Dalton holds on for win

LaFAYETTE, Ga. — Matt Land may be a rookie head coach, but his philosophy on football is old school. When your team needs a big play, let your star lead the way.

Five points ahead of surging LaFayette in the waning minutes of Friday night’s game, the Dalton coach turned the game over to Tre Beck and his blockers. Four plays later the Region 7-AAA game was sealed, the Catamounts walking away with a crucial 33-21 win.

“Tre’s a hard-working player and we expect big things from him,” Land said of his junior running back who followed his school-record 315 yards last week with a hard-earned 210 Friday. “I know it’s great to have someone like him that we can lean on on this team.”

Dalton (6-2, 4-1) built a 14-0 lead on two touchdowns from fullback Matt Cobb (79 yards on 12 carries) and appeared on its way to an easy win until the Ramblers (4-4, 2-3) came alive with the right arm of senior quarterback Josh Morgan. After starting 1-for-7, the northwest Georgia career passing yardage leader hit two key third-down passes, the second 19 yards to Dion Sheldon, to keep a crucial drive going late in the first half.

Tailback Devarus Porter, who was held to 67 yards on 17 carries, ripped off 15 yards to the 5, where he scored on the next play to cut the lead in half. Dalton again stretched its lead with 60-yard drive to open the second half, with Cobb converting a fourth-and-1 with a 15-yard run to the 25 and Beck doing the scoring honors from 18 yards out.

After a Dalton drive stalled in LaFayette territory, Morgan led the Ramblers on a quick 70-yard drive, hitting three passes. The final one was 23 yards to Sam Tatum, who was hit had and fumbled, with teammate Demarcus Simpson recovering it in the end zone.

“Give Dalton all the credit for winning the game, but our guys played hard,” LaFayette coach Tab Gable said. “We made a few mistakes, but the kids never quit.”

That was evident when, after Hunter Cleary’s 25-yard touchdown run with 3:43 to go for a 26-14 Dalton lead, Morgan hit Porter with a 53-yard catch-and-run touchdown a minute later. Needing to ice the game after recovering the onside kick, though, Dalton turned to Beck, who had runs of 18 and 22 yards to set up Cleary’s 3-yard run for the final points.

“We’ve always had a good series with LaFayette, and it’s nice to be playing them again,” said Land, a former Dalton player and assistant coach before taking over this year. “They’ve got a lot of dangerous players on that team, and we allowed them to do some things we didn’t want them to do. Still, this is a nice win.”