The opening moments of a Class 5A first round playoff game were disastrous for Dalton High School.
The rest of the game? Not so much.
After falling behind 7-0 when Greater Atlanta Christian recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and scored a quick touchdown, Dalton scored 24 unanswered and cruised to a 39-17 road victory Friday over the Spartans in Norcross to advance to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. Dalton reaches the second round for the second straight season after going six years between playoff wins before last season. Dalton will play at Creekside next Friday.
“We didn’t start as fast as we would like, but the guys got it back together and regrouped and really played well,” Dalton head coach Kit Carpenter said in a postgame interview with the Dalton radio broadcast crew on Mix 104.5.
Greater Atlanta Christian (9-2), the second-seeded team in Region 6-5A, jumped out to an early lead after Dalton (8-3) mishandled the opening kickoff.
The Catamounts scored the next 24 points, and nearly made it 31, to take a 24-7 lead into halftime. Dalton held GAC to just 42 total yards in the first half.
Dalton answered on the next drive with a 42-yard field foal by Adrian Gongora.
The Catamounts forced a 3-and-out on the next two Spartan possessions after the early touchdown, and Dalton added a pair of touchdowns.
Dalton quarterback Ethan Long tossed to Bubba Tanner in the backfield, and Tanner tossed to Kendrix London for a 9-yard touchdown on a trick play.
After another 3-and-out, ended with a Bannon Phelan sack, Long did the passing himself on a short touchdown pass to Jeffson Locke to put Dalton up 17-7 early in the second quarter. A Long pass to RJ Storey got Dalton down to the 4 to set up the score.
Long connected with Tanner again to set up an Adriel Hernandez nine-yard rushing touchdown that made the score 24-7 in the second.
Hernandez only got in for the one score, but, while Long hit a number of big pass plays, Hernandez was the workhorse of the Catamount offense. Hernandez carried 28 times for 172 yards, helping Dalton bleed clock later in the second half.
Dalton drove inside the GAC 5 late in the first half, but a pass on 4th-and-goal and on the final play of the half fell incomplete to leave the score at 24-7.
The Spartans hit a field goal to cut the score to 24-10 early in the third, but Long went long for a 41-yard touchdown pass to Tanner to make it 32-10 after Asher Renfroe ran in a 2-point conversion.
Long finished 12-for-21 for 217 yards and a trio of touchdowns. Tanner was the top target, piling up 181 yards and a score to go with his passing touchdown.
Dalton bled nearly eight minutes of clock in the fourth quarter before Andy Atangana pushed in a 2-yard touchdown run, and the lead went to 39-10.
GAC got loose for a late touchdown pass to make the final score 39-17.
Dalton piled up 480 yards of offense and allowed just 206 of GAC.
Dalton is moving on to the second round of the playoffs to face Creekside, which defeated Flowery Branch Friday night to advance. Dalton will travel to Fairburn to play Creekside next week.
Creekside was also the second-round opponent for Dalton a year ago, defeating the Catamounts 61-0 to eliminate them from the postseason. Creekside is 10-1 on the year, with the only loss coming against nationally-ranked Mater Dei from Califorina.
“We’re going to work hard and put forth our best effort,” Carpenter said.
The win Friday also marked the second straight season that Dalton went on the road to win a playoff game. Dalton defeated Loganville 7-3 in the first round last season.