SUMMER PREPS: Catholic makes changes to regular-season schedule

New Catholic coach Jonathan Chandler had to make adjustments to the schedule after he arrived, adding Vestavia Hills for the last game of the season. (File Photo)

By TIM GAYLE

The Catholic Knights had barely put the finishing touches on their Class 5A state championship run last December when they had to look for another non-region football opponent.

The Knights had canceled out of their 2024 midseason game at Class 6A Saraland after the threat of a hurricane during the latter part of September and neither side seemed eager for the second round of the home-and-home series so the Knights went off in search of a new opponent. 

“When I got here, that was already taken off the schedule,” first-year Catholic coach Jonathan Chandler said. “I wanted our team to play 10 games. I really wanted five at home and five on the road and it just didn’t work out. It’s always hard to schedule one game in the second year of a two-year cycle. But Coach (Robert) Evans and I have known each other for a while. I knew they needed a 10th game.”

The Knights will close out the 2025 regular season with a Thursday night game against Class 7A Vestavia Hills at Buddy Anderson Field at Thompson Reynolds Stadium on Oct. 30. The Knights will become the first Vestavia Hills opponent ever from a small-school program (Vestavia has been in the state’s largest classification in every year of its 55-year existence and has never scheduled an opponent two classifications below its standing) and only the third Montgomery-area opponent as part of its regular-season schedule, joining G.W. Carver (1980 and 1981) and Jeff Davis (1981).

“When I saw it on the schedule, I was excited,” said Catholic two-way lineman Cayden Dees. “I saw Vestavia Hills, 7A, at their stadium, and I wouldn’t like anything more than to go up there and play. They’re a great team and so are we. I’m going up there to compete. We all have that ‘dog’ mentality that we’re not going to let anything that’s been said or any expectations against us hold us back.”

Catholic athletic director Daniel Veres said Vestavia Hills has a “different makeup” than Saraland and “it was in the best interest” for the Knights to make a change in the 2025 schedule. Both programs are familiar with each other after Catholic practiced for the 2024 state flag football championship game on the Rebels’ field.  

“They have brand-new turf and it’s a beautiful stadium, a beautiful place,” Veres said. “It’s a lot nicer than what private schools have. It will be exciting to go up there and play on a Thursday night. It’s an opportunity to play a big team and we’ve never played a regular-season game in the Birmingham area.

“I know Coach Evans a little bit. I had already talked to him about playing. The holdup with Vestavia was they didn’t want to play the fifth week of the season. They had to fill two spots on their schedule.”

Catholic had openings on the fifth and 10th playing dates, while Vestavia Hills had openings on the first and 10th dates. Vestavia filled the first opening with a game against Westside High of Anderson, S.C., giving both Catholic and Vestavia an open date on the fifth week.  

“Why the heck should we go up there and play them?,” Chandler asked. “Well, they’re taking care of us when we go up  there. And I know they’re going to be a very well structured team and they’re going to be very competitive.” 

“We’re still looking to carry on the tradition of back-to-back state championships here. And I know that preparing -- from a coaching standpoint and a players’ standpoint -- if you get a good quality opponent before you start that playoff run, it really helps set the tone. That’s really kind of playoff, round one, for us.”