In a one-sided game which saw Dalton High overcome by a dominating North Oconee Titans team on both sides of the football Friday night, it didn’t take long for the Catamounts to realize the Titan-sized hurdle in front of them.
In fact, it only took two plays.
A 53-yard passing touchdown from North Oconee quarterback Harrison Faulkner to Khamari Brooks just 39 seconds into the game was a sign of things to come as North Oconee scored early and often on the way to a 35-0 halftime lead.
Allowing Dalton (0-2) just 19 combined yards throughout the duration of the game, North Oconee (2-0) soundly defeated the Catamounts 42-0 on Dalton’s home turf at Harmon Field.
The Titan’s first foray into Dalton’s end zone would soon be accompanied by a second when running back Justin Curtis trotted in for a 4-yard rushing TD eight minutes later, bringing the score to 14-0 after another successful PAT to close out the first quarter.
Dalton’s new-look offense, made up of a significant amount of freshmen and sophomores, managed three possessions in the first quarter. But a domineering Titan defense kept the Catamounts no further than their own 33-yard line each time before causing them to punt.
“We were young in the first game, but we’re not young this week,” Catamount head coach Kit Carpenter said. “I really felt like we were prepared, but obviously we were not prepared in the way that we needed to be.”
In similar fashion to the beginning of the game, it took North Oconee less than one minute into the second quarter to add seven more points to the scoreboard following a Curtis 3-yard rushing TD and another successful Ollie Buckley PAT.
Dalton would begin their first possession of the second quarter at their own 35, but the Titans would keep them to their own 36 before making way for another punt. The ensuing kick would see North Oconee’s three-star wide receiver and Georgia-commit Landon Roldan bring the ball down to the Dalton 37 before a Dalton pass interference put the ball at the Catamount 23.
With 8:30 left in the half, that provided the opening for Faulkner to find Brooks once again, this time for a 17-yard passing TD which brought the score to 28-0.
After snuffing out the young Dalton offense once more by keeping them to their own 35, North Oconee would answer with one last touchdown in the first half, in the form of a Faulkner 8-yard rushing TD. Another PAT secured the 35-0 lead at the end of the half.
With a running clock in the second half, it wouldn’t take long for Faulkner to find receiver Logan Phelps for the final touchdown of the game — a 6-yard lob into the end zone — capping off the score at 42-0.
The rest of the game would see Dalton and North Oconee trade possessions as backups entered and the clock ran.
Freshman Catamount quarterback Caine Woods would finish 1-for-6 with 9 yards passing, while Faulknor finished 13-for-19 with 255 yards.
Friday’s game marked Dalton’s first matchup with North Oconee, the sixth-ranked team in Class 4A which finished 12-1 last season.
The Titans victory also ensured a Dalton two-game skid to start the 2024 season. Dalton lost to North Murray 22-9 last week at home in a rare Saturday game due to stormy Friday night weather.
Dalton will look to pick up momentum next Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they make the short trip to Tunnel Hill to square off against Northwest Whitfield in the Catamounts’ first away game of the season.
“Right now, we’ve got to get good at something,” Carpenter said. “I don’t know what it’s going to look like, but we’ll figure it out.”