CALHOUN, Ga. – It wasn’t Dalton’s fault that Calhoun was coming off a subpar season opener, but after drawing the ire of coach Hal Lamb during a hard week of practice, the Yellow Jackets took it all out on the Catamounts Friday night at Phil Reeve Stadium.
A fired-up Calhoun defense limited Dalton to 154 yards, and the offense, plagued by mistakes a week ago, wracked up 403 yards in a 27-0 win. It was the opener for Dalton, which reached the Class AAAAAA semifinals last season, and Calhoun improved to 2-0.
“I can’t say enough about the whole football team,” Lamb praised. “Our defense was very physical, and I can’t tell you how proud I am.”
That defense – led by linebackers Bailey Lester and Davis Allen, tackle C.J. Fuller and defensive backs Bralin Barton and Brannon Spector – created nine negative-yardage plays, including six sacks. A Dalton offense replacing players responsible for more than 3,000 total yards from last year’s 13-1 team was outmatched up front and could not sustain any drives.
On offense, Calhoun junior quarterback Gavin Gray was sharp, completing 15-of-24 passes for 279 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“Defensively, we played very, very well,” Lamb said. “I thought offensively we were clicking on all cylinders. Hat’s off to Gavin Gray. He played extremely well. We got the ball to our playmakers early, and he made good decisions the entire game.”
Calhoun went 61 yards on just five plays on its first drive to take a 7-0 lead, with Gray hitting Barton for an 18-yard gain and ending the drive with a perfectly placed 21-yard touchdown pass to Spector. The Jackets made it 10-0 later in the quarter after Gray completed four of six passes for 37 yards to set up Elmer Gutierrez’s 28-yard field goal.
Dalton had three first-half drives reach Calhoun territory, but each time the Jackets responded, first with Barton’s interception and later with back-to-back sacks of J.P. Tighe after the Cats got inside the 35.
Up 10-0 at halftime, Calhoun took the second-half kickoff and went 65 yards in just four plays, with the big shot a 57-yard pass to the 6-foot-5 Allen down to the 2. Two plays later, Zack Fuller scored from the 1.
The Cats tried to rally, using a pair of Tighe-to-Gavin Defoor passes to move inside the 35 again, but five plays later Tighe fumbled after pump-faking at the 9.
“This is not the result we wanted, but I saw some good things,” Dalton coach Matt Land said. “We moved the ball well in the first half, but we had some bad plays. Then we turned it over going in for a score later, though I’m not sure that was the correct call. I am excited for this team and the rest of the season.”
Dalton ran only six offensive plays in the final quarter, and Calhoun put an exclamation point on the victory when Gray hit Luke Mosley for a 5-yard touchdown with 5:06 to play.
Spector led the Jackets with seven receptions for 106 yards, with Barton adding four for 40 and Allen two for 69.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.