Calhoun downs Dalton
Calhoun’s Olico Dennis runs against the Dalton defense during Friday night’s win against the Catamounts.
CALHOUN — In the first game of the season, sometimes everything isn’t clicking on all cylinders and that was the case on Friday night for Calhoun’s offense in their opener at home against rival Dalton.
But the Jackets’ defense made the difference at the Reeve with a dominant second-half effort to lead the way for a 28-7 Calhoun win, their seventh in a row over the Catamounts.
The Calhoun defense held Dalton (0-2) to just 26 yards in the final two quarters and 93 total for the game, and Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said that they were the reason for the victory.
“If it wasn’t for our defense, we would’ve lost this game tonight,” said Lamb. “We didn’t play well enough offensively tonight, but I’m very pleased with the way our defense played.
“We’ve got a long way to go as a team. We made a lot of stupid mistakes and penalties tonight. It was an ugly win, but it’s a lot better than a loss.”
Along with the strong defense in the second half, the running game came to life for the Jackets as the big offensive line up front opened some big holes for Olico Dennis, who finished with 160 yards, 112 in the second half, on 18 carries, including an 11-yard touchdown to put Calhoun (1-0) ahead 21-7 in the third quarter.
Jackets’ quarterback Kaelan Riley also had a solid night on the ground with 56 yards and two touchdowns, including the exclamation point on the night on a twoyard bootleg early in the fourth quarter.
“I challenged the guys at the half because I felt like we didn’t play up to our potential in the first half,” said Lamb. “We had some kids getting their first varsity starting experience, and first games are always a little nerve-racking especially in a playoff atmosphere like this. We hung in there and found a way to win.”
Calhoun took the early momentum with two scores in the first seven minutes of the game. After Dalton fumbled on their first play from scrimmage and it was recovered by Calhoun’s Jireh Wilson, the Jackets drove down the rest of the way and scored on a four-yard touchdown connection from Riley to Jarrett Carden.
After forcing a punt, Calhoun once again took over in Dalton territory and made the most of their opportunity with Riley running it in from eight yards away to give his team a 14-0 lead.
But Dalton battled back with a stingy defense of their own, forcing
Photo by Cameron Flaisch three Calhoun turnovers from their on out in the first half, all interceptions, two by Catamounts’ safety Maddox Houghton. There were six combined turnovers in the first half, with Wilson and Drew McEntyre recovering fumbles for Calhoun and Dusty Baker picking off a Dalton pass deep in Jackets territory.
Calhoun got one more turnover in the second half on an interception by Jordan Towe that pretty much sealed Dalton’s fate midway through the fourth quarter. The Jackets milked the clock from there with the running game.
The Catamounts cut the Calhoun lead in half midway through the second quarter as Jase Chastain hooked up with his receiver Kyric McGowan from 13 yards away at the 6:12 mark.
Both teams had some struggles in the penalty department with Calhoun being penalized 105 yards and Dalton with 85 yards.
Calhoun is on the road next Friday for their final non-region test as they visit Carrollton; Dalton has a week off before visiting North Atlanta on Sept. 11.
Calhoun didn’t get away from the win unscathed as Lamb said after the game that they believed that starting cornerback Ethan Woodard tore his ACL in the first half, which would likely end his season.