Calvary Christian football eyes its first state title — with a blast from the past
Then-Calvary Christian Headmaster Len McWilliams and the rest of the Calvary administrators met for a strategic planning meeting, well before Calvary’s football program began. It was 2006.
One of the topics on the docket was athletics, most notably football.
The group researched the logistics of adding a football program, but the down economy around that time prevented much from happening. Plus, starting a football program from scratch is expensive.
So, fast-forward a few years, to 2010. Football got the green light. Head coach Brian Osborne was hired in less than one week. Calvary played for a state championship in 2014, its final season playing home games at Britt David Park before it moved to an on-campus stadium.
The school’s field has a long way to go: It does not have a working press box and its bleachers cannot hold anywhere near 1,000 people. But it’s a massive step up from the field on which the Knights kicked off their inaugural season in 2011.
It’s also a big step for a school that, at one point in the early 2000s, sold T-shirts that jokingly read “Calvary football: undefeated since 1975,” and played its first three seasons on a youth football field.
Up until Tuesday night, the Knights were supposed to play for a Georgia Association of Private and Parochial (GAPPS) 3A state championship on it. That game, against Community, has been moved to Kinnett Stadium due to rain.
“The attitude of this team is, they feel like they can be state champions when this Friday night’s over with,” Osborne said. “They have a lot of confidence in themselves by now. We’ve won seven games in a row, so they’re feeling very good right now in their abilities.”
A quick rise
When Osborne arrived at Calvary, the weight room consisted of two bench press areas, two squat racks and a single section of dumbbells. If players wanted to perform more complicated, Olympic-style movements (like the power clean), they would have to fit themselves into the tight space between the weight room entrance, the free weights and other teammates trying to bench, at most, 200 pounds.
Yes, trying. Calvary had one player who could bench press 200 pounds when it started its football program: Steven Thomas. And he could not bench press higher than 200.
David Spitzmiller was the defensive coordinator on those first Calvary teams. He’s coached in one state title game — the 2014 loss to Sherwood with Calvary.
Spitzmiller returned to the program in 2020 and played a major part in bringing, among others, quarterback Jesse Donohoe from the Knights baseball program.
It’s worked wonders: Donohoe, despite missing the first three games, has thrown for nearly 1,700 yards and 16 touchdowns, while Spitzmiller’s defense has given up more than 14 points just once in its previous five games.
“These guys have really come together,” Spitzmiller said. “And we’ve just got a good bond.”
‘More like family’
Osborne is the only head coach the Knights have had. Spitzmiller coached him during the former’s playing days at Brookstone.
“It’s just got a different feeling this year,” Spitzmiller said. “It feels more like family.”
Jacob Strueker and Adam Gray, who played on Calvary’s first team (the latter eventually starting at quarterback during a 2013 semifinal run), are assistant coaches. Will Chambliss, an offensive line coach in the program’s early years, joined mid-season to coach the position group.
“(Len McWilliams Field) wasn’t a thing when I was here,” Chambliss said. “We were practicing on the baseball field. We were practically going out into the woods for offensive line drills.”
Jeremy Walker, a kicker on the Knights’ first two teams in 2011 and 2012, coaches special teams.
Spitzmiller’s daughter, Kali Spitzmiller, is the team’s athletic trainer. And she’s engaged to Walker.
The family atmosphere, and the possibility of changing the culture surrounding the school’s athletics programs, was what ultimately convinced Donohoe to play.
There wasn’t as much buy in on the school’s athletics program from some as there should have been, he said. The talent level was there, especially in the football team, so if the mindset changed, things could really change for the better.
“We tried to change that so we can see success as a group instead of a lot of individuals,” Donohoe said. “Just improving things here at Calvary so that when we’re gone, it’ll be better for the people behind us, too.”
The Knights have won seven consecutive games, all relatively comfortably. They beat their state title opponent, Community, 40-14 on Oct. 30.
“There’s no division anywhere within this team,” Spitzmiller said. “Anywhere, from the front door to the back door.”
