The last time the Knights suffered three consecutive losses, the current seniors were in the second grade.

Into this uncertainty stepped senior Cayden Dees, providing a calming voice and a steady pathway to success. The Knights would lose just one more game -- at Class 7A Vestavia Hills -- before finally falling in the 5A quarterfinals to Williamson.

“From a leadership standpoint, I have never coached anybody like Cayden,” said Catholic coach Jonathan Chandler. “When the best player on your team is also the best person and the best worker, I think that always speaks volumes to their character.”

Dees, selected to play in the North-South All-Star Game, was also selected by the Capital City Conference coaches as its player of the year after a standout season on offense and defense on the field and as the Knights’ indisputable leader off the field.

“He’s played both ways all year, offense, defense, and affecting the game on special teams with three blocked field goals,” Chandler said. “I could say honestly there were probably five offensive drives he did not play on. Without him, we are in none of the football games that we played. He was a difference maker.”

Dees finished with 63 tackles, tops among Catholic defensive linemen, along with nine sacks, 19 tackles for loss and 15 quarterback hurries. He signed with Tulane.

Dees is one of only four players who were repeat selections to the all-CCC team, joining the Montgomery Academy duo of Reid McBride and Braden Gordon and Saint James punter Dylan Hines.

McBride and Gordon were on a Montgomery Academy team that reached the quarterfinals for only the third time since 2014. The Eagles finished 11-2, tied for the third-best record at the school since 2006. The CCC coaches selected Montgomery Academy coach Ethan McBride as the CCC coach of the year.

“You’ve got two or three different types of teams,” McBride said. “You’ve got teams like, we hope we can make the playoffs and then you’ve got teams that say we think we can make the playoffs and win a game. Then you’ve got your third teams, the ones that say I think we can make a run at this thing. We thought we were that third team. And we were. We made the quarterfinals and ran into a very good Bayside team. We felt like whoever won that game was going to make the championship.

“We bring back a lot of starters, a lot of very talented players. Now we know what it takes, winning the big moments.”