with two consecutive Loyola scores, but the Cavs hung tough to get the win.
A determined Spalding squad went on to shutout Severn 41-0 behind the scoring of Smith and Izon, who had two touchdowns each, and Julian Washington and Mike Williams who connected with junior quarterback Brian Louck for two more.
St. Mary’s felt the Cavaliers’ wrath next. They were outplayed by Smith with three touchdowns and Kevin Weiman, Richard Gabelman and Connor Pequigney who hooked up with Abey for three more as Spalding raced to a 37-0 win.
Between the two shutouts, the Cavs defense showed just how powerful they could be too.
“Our defense was pretty good. We played some tough teams this year and our defense has done an outstanding job,” Whittles said. “Shelley White has come up with some key interceptions, Washington at safety and Jeremiah Johnson at cornerback have all done well. The linebackers, Smith, Scott Saine, Zach Waller and Steven Manders, have also done well. And the defensive line of Pequigney, Malik Johnson, Adam Merton, Alex Barclay and Williams, is really aggressive. They want to get after it when we’re on the field. They’ve been in some tough situations and really pulled through for us.”
On October 8, the Cavaliers felt their only conference low at the hands of Curley, but they climbed back on top against Boys’ Latin the next week.
Spalding went on to top St. Paul’s School 22-15 before they rounded out the season with a 57-36 win over St. John’s Catholic. They were led by the Smith bothers - K.K. with 253 yards and five touchdowns and D.J. with 110 yards and two scores.