Max Mainor is one of two monsters in the middle of Dalton’s defensive line.DALTON, Ga. – There is flash aplenty on the Dalton High School football team.
The 12-0 Catamounts, ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 (depending on the source) in Georgia’s second-largest classification, have a 1,000-yard rusher, a 1,900-yard passer and two senior receivers headed to FBS college programs.
Ask most people familiar with the Catamounts, though, and they will say, while the flash is nice, the smash is what has made the team unbeaten so far. The Dalton defense, allowing only 12 points a game, has been a rock all season, especially against the run.
Only a couple of teams have managed to break 100 yards on the ground against this Smash unit. Ask head coach Matt Land the secret and he gets nearly giddy.
“It’s a treat having those two big tackles,” he says of twin peaks John Wesley Whiteside and Max Mainor. “They are going to create some sort of problem on every play, and the rest of the guys just feed off it.”