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Scores and Photos: Friday Night High School Football – Aug. 28
CALHOUN, Ga. – If Hal Lamb wanted a few teaching moments to use down the road in the 2015 high school football season, the veteran Calhoun coach got more than he probably wanted Friday night.
Lamb’s Yellow Jackets, top-ranked and defending Class AAA state champions, earned their seventh consecutive win over Dalton, 28-7, to open the season. However, a mistake-filled first half and a critical season-ending injury had the Jackets hanging their heads leading just 14-7 at halftime.
After jumping to a 14-0 lead in the first seven minutes, Calhoun fell off as Dalton dug in. Three Kaelan Riley interceptions and a suddenly stiff Dalton run defense kept the Jackets at bay. The second pickoff by Maddux Houghton set up the Catamounts at the Calhoun 30 midway through the second quarter, and three plays later Jase Chastain hit Drake McGowan for a 12-yard touchdown pass.
On the play, Calhoun senior defensive back Ethan Woodard injured his knee, likely ending his season.
“I think things came too easily for us early in the ballgame,” Lamb said. “Then Ethan tears his ACL and that really affected our kids. I had to try and get them up at halftime because that was tough news for them to hear.”
Lamb quickly tried to get his team to focus on the game. It worked, at least defensively.
“I got on them pretty good because a lot of them weren’t playing up to their potential,” he said. “I had to challenge them at halftime, and because of the character of our kids they were able to play better in the second half.”
With the passing game stalled by the standout Dalton secondary, the Jackets turned to junior running back Olico Dennis and a veteran offensive line in the second half. Dennis responded with 103 of his 149 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown run with 5:24 left in the third quarter for a 21-7 lead. He broke off a 47-yard run early in the fourth quarter to set up Riley’s 2-yard run for the final margin.
The Calhoun defense, which suffered several graduation losses from the title team, allowed just 107 total yards, including 47 after halftime. The unit forced four turnovers, including a fumble on Dalton’s first play that led to Riley’s 4-yard scoring pass to Jarrett Carden less than three minutes into the game.
After a three-and-out on Dalton’s second possession and a short punt, Calhoun marched 46 yards in six plays, with Riley scoring on an 8-yard keeper. The Cats’ defense, though, adjusted and made things difficult.
“You’re not going to get big plays on them, and defensively they played well,” Lamb said. “I can’t say enough about our defense: Without their effort we would not have won this ballgame. This was an ugly win, but ugly wins are better than ugly losses.”
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow at Twitter @youngsports22