Denton Calvary Academy will not make a repeat trip to the TAPPS six-man Division I state title game this fall.

Following perhaps the best season in school history, Calvary has dropped its football program after dwindling enrollment numbers left a shortage of players on the roster.

The program was in full swing as last year’s senior-laden team finished 10-4 and lost to Greenville Christian in its bid for Calvary’s first state title.

But not enough middle school athletes were available to fill those spots vacated by the seniors, school officials discovered this spring. So they had to cut the program, in addition to the Lions’ boys basketball and baseball teams, for the upcoming school year.

“We lost a good number of seniors and didn’t have a lot of eighth-grade boys moving up,” said Calvary boys athletic director Mike King. “Really, it came down to not having the numbers.”

Calvary has seen overall enrollment in its high school dip sharply in part because of the volatile economy, a common problem among smaller private schools. A few students have transferred to public schools as families look to save on rising tuition costs, King said. The overall enrollment among grades 9-12 is less than 90 students.

However, the timing could not have been worse for the Lions, who used a high-powered offense to engineer a dramatic turnaround in 2007, more than doubling their win total of four from the 2006 campaign. Calvary introduced an offseason weight training program and fielded a junior varsity team for the first time last year.

It appeared to have established an enthusiastic fan base and a solid foundation for future growth within the program, which was competing in the six-man ranks for the fourth year after dropping down from 11-man football.

“It definitely was shocking,” said former head coach Dhati Lewis, who took over prior to the 2007 season. “We had successful years all the way around with our male sports. The foundation was definitely being laid, so to see it end like this is disappointing.”

Lewis, who is moving to the Atlanta area this summer to become a full-time minister, also cited the mix of rising tuition costs at Calvary with the need for families to cut costs.

“Once they heard about the tuition raise, it really caused a ripple effect,” Lewis said.

The boys team sports at Calvary will likely be the only ones cut for the upcoming year, King said. Individual sports, such as track and tennis, will continue. And with a more stable population of female students, the school plans to field its volleyball, girls basketball and softball teams as scheduled.

Calvary officials already have informed TAPPS of the decision, as well as their desire to restart the football program, plus those in boys basketball and baseball, as soon as the interest level is revived.

“We’re all disappointed. Small private schools are subject to this sort of thing,” King said. “We hope to find a way to bring it back as soon as possible.”

King said the school is keeping its football equipment for that very reason, so it can avoid start-up costs if the team is brought back.

The school will continue as a member in TAPPS because of its remaining athletic programs. In that regard, King said the worst that could happen upon restarting the football program would be waiting a year before being aligned into a district, forcing the Lions to play a full non-district schedule for one season.

TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com .