Two of the most successful programs in the history of northwest Georgia high school football are about to share a region for the first time - and neither is the favorite to take home the league championship this season.
GHSA reclassification moved Dalton down a class to AAAAA, where the Catamounts will join a top-heavy Region 7 that includes holdovers Calhoun and preseason favorite Cartersville, teams that have combined to win five state championships with 13 finals appearances and 30 region titles since 2000.
The region did lose heavyweight Blessed Trinity, but with the emergence of Cass as a contender, 7-AAAAA is still among the state's toughest.
"Cartersville is going to be Cartersville again," Calhoun coach Clay Stephenson said. "They've been good as long as we have, and they always coach up players."
The Purple Hurricanes and Stephenson's Yellow Jackets both must replace most of their offensive production from last season, with Cartersville losing its quarterback, top running back and receiver. What the Canes have plenty of is size, with six interior linemen at least 6-foot-3 and 275 pounds, and a powerful back in Malachi Jeffries, who had 607 yards and 12 touchdowns in a backup role last year.
The Cartersville defense, which did not allow a point in scrimmages against offensive-minded North Murray and Pepperell this summer, is led by physical linebacker Myles Forristall.
Calhoun has just five returning starters from last season's state runner-up team, including one offensive lineman and one front-seven defender. The Jackets, however, have replacements ready in new quarterback Trey Townsend, a 6-3, 200-pound junior with a big arm, and receivers Cam Curtis and Caleb Ray to go with returning 1,000-yard rusher Caden Williams and offensive lineman Brody Balliew, who recently committed to Furman.
Sophomore Emaree Winston (6-3, 230) will be a weapon at tight end and will see more time at defensive end. He'll be joined defensively by Dustin Kerns and Curtis in the backfield and returning starter Nathan Fuller at linebacker.
"The key is going to be handling the adversity of getting the new faces in there," Stephenson said. "We have all the confidence we can do it. We have to make sure we have the fundamentals. If we stay in the games, we have a chance at the end. Learn from it and move on, that's the big key this year."
Staff file photo by Matt Hamilton / The return of 1,000-yard rusher Caden Williams, right, is a big plus for Calhoun High School's football program this season.Cass, 5-6 last year with mostly underclassmen starters, has the most exciting player in the region in quarterback Devin Henderson - a junior two-year starter who has 43 touchdowns and more than 4,200 total yards - and a game-breaking receiver in Sacovie White.
Dalton has 10 returning starters from last year's disappointing 2-8 campaign, but the Catamounts graduated big-time receivers Karim Page and Journey Boston. However, they still have one of the region's best group of skill players, led by senior running back Tyson Greenwade, receiver Luke Blanchard and a pair of potentially lethal tight ends in Bannon Phalen (6-3, 220) and junior transfer Jeffson Locke (6-4, 230).
The latter will have an immediate impact at defensive end as one of a handful of Cats who will play both ways. Second-year head coach Kit Carpenter hopes that as numbers improve and a talented young core gains experience, fewer players will have to be counted on for extended time.
"After last year, we have more kids who are prepared to play," said Carpenter, who admits the lines are where the team is most in need of help. "We always want to have 22 different starters, but at times you have to have your best players on the field. In some positions we have two solid players, and in others we have one and a half. We're close to getting there."
Dalton has a solid shot at a playoff berth considering the other two teams in the region, Hiram and Woodland-Bartow, each went 1-9 a season ago.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.