Friday Night Rewind: SE has lots to play for

With two wins in their last three outings, Southeast Whitfield hopes to use this momentum for the next two weeks against local rivals Northwest Whitfield in Tunnel Hill on Friday and at home Nov. 2 against Dalton. In order to have a chance to play a region crossover game with playoff implications, the Raiders must pull off an upset in one of those meetings.

Coach Sean Gray’s Raiders spoiled Heritage-Catoosa’s homecoming last Friday in Ringgold with a solid 30-13 victory. Southeast never trailed though it was tied in the first quarter, 7-7.

The Raiders’ second win of the season marked a mixed bag of treats on Friday night with Dalton joining Southeast in the win column after a 43-0 win over LaFayette. In the minus column, Northwest fell 35-20 to Ridgeland, Ringgold outlasted North Murray 35-15, Calhoun ran past Murray County 69-0 and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe spoiled Coahulla Creek’s homecoming night with a 43-14 victory. Christian Heritage was off.

An underrated Southeast defense got three interceptions against the Generals — those coming from Luis Fraire, Rhett Harper and Abram Stanley. Stanley’s theft thwarted Heritage’s final threat late at the Raiders’ 7.

One of the two touchdowns allowed came from a lost Southeast fumble at its own 17. The defensive unit put extensive pressure on Heritage quarterback Jacob Carter who completed only 4-of-15 passes with 62 of his total of 87 yards coming on one play.

Running back Easton Ridley led Southeast’s touchdown producers with three on scoring runs of 11, 73 and 30 yards.

On a mere nine carries, Ridley finished the night with 178 yards.

Quarterback Blake Foster had a 73-yard scoring jaunt en route to 103 yards on 13 carries. He added 117 yards throwing on 7-of-18 passing.

“This is probably the most complete game that we’ve played,” Foster said. “We played well on both sides of the ball.”

The Raiders were plagued by three turnovers, including two lost fumbles and an interception. They also were penalized 13 times for 140 yards. Similar turnovers and penalties could prove disastrous against the likes of Northwest and Dalton.

• COAHULLA CREEK: Colts quarterback Blaine Williams was 17-of-34 through the air in the loss to LFO, completing passes to six different receivers while throwing for 242 yards. He was part of the team’s only two touchdowns, passing for one while running in the other. Still, he threw three interceptions, one that was returned for a touchdown. At the same time, he showed poise in the pocket and his offensive line gave him time and protection, only allowing one sack.

Receiver Erick Dominguez was a focal point of the offense Friday night. He caught five passes for 72 yards, and often got past the deepest part of the secondary to get open. Dominguez also helped defensively, garnering his seventh interception of the season.

What slowed the offense for Coahulla was being stung by the penalty bug, committing 11 to the tune of 75 yards. One of the more controversial calls of the game came on a fourth-and-4 play in the second quarter with the Colts driving at LFO’s 39. Williams lofted a pass than nestled nicely into Dominguez’s arms, but officials called Dominguez for pass interference. This came at a critical junction in the second quarter with the Colts trailing 16-7 at the 6:00 mark.

Colts coach Jared Hamlin, who was a little hoarse during his postgame talk to his team, talked of his team’s missed opportunity but also its never give up attitude.

“That was huge,” Hamlin said. “We get the pass interference call down there on offense (and) that could have put us right there with them going into the half. Then it flip-flops, making it a 14 point turnaround. But we came back and had a nice two-minute drive before the half and put it in the end zone. We’re getting better and I’m proud of the way they fought.”

• DALTON: Moonpie Monday!

The Catamounts will be rewarded for their shutout of the Ramblers with the traditional treat following a shutout, but this one was impressive by any measurement of the stick.

After giving up 35 or more points three times this year, Dalton’s defense was overdue for a dominating performance this year, and they threw it on the Ramblers. While LaFayette came into the game with just one win in six tries, the Cats’ defensive effort was still one for the books.

Dalton allowed less than 50 yards of total offense in the win, allowing just three first downs the entire night. Running back Cody Dallas, who came into the game averaging nearly 150 yards per game according to coach Tab Gable, finished with just 33 against the Cats’ D.

