Dalton romps

By Adam Krohn
adamkrohn@daltoncitizen.com

September 06, 2008 02:07 am

— MARIETTA — Everyone knows about Dalton High’s running game. On Friday night at Jim Frazier Stadium, Sprayberry found out about the Catamounts’ passing game.
Dalton quarterback Stryker Brown erupted for 150 passing yards — 132 in the first half — that included a 40-yard touchdown pass on third-and-25 to Carter Crutchfield, who finished the game with four catches for 105 yards, all in the first half.
“It’s a great win tonight for our football team,” Dalton coach Adam Winegarden said. “We didn’t turn the ball over and we didn’t give up big plays on defense and that’s a formula to be able to compete with anybody.”
The running game also held its own, led by Shaquan Moore and Beau Blackwood, who each scored twice to account for the rest of Dalton’s scoring. Moore finished with 85 rushing yards and Blackwood added 44.
Thanks to Brown and Crutchfield, Dalton was able to put the game away early with a 21-0 halftime lead.
“This was my first start on the road so it was big to come out with a win,” Brown said.
Crutchfield said the team came into the game prepared to throw the ball.
“We’ve been working at this throughout the summer,” Crutchfield said. “He just threw great balls tonight. We watched the Lassiter-Sprayberry game and Lassiter threw a lot on Sprayberry, so we knew we were going to come out and throw a little bit.”
Dalton’s stingy first-team defense didn’t allow the Yellow Jackets to score, though Sprayberry could have kicked a 30-yard field goal with nearly two minutes left in the third quarter. Instead they failed to convert on fourth down and turned the ball over.
A good sign for the Cats was their ability to contain Forrest Holt, the mobile and durable Yellow Jackets quarterback. The pesky Holt, breaking several tackles to avoid sacks, but was limited to just 57 rushing yards and 46 passing yards.
Ethan Bennett, Chris Pietro and Garren Palmer each had a sack and Toombs Norman recovered a fumble to lead Dalton’s defense. Late in the third quarter, Bennett had a chance at a defensive score but dropped a sure interception at Dalton’s 29 with an open field ahead of him.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Cats second-string defense let the shut out slip away as Sprayberry back-up quarterback Alec Kinnard threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Nick Bivins and then ran in for a 3-yard score with 38 seconds remaining in the game.
The Cats received a scare when 280-pound senior offensive lineman Alex Burse suffered a knee injury in the first quarter. Winegarden said Burse is fine and that he was removed from the game for precautionary reasons.
Burse still made an impact, Moore said.
“Alex Burse gave me a real good block (on Moore’s first score),” Moore said. “I give all the credit to my linemen.”
Both teams started out slow, with the Yellow Jackets blocking a field goal attempt on Dalton’s opening drive.
However, on the first play of the second quarter, Moore rushed 10 yards to for a score to put Dalton ahead 7-0 after the extra kick.
On the Yellow Jackets very next possession, Norman recovered a Sprayberry fumble which set up Brown’s 42-yard pass to Crutchfield. With four minutes to go in the half, Blackwood scored for the first time on a 2-yard run.
On the Cats’ first possession in the second half, Moore scored on a 9-yard run, set up by Brown’s 32-yard pass to Tevin Collins, to push the score to 28-0 after the extra kick.
Dalton’s final score came on Blackwood’s 7-yard run, set up by a Will Kiker-to-Cody Patterson pass.

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