DALTON, Ga. — Football is not a religion, but the fans of Dalton High School are zealously faithful.

For many of them, Sunday is for church and Friday night is for Catamount football.

“All my life I’ve gone to Catamount football games. That is all there is in Dalton,” Sean Vaughn said while holding his son, Carson, during Dalton’s homecoming game Friday against Woodland High School.

The curly haired tike’s blue eyes were wide and sparkling as he took in the action — mascots, cheerleaders, the band, players limbering up — from his paternal perch as dad talked to other fans who filled the bleachers.

“We’ve had a winning tradition forever, and I’m the third or fourth generation to graduate from Dalton High School,” Mr. Vaughn said. “Carson may play here someday.”

Similar sentiments are shared by throngs of alumni of this powerhouse of football.

Off to a 4-0 start, this year’s team is on the way to the school’s 49th consecutive winning season.

The undefeated Catamounts took the field Friday for a cat fight against the state’s third-highest scoring team, the Woodland Wildcats, and emerged unscathed and with a 5-0 record.

The tamed Wildcats boarded buses back to their Cartersville homes, carrying a few bruises and slower-to-heal memories of being on the wrong end of the winning tradition that lives at Harmon Field.

true blue to the red & white

“I get cold chills every time I think about Dalton football,” said Frank Dykes, who is currently in his fifth year as equipment manager for the Valdosta State University football program. “Football is Dalton. It is football, carpet and then everything else.”

Dalton is where Mr. Dykes started his career, and where, from seventh grade until he graduated in 2004, he was manager for the baseball, basketball and football teams.

“To be a part of such a well-known program was special,” he said. “Every Friday night was fun, win or lose. The whole atmosphere was great and everybody ‘had your back,’ — there are no fair-weather friends in Dalton — and whatever we needed, we got.”

That support continues, whether from fans in the stands or members of the Quarterback Club who hold fundraisers, host tailgate pregame events and assure continued success for the school’s athletic endeavors.

The club’s 350 members sign on at support levels that range from $25 to $1,000 a year.

“Tradition, class and winning. That is what Dalton football is about,” said Quarterback Club president Mark Joyce.

Mr. Joyce, a strong safety with “the football class of ’81” and a graduate in the spring of 1982, said the football season’s end is even more important than commencement.

“Fifteen wins and a state championship; I’d trade that for graduation,” he said.

Asked what this year’s seniors will feel when the season ends, Mr. Joyce said, “There’ll be a lot of tears when they turn in their gear. A freshman puts on his jersey as a boy. As a senior, he takes it off as a young man.”

Facilities beyond compare

Support for the program rivals that of universities, according to members of the Quarterback Club.

John McIntosh said Dalton High School’s facilities and equipment bested those in Tuscaloosa, where he continued his career playing for Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama.

“But (Coach Bryant’s program) had the same philosophy: Hard work and excellence,” Mr. McIntosh said.

Dalton has a new training complex, with an 8,500-square-foot weight room and indoor practice field now being built through a partnership between the city school system and the Quarterback Club.

Many former Catamounts still are playing or coaching football, including members of current rosters at Georgia, Auburn and UT in Knoxville.

“We put a lot of kids in college programs,” said Mr. McIntosh. His son, Jake, is among them — a freshman starter for the Golden Eagles football team at Tennessee Tech.

“Colleges like our kids because they are well disciplined. They may not be the fastest or the strongest, but they have a good work ethic,” he said.

fans Always and Forever

Jake is the third generation of McIntosh men involved with the Catamount football program.

“We moved here in 1956, the year after I got out of high school, but my son and grandson played on these teams,” said Mac McIntosh as he and son John talked with other fans Friday night.

“When kids get through this program they are ready,” he said. “It is a tradition that just keeps growing.”

Another tradition at Harmon Field’s Bill Chappell Stadium is seating.

“My mother said we’ve had the same seats since 1969,” said Kenny Sharp (football class of 1978, graduated with Class of 1979).

Mr. Sharp said his son Eric, a 2007 graduate who now plays golf for University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga., still attends home games.

“He’s coming from Villa Rica (where the UWG team plays) after practice,” Mr. Sharp said before kickoff.

Mr. Dykes said he follows the team, but his work in Valdosta keeps him from attending Catamount games.

“I do miss it,” he said. “My dad keeps me updated during the games. He texts me the score after every quarter.”

He said his parents inherited his dad’s parents’ seats, and when he does get to a game, “I even say stuff to people when I come back and someone’s in my seat.”

Donnie Richardson said his son, Shane, 18 and formerly a wide receiver for the Catamounts, is in basic training at Fort Benning. But he’s still keenly interested in the battles on Harmon Field.

“I send him clippings every Saturday morning after a game,” he said.

young or Old, catamounts all

Support for the local team is long-lasting and pervasive.

Arches of red and white balloons, placards with jersey numbers, “Go Catamounts” and other phrases dot front yards and storefronts, rear windshields and front license plates.

Every city school had a float in the homecoming parade.

The city is a flood of red clothing on game day.

The school returns the support that swells from the community. Members of Catamount football and cheerleading squads visit local elementary schools to greet students as they arrive and reinforce the presence of DHS sports in the community.

Youngsters are welcomed.

“You pay for a seat for your kids, and they don’t even know what happened during the game,” Mr. Richardson said.

Even decades after playing for the Catamounts, Mr. McIntosh recalled similar days from his youth.

“The Catamounts might as well have been the Dallas Cowboys,” he said. “They are idolized. When you create a program like this, people want to play.”

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