Friday night football previews: Both sides, Northwest and Dalton, glad rivalry’s back

After two years of meaningless preseason scrimmages, Northwest Whitfield and Dalton resume their football rivalry series in a game with plenty of story lines and the season at its midpoint.

The Catamounts (3-2), who are under .500 at the midpoint of the season for the first time in more than a quarter of a century, enter tonight’s game at Harmon Field having lost last week’s Sub-region 7B-4A opener 48-21 at Ridgeland; the final score looks more respectable than it was, though, because Dalton trailed 41-7 at halftime. Dalton was also rocked when starting senior fullback Hunter Cleary was arrested last Friday after being accused of selling marijuana-laced brownies at school.

Northwest (4-1, 1-0) has had a much quieter start to the season, but the Bruins have played a much weaker schedule. They also haven’t won at Harmon Field since securing a 24-7 win there in 1999.

The two teams meet for the 32nd time at 7:30 tonight, the same kickoff time for other games involving area teams. Ridgeland visits Southeast Whitfield, Christian Heritage travels to Darlington and Murray County hosts Model. North Murray and Coahulla Creek are off this week.

Dalton suffered back-to-back blowout losses to Ridgeland and Cass — the Colonels won 35-7 at Harmon Field two weeks ago for their first victory against the Cats — and coach Matt Land said playing a rival this week should have his team focused on the game and the Cats’ hopes of capturing the sub-region’s No. 2 seed for the region crossover games in the final week of the regular season. Only the top three seeds from each sub-region will be playing in games for state playoff seeding that week.

“The fact that Northwest is happening at this time is a good thing,” Land said. “Our destiny is still in our own hands. If we win, we are in. Is it tough as an educator to focus a kid after they have had a tremendous letdown? Absolutely.

“I think that helps because this will be a big community game because it will be talked about everywhere they go, whether it is to the Oakwood Cafe to eat lunch or at church. I don’t think it will be hard to get these guys focused, because it is Northwest.”

Dalton senior Robert Hardaway agreed.

“Coming off of a bad loss like we had, you need a game like this where you have to be focused,” said Hardaway, a defensive end who added fullback to his game duties last week. “When you have a game like this that has so much emotion behind it, it refocuses you automatically. I think it is a blessing.”

While Dalton may be looking for focus, Northwest wants a rivalry win and to remain undefeated in the sub-region.

“It is essentially a cliché that you treat each game as the most important game, but this one is a little more than that,” Northwest coach Josh Robinson said. “Every Friday night is special, but this is great for the kids. There will be a different atmosphere, with a different crowd. It is great to be back in this situation.”

The schedule definitely gets easier for Dalton after this week. Northwest is the only team left on the Cats’ schedule that currently has a winning record. Southeast, LaFayette and Heritage-Catoosa — Dalton’s final three sub-region opponents before the crossover games — have just one win between them. There is plenty for both teams to play for, and tonight’s game will be one of matchups.

Northwest will try to use its strength on offense against Dalton’s weakness on defense. The past two weeks, Cass and Ridgeland abused the Dalton secondary. Northwest quarterback Silas Ledford has been the catalyst for his offense, hitting 75 of 128 passes for 1,116 yards and 12 touchdowns while throwing just two interceptions, and one of those was a pass tipped at the line.

However, the running game for Northwest has been lacking. The Bruins’ top two backs have accumulated just 370 yards on the ground with only three touchdowns.

“We are disappointed with our defensive secondary,” Land said. “We are not where we need to be. The good thing about the games so far, the problems have been fairly isolated. We have had a couple of games here that showed us what we don’t do well.”

Dalton will counter with a running game powered by sophomore running back Kelvis Rhodes, who has 713 yards on 95 carries with 10 touchdowns. Through the air, Dalton has completed less than half of its passes and has more interceptions than touchdowns.

“(Rhodes) is the best running back that we have played,” Robinson said. “He has great speed, good feet in the hole and great vision. We are going to get an extra safety to the box, but we do that against everyone. We want to try to make people beat us passing, and that is not just Dalton.”

Christian Heritage (4-2, 1-1)

at Darlington (3-2, 1-0)

There’s typically a chill in the air when the calendar turns to October in Northwest Georgia.

It’s also the time of year when teams look to turn up the heat for the heart of their league schedule.

Christian Heritage lineman Harrison Kranzlein said his team has been fueled in practice the past few days by last week’s 20-7 loss to Gordon Lee, the Lions’ first defeat in sub-region play.

“We’re upset by it,” Kranzlein said. “We’ve got a new fire. We’re ready to work and we look forward to (playing Darlington). We’ve just got to do our jobs.”

Lions coach Preston Poag said getting on a hot streak, starting tonight in Rome, could put his team in good position for the postseason.

“Every game from here on out is important,” Poag said. “We play a four-game season ... We want to win them all. No matter who we play, we’ve just got to go out there and execute. That’s what we’re really stressing this week.”

