2024 High School Football Preview: ‘Extremely young’ Dalton team to rely on deep, talented freshman class, key veterans

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 14, 2024

After two straight years of reaching the second round of the state playoffs, Dalton High hopes the back-to-back losing seasons of 2020 and 2021 are well in the rear-view mirror.

But, after losing 19 seniors from a squad that went 8-4 a year ago, the Catamounts will be tasked with continuing a positive trend with what head coach Kit Carpenter called “an extremely young team.”

“We lost 19 good seniors this year, but gained 43 freshmen,” Carpenter said. “The numbers are really good, and we’ve got a lot of talented young players.”

Carpenter estimated that around 60% of the team is either freshmen or sophomores, but, those freshmen and sophomores went through a middle school football program designed to make a transition to Dalton High football as seamless as possible.

“Because of the job that the middle school program has done, we haven’t missed a beat,” Carpenter said.

The new-look Catamounts will have to replace a lot of outgoing production on both sides of the ball. Last year’s Region 7-5A co-player of the year Adriel Hernandez is gone after starring at both linebacker and running back. Senior standout receivers and defensive backs Bubba Tanner and RJ Storey are gone, as are tight end/defensive ends Jeffson Locke and Bannon Phelan.

The quarterback who threw the ball to all of those playmakers, Ethan Long, is gone too. The now-senior is now at Adairsville High School after his father, former Catamount offensive coordinator Eric Long, got the OC job for the Tigers.

“Even though we did lose a lot of playmakers, we’re not starting anew,” Carpenter said.

Senior receiver Kendrix London, who had 833 receiving yards and nine touchdowns last year, returns. Carpenter also pointed out offensive linemen Peyton Starling and senior linebacker Kalem Staton as returning difference-makers for the Catamounts.

“They kind of solidify things for us,” Carpenter said.

“And we’ll probably start four or five really good freshmen,” Carpenter said. “We’ve got some good, young, talented playmakers.”

Some of those include quarterback Caine Woods and running back Elijah Long, both freshmen.

Woods, Long and the other Catamount freshmen helped pilot an 8th grade team to an 11-2 finish and an appearance in the Georgia Middle School Athletic Association state championship game.

The returners and newcomers will pilot a new-look offense under new offensive coordinator Isaac Ferrell, who Carpenter said brings more of a wing-t look to the Dalton offense.

The inexperienced Catamounts don’t get an easy introduction to high school football. A tough non-region schedule is followed by a strong Region 7-4A slate. Despite dropping down from Class 5A from last year, Dalton was joined in dropping to Region 7-4A by last year’s region mates Cartersville, Cass, Hiram and Woodland. Dalton, Cartersville, Cass and Hiram were the playoff teams in Region 7-5A last year. Also in the region are Cedartown and Allatoona.

Five separate teams in the region reached the second round in the state playoffs last season.

On the non-region schedule are four teams that reached the playoffs in their classifications last year too: North Murray, 12-1 North Oconee, Rabun County and, for the first time since 2019, intra-county rival Northwest Whitfield.

“It’s exciting,” Carpenter said. “Any time you get to play locally against another team, you really get that excitement. It’s great for us, and it’s great for the community.”

Region 7-4A

Allatoona

Cartersville

Cass

Cedartown

Dalton

Hiram

Woodland, Cartersville

Key losses

QB Ethan Long

RB/LB Adriel Hernandez

RB/DB Bubba Tanner

TE/DE Jeffson Locke

Key players

WR/DB Kendrix London, senior

OL Peyton Starling, senior

LB Kalem Staton, senior

Circled on the schedule

North Oconee, Aug. 23

• Dalton plays a challenging non-region slate to match its challenging Region 7-4A schedule. After opening with North Murray, Dalton hosts North Oconee, which finished 12-1 and reached the third round of the 4A playoffs a year ago.

At Northwest Whitfield, Aug. 30

• Dalton plays Northwest Whitfield for the first time in five seasons. The Whitfield County rivals are back on each other’s schedules, and this year the game is in Tunnel Hill. Dalton has won 11 in a row in the series and leads it 32-5 overall.

Cedartown, Oct. 11

• This slot could go to several different important Region 7-4A matchups. Five separate teams in the region reached the second round of the playoffs in their respective classifications last year, including these two. The timing of the Cedartown game, with two games remaining afterwards on Dalton’s schedule, makes it a pivotal matchup in the region race.