Maybe this is all Dalton's fault.
The Catamounts moved up a class to Sub-region 7A-AAAAA last year and quickly became the new bully on the block. Dalton not only went 6-0 in sub-region play, the Cats outscored their league foes 293-78.
It may be a coincidence, but each of the other sub-region teams had a major coaching change in the offseason, with either a new head coach or coordinator in place entering this year.
"This is a new year for our sub-region in more ways than one," Dalton coach Matt Land said. "It's like walking into a new region again. There's obviously going to be a learning curve."
What Land does know is to expect a lot of long games. Including non-region opponents Scottsboro (Ala.), Calhoun and North Atlanta, each of the team's nine opponents this season (the 10th game is a region crossover matchup to determine playoff seeding or fill out the schedule) works out of a spread offense.
It's a potentially good or worrisome fact, according to Land, whose team will return to a more traditional option attack this year.
"When you look at what we are versus what we play, we'll have to create some situations in practice to become familiar with what we're going to see," Land said. "On the other hand, we do feel it's a two-sided street. If we stay true to who we are, it could give us an advantage, because they won't see what we do very often."
Two keys will likely determine if the Cats come close to repeating their 9-3 season, which ended in the second round of the playoffs to eventual Class AAAAA champion Northside-Warner Robins. One is finding a replacement for prolific quarterback Payton Veraldi; the other is filling out an offensive line with four new starters.
So far, injuries and the GHSA's new rules limiting contact in practice have hindered each search.
"At quarterback, we started with six and now, because of injury, we have two healthy," said Land, who admits the Cats will likely use more than one quarterback in non-region play to help settle the competition. "We'll get some back, but we need to see all these guys in action. The new rules the GHSA has handed down have severely limited what we can do physically. You can't win a quarterback race in 7-on-7 practice.
"As far as the line goes, which is my biggest concern, we've got guys to work with, thankfully. We need to give them an opportunity to separate themselves, which is difficult if you can't hit."
Senior running back Tyler Noland, who had more than 1,300 yards of total offense a year ago, believes once the starting positions are won, the Cats will be where they want to be.
"We're young, but we're getting better every day," Noland said. "Going into a season, I always look at the schedule and think about our record, and I predict we will do even more than we did last year.
"On paper, we may not be as talented as last year, but I see us doing more because I believe this team will take care of the small things better than we did last year, and that will get us farther."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.