DALTON, Ga. — As the clock finally ran out Friday night at Harmon Field, Dalton football coach Chris Prewett let out a huge sigh of relief.
The team’s second-year head coach wasn’t alone as a huge crowd of home fans held its collective breath until Trace Hawkins’ final completion came up short of a first down in the final seconds and the Catamounts held on to defeat Calhoun, 42-35, in a matchup of Northwest Georgia nonregion rivals.
Dalton (4-0) scored a pair of touchdowns in 17 seconds in the second quarter on the way to building a 21-7 halftime lead, then scored twice more in the first nine minutes of the third quarter to go up 35-7 before a furious Calhoun rally came up just short.
“It was almost like a war of attrition toward the end there,” Prewett said. “It was a hard-fought victory, and we knew it was going to be a tough matchup. This wasn’t going to be a halftime game; we knew it would take four quarters to win this one.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday’s Chattanooga-area prep football games)