4 TD night for Dalton's Adriel Hernandez leads to 38-13 win over Cass
As region races start to heat up, the Dalton Catamounts and Cass Colonels went head to head on Friday night as both teams entered the contest at 1-1 in the region standings and looking to stay in contention for a possible first or second place finish in the standings. On the opening drive of the game, the Colonels would strike first as quarterback, Brodie McWhorter would connect with Sacouie White, would make a spectacular leaping catch over a pair of defenders and make his way into the end zone for the touchdown, as Cass would then take an early 7-0 lead.
The Catamounts would eventually respond and even up the score, however that would not happen until their third possession of the game as running back Adriel Hernandez would pick up his first of four rushing touchdowns on the night and the game would be tied at 7-7. As the night continued, the Catamounts defense would make their presence felt even more as the Colonels struggled to put together any successful drives. Meanwhile, Dalton would take their first lead of the night in the second quarter thanks to Hernandez rushing for his second touchdown of the night.
And while the Catamounts found much success in their ground game, their third score of the night would come in the form of a Ethan Long touchdown pass to Bubba Tanner, as Dalton would then take a 21-7 lead into the locker room at the half. With momentum still on their side out of the break, the Catamounts would score the next 14 points as Hernandez would rush for his third and fourth touchdowns of the night, giving Dalton a 35-7 lead. Cass would eventually reach the end zone for the second time of the night in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately for the Colonels, time would not be on their side as they would drop their second region game of the season, losing 38-13.
With the win, Dalton improved to 6-2 on the season and 2-1 in region play, allowing them to keep pace with Calhoun, also now 2-1 in region, and a game behind unbeaten Cartersville. The win also marked the second consecutive week in which the Catamounts held their opponents to just seven points. “The coaching staff did such an incredible job of executing the game plan and the kids came out and did the work, so I couldn’t be more proud of the effort and the work that was put in,” Dalton head coach, Kit Carpenter said praising the Catamounts defensive performance.
Offensively, Dalton found success in their rushing attack as their offensive line would win the battle at the line of scrimmage, leading to the four rushing touchdowns of Hernandez and Carpenter said that the Catamounts’ “offensive line has been a mainstay for the past couple of years and I would say I was surprised, but that’s what they do every week,” Carpenter added. Now as Dalton turns their attention to preparations for Calhoun, Carpenter said the Catamounts simply need to “continue to execute and maintain our fundamentals”.
