The team that wins the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference football championship receives The Mike Whittles Trophy, named in honor of the longtime Archbishop Spalding coach who died of pancreatic cancer in 2012. Whittles inspired many with his battle against cancer, and the league put his name on the trophy months after his death.
Now, the Cavaliers want that trophy. They've never won the A Conference title since moving up from the B Conference in 2011. Head coach Kyle Schmitt said Spalding would love to earn the trophy with their former coach's name on it, a man who meant so much to so many.
"It would be huge," Schmitt said. "A goal for us [this year] would be to win it because the trophy is The Mike Whittles Trophy. That would be for us a way to honor our past."
