Recent history hasn’t been kind to northwest Georgia teams forced to play up a classification due to increased student enrollment.
A move to Georgia’s highest classification and an 0-20 record in 2006 and 2007 was a major reason the program at Murray County went from annual playoff contender to one just now finding its way back to respectability. Northwest Whitfield fared better in its move the same two years but won just eight games before moving back down and getting back into the playoffs.
Dalton hopes to buck that trend as it moves into Region 7-AAAAA, where the Catamounts will face some familiar foes in Cass, River Ridge and Woodland. In fact, coach Matt Land believes a move into the state’s second-highest classification will invigorate his team.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to compete at a higher level of competition,” he said. “For us to be successful at this level we’re going to have to take some of those little things that we could maybe overlook in Class three-A and four-A and concentrate on them more. It will challenge us from a coaching standpoint and from a player and community standpoint, and I’m very excited about it.
“We know we’re competing in five-A for the next two years, and we plan on doing it at the highest level we can. We expect to win.”