“Our defense really wanted a shutout and we talked all week about it, so I’m really glad our second-team guys had to help us get that shutout, because it was good for continuity,” Dalton coach Matt Land said after seeing most of the roster on the field in the second half against the Ramblers.

After playing against teams with a combined record of 31-12 in the first six games of the season, Dalton’s final three regular-season opponents — LaFayette, Heritage and Southeast — before the Region 7-4A crossover games have combined to win three games. Dalton hosts Heritage this week.

• MURRAY COUNTY: Even though the Indians have struggled to find the end zone this year, Friday’s loss to the defending Class 2A state champions was just the second shutout posted on Murray County this season. The Indians had managed at least a touchdown in every other game this season except in a shutout loss to Gordon Central.

And despite the fact that Murray fell to 0-7 on the year, the Indians should still have plenty of hope of getting a victory this season. They may have their best chance of the year this week as Dade County comes to visit Chatsworth on “Middle School/Recreation Night” at Murray Field.

Dade County has just one victory this season and stands at 1-6 on the year. The Wolverines removed themselves from the ranks of the winless this past Friday with a 20-17 win over Armuchee. In addition to Dade, the Indians close out the season with Pepperell and Coosa, two teams which are both under .500 for the year.

• NORTH MURRAY: DL Goins spent one and a half football seasons donning the red and white as a Dalton Catamount.

On Friday, the sophomore was in his new blue and white and playing a major role in Ringgold’s win.

Goins rushed three times for eight yards and primarily was used in goal-line situations. He had a 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give the Tigers a 20-9 edge and then a 1-yard score to give Ringgold a 28-15 lead.

“He’s really a great player, and we were lucky to get him eligible (for the game),” Ringgold coach Robert Akins said. “He’s a great kid. We need to get him in shape, because I don’t think he played that much. He started cramping up.”

Goins served as a backup fullback for Dalton behind Hunter Cleary, who was arrested a couple weeks ago for a number of charges. Robert Hardaway, who plays as a defensive end, became Dalton’s primary fullback after the incident. In Dalton’s game against Northwest on Oct. 12, Goins had three second-half carries for 18 yards. Five days later, he was taking classes at Ringgold.

Goins said the transfer is due to a change of residence to Catoosa County and he would have to pay tuition to contiue attending Dalton High since he now lives outside the Dalton city limits.

“I was very nervous,” he said. “I was nervous from the first day I stepped in here. My teammates greeted me well and my coaches showed love to me, and I feel like I fit in.”

• NORTHWEST WHITFIELD: While the Bruins haven’t all of a sudden decided to abandon its passing game for a more ground-based attack, Friday’s loss to the Panthers certainly offered signs of a more potent rushing attack.

Quarterback Silas Ledford was his usual effective self through the air, methodically hitting short gainers and busting deeper balls when the Ridgeland secondary bit. Ledford threw for 254 yards and a touchdown on a 19-for-25 effort, even though Ridgeland did manage a pair of interceptions. A.J. Orozco was Ledford’s most effective target with four receptions for 100 yards and a score. Slotback O’Shea Hill works the Panthers on the tunnel screen and down the seam with seven receptions for 97 yards.

But it was the running game behind the 16-carry, 89-yard performance of Chris Tinson that had to have Northwest’s offensive coaches most pleased. After injuries have hurt both the Northwest running corps and the offensive line, coach Josh Robinson was happy to see more yards on the ground. Northwest had managed just 38 yards rushing against Dalton two weeks ago and is still more than 300 yards away from eclipsing 1,000 yards rushing for the season.

“This was the first game all year that our offensive line played in back-to-back games with the same five guys up front,” Robinson said. “Our guys played hard, but you can’t make mistakes against a great football team, and that is what we faced in a really, really good Ridgeland team.”

In addition to the two picks, the Panthers also recovered a pair of fumbles.

Sports

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

Friday Night Rewind: SE has lots to play for

Raiders face rival Bruins with playoffs on the line

Site Map

Contact Us