DALTON, Ga. – On the surface, it appeared a strange decision.
The Dalton Catamounts were coming off a record-setting offensive season with more than 5,000 total yards and an average of 35 points per game. The most eye-popping numbers were the 2,223 yards and 30 touchdown passes from senior quarterback Payton Veraldi, stats never seen associated with the power program built by Alf Anderson and Bill Chappell.
Had the run-first Cats finally moved on and joined the pass-happy spread offense fraternity? Simply put, no. What happened a year ago and this season’s return to the option attack was a case of a coaching staff realizing what it can and cannot do personnel-wise.
Coach Matt Land would love to reproduce last year’s stats, but due to heavy graduation losses – including Veraldi and four-fifths of his line – it necessitated a return to traditional Dalton roots.
“I got that from Coach Chappell,” Land said when asked about not forcing a certain scheme. “You’re not what you want to be; you’re what you have. We’re never going to be a scheme-oriented offense; we’re going to be what we’ve got.”
The same thing has happened at longtime rival Northwest Whitfield. The Bruins used Caleb Shiflett’s strong arm and a good group of receivers to put up big passing numbers in recent years. However, this year’s team features a more mobile quarterback in sophomore brother Luke Shiflett, a bigger offensive line and a talented group of running backs. Coach Josh Robinson didn’t hesitate to focus more on the ground game.
“I think it’s always a coaching mistake to try and force a scheme,” he said. “We’ve always wanted to run the ball, but we felt we couldn’t do it effectively before. Now we are able to do that.”
Of course, next season is likely to see a bit of a shift again.
“This time next year I think we’ll see a tremendous amount of growth in our passing game,” Robinson said. “You have to take it year by year.”
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow at Twitter @youngsports22