When Calhoun had to have yards in Friday night's 42-35 season-opening win over visiting Dalton at Phil Reeve Stadium, the method was more old school than usual.
With the Catamounts focusing most of their defensive attention on getting after Calhoun quarterback Christian Lewis and double-teaming receiver Cole Speer, who recently committed to Georgia, the Yellow Jackets turned to the ground game to turn around a 21-14 halftime deficit.
Gage Leonard had 132 yards and two touchdowns, with sophomore Caden Williams adding another 118 yards and two scores for the Jackets, who won their 12th consecutive season opener. Quarterback Christian Lewis also ran for two touchdowns while passing for another.
"We just had to execute," Calhoun coach Clay Stephenson said of the team's 21 straight points to open the second half. "We didn't have many possessions in the first half, and in the second half we wanted to play some smash-mouth football, and it went well. We knew coming in Dalton would give us a great game, and it was a dogfight."
The Catamounts, under first-year head coach Kit Carpenter, debuted a new balanced offense that gave the Jackets fits early as running backs Tyson Greenwade (91 yards, two touchdowns) and Journey Boston broke big plays and senior quarterback Brady Pendley (162 yards passing, two touchdowns), making his first start, had several clutch throws.
(READ MORE: Scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area high school football games)
A Pendley-to-Boston 5-yard touchdown pass late in first half gave the Cats the seven-point halftime lead, but Calhoun responded with a 46-yard scoring run by Williams, a 3-yard Leonard touchdown run and, after Dustin Kerns' interception, a Lewis 1-yard sneak to take a 35-21 lead.
Dalton fought back with a Greenwade 4-yard touchdown to cap a 55-yard drive and had a shot to tie it after recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. However, Speer, who left the game in the first half with a hand injury, ended the threat with an interception that led to Leonard's second score of the game.
The Catamounts cut it again to seven on a Pendley-to-Page 13-yard touchdown on fourth down with three minutes remaining but never got the ball back as Lewis had two key third-down completions.
"Christian did a great job managing the game and we had to take what they were giving us and that was the run tonight," Stephenson said. "But he made the throws we had to make."
Fellowship Christian 31, Christian Heritage 21: In a battle of top 10-ranked Class A private schools, the visitors took advantage of a pair of Christian Heritage turnovers early to take a 10-0 lead. Quarterback Caleb McMickle ran for a touchdown and had a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Elphick, and running back Josh Cole had 191 yards and two scores. Christian Heritage twice cut the lead to three points in the second half - on a Christian Thomas-to-Solomon Locke 60-yard touchdown pass and a Thomas 10-yard run - but Fellowship answered both times behind Cole. Locke finished with 79 rushing yards and another 49 receiving for the Lions.
Dade County 21, Gordon Lee 12: The host Wolverines made an early lead stand up as first-time starting quarterback Cayden Cooper had 156 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Nate Dunfee had a pair of touchdown runs for Gordon Lee.
Coahulla Creek 31, Northwest Whitfield 25 (3 OT): Kace Kinnamon's touchdown pass to Justin Baker gave the Colts the upset win. Coahulla Creek tied the game in regulation with three seconds to play on Kinnamon's 10-yard run, but the potential game-winning point after was blocked. The teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime on a Tyler Locklear touchdown run for Coahulla Creek and Adrian Reyes' scoring run for Northwest, and after a scoreless second overtime, Kinnamon's strike to Baker preceded a Colts defensive stop to seal the win.
Adairsville 35, Chattooga 14: Three turnovers, two in the kicking game, proved to be the undoing for the Indians after battling the Tigers to a 0-0 tie at halftime. Nic Hester had a 25-yard touchdown run for Chattooga.
Murray County 35, Southeast Whitfield 34: Justice Knotts had touchdown passes to Carson Weaver, Drew Carter and Noah Densmore as the Indians held off the Raiders.
* The Heritage at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe game was postponed late Thursday after a COVID-19 outbreak at Heritage affected nearly 30% of students. According to Heritage athletic director Eric Schexnaildre, the game has been rescheduled for Oct. 22, which was originally an off week for both teams. The Heritage-Ringgold game, set for next Friday, has also been postponed and, as of Friday night, had not been rescheduled.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.