DALTON, Ga. - Dalton freshman Ivan Mora scored a goal from near point-blank range Friday night to give the Catamounts a 1-0 win over their crosstown, nonregion archrival and annual opponent Southeast Whitfield in the game that has become known as "El Classico."
Southeast (11-2-2), a Class AAAA school, hosted Friday's game, and if ever there was chance for the Raiders to pull off an upset of the talented Class AAAAA Catamounts (15-1-1), this was it.
A week earlier Dalton lost for the first time in 80 games when Riverwood knocked off the Catamounts in the Region 7-AAAAA tournament. Dalton had posted an amazing 78-0-2 record in the past 80 outings before falling to Riverwood. Dalton, whose coach Matt Cheaves won his 337th game as the DHS coach Friday, has won three straight state titles - in 5A in 2015 and in 4A in 2014 and 2013.
Cheaves was ecstatic to get out of Raiders Stadium with a win as 2,000-plus rowdy fans on both sides of the field kept action in the stands as lively as that on the field.
Dalton will begin another bid for a state title next Tuesday when it plays at Clarkston in a first-round matchup. Southeast, meanwhile, will host Marist on Tuesday in its opening-round state matchup.
"It's nice to take a victory out of this game, just because of the rivalry effect," said Cheaves, Dalton's coach since the 1994-95 season. "It's a hot contest. Fans were all into it. So, yes, it was very typical of 'El Classico.' Very close, a good game.
"I hope (the loss to Riverwood) fired us up. I hope it made us want to work harder, push harder, have more hunger and be a little more humble. I don't know if all of that happened. But it would be good if that happened."
Southeast coach Todd Close saw the Raiders miss a couple of good shots on goal in the first half, and then Dalton seemed to gain more momentum in the last 40 minutes.
"It lived up to the hype. They're a great program. We had one letdown and they took total advantage of it," Close said.
"At halftime, their keeper is really tall, and we talked about trying to keep the ball on the ground and putting it to the side. We had a really good look in the second half that we made him (Dalton goalie Leuri Fraire) go make a play on. Not enough of them, and they didn't pan out. The huge upside is getting to play a team of this caliber right before you go into the playoffs."
Contact Jeff Rancudo at sports@timesfreepress.com