Darlington was off last week, but won three straight games on the road prior to that to shake off an 0-2 start. The Tigers picked up victories against Chattooga, King’s Ridge Christian and Trion with an average score of 33.3-10.

Tigers coach Tommy Atha, who is in his 11th season and has led the program to the state playoffs eight times, looks for his team to challenge the Lions with one of the better quarterbacks in the league. Brad Butler, a 6-foot-2-inch, 200-pound senior, is being recruited by Appalachian State, Wofford, Furman and Presbyterian College, Atha said.

“The biggest thing is the amount of experience that Brad has,” Atha said. “He has started for us since he was a freshman and has a tremendous leadership effect in the huddle. He’s very poised. He doesn’t get rattled. He’s really been a blessing to our program over the past few years.”

Poag said that executing and maintaining assignments is the focus this week.

“We need to play responsibly,” he said. “Do your job. Do what we show you how to do. It takes all 11, not just (one or two players). It has to be all 11 doing the right thing.”

Model (3-2, 2-0) at

Murray County (0-5, 0-2)

In the Indians’ sixth attempt this season at win No. 1, the other team brings a mirror-image offense in terms of philosophy.

But aside from how the two teams line up, the execution is different.

Both Model and Murray County operate out of a wing-based offense and will see which uses it best. With all teams in the region having byes last Friday, the Indians and Blue Devils had two weeks to prepare for a variation of themselves.

But it isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. Murray County uses misdirection while Model is more straightforward.

“It’s two different versions,” Murray County coach John Hammond said. “Theirs is more of the fullback and power game. We’re more of a midline team, where we give it to the fullback or then pitch it.”

Model’s Watkins brothers, Nakia and Nakyle, are two offensive players the Indians must worry about.

“We’ve got two good running backs,” Blue Devils coach Gordon Powers said, “and we need to get the ball in their hands to win ballgames. We also want to have the ability to spread the field more. Our offensive line is young, and we’re probably on the small side for (Class 2A).”

He, too, agreed the team’s offenses are not replicas.

“They’re more an option team than we are,” Powers said. “Through our first four games we saw just about everything, and then we pulled up Murray County and said, ‘OK, the spread option.’”

With the Indians struggling to put up points and stay competitive, Powers said he may need to be cautious of a nothing-to-lose attitude willing to take risks and find new ways to move the ball. Hammond did not deny the possibility of adding new wrinkles to his scheme.

“We’re going to throw some new formations (at them),” he said. “We’ve seen some things on tape that can get them out of that (3-5 base defense) and be advantageous for us.”

Ridgeland (4-1, 1-0) at

Southeast Whitfield (1-4, 1-0)

The Raiders will have a great chance to see how far Blake Foster has come as their quarterback.

As Southeast and Ridgeland head into a battle of teams atop the sub-region standings, all eyes will be on the Panthers’ stud athlete, senior Vonn Bell, who is being heavily recruited by Division I programs as a defensive back but needed just five offensive touches last week to score four touchdowns against Dalton.

Foster, a junior who was a standout receiver his first two seasons at Southeast, must play one of his best games yet to counteract.

Southeast coach Sean Gray admitted Ridgeland is “very athletic,” and the Raiders need to control the football and eliminate mistakes. A lot of that will depend on the decisions made by Foster, who struggled to get the passing game going early in the season.

However, the fact that the Raiders scored 27 points in a loss at Cedartown two weeks ago and 21 last week in a win against LaFayette showed Foster is finding comfort. He has also been the team’s top threat on the ground, rushing for 254 yards on 51 carries, including five touchdowns.

“There’s a good chance this is the best team on our schedule,” Gray said. “It will be a good test for him now that he has some games under his belt.”

Last season Southeast ran a pass-happy spread offense under former head coach David Crane, who now an assistant at Northwest. Ridgeland defended against it well last year in a 31-10 win.

“It’s similar in a lot of ways,” Ridgeland coach Mark Mariakis said of the Raiders’ current offensive approach. “They’re spreading you out. They’ve taken Blake, who was one of their main receivers last year and a great athlete, and put him at quarterback. He brings a dual threat of running and throwing.”

Another threat the Panthers have an eye on is senior wideout Rhett Harper.

“He catches everything,” Mariakis said. “He goes up in traffic, is one-handed, runs the slip screens.”

The Raiders know who they must keep in their sights, too.

“We can’t let Vonn Bell get behind us,” Gray said. “They’ll lull you to sleep with the sweeps and then go deep to Bell. They’ll even throw a hitch to him, and he’ll make a guy miss and take it to the house.”

Previews compiled by sports writers Devin Golden and Chris Whitfield and correspondent Dave Gordon.

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Friday night football previews: Both sides, Northwest and Dalton, glad rivalry’s back

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