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  • Dalton quarterback Cole Calfee plows for a first down on a sneak in the Catamounts' Class 3A state playoff game on Friday night in Gainesville. (Photo by Tom Reed/Gainesville Times)

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November 12, 2011

Friday Night Rewind: Dalton had no answer for Watson

By Chris Whitfield chriswhitfield@daltoncitizen.com

Dalton was not your typical No. 4 seed, and Gainesville’s Deshaun Watson wasn’t your typical high school sophomore quarterback.

But unfortunately for the Catamounts, they were still playing the No. 1-seeded Red Elephants, and Watson could end up being one of the nation’s most-highly recruited players in the class of 2014.

“He’s a playmaker, and when they had to have a play, he made it time and time again,” Dalton coach Matt Land said after the Elephants beat the Cats 48-27 in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs.

Both teams looked solid at City Park Stadium, but the Elephants made a few more plays at the right times. The most important of all of the plays may have come with no time.

Dalton fullback Hunter Cleary scored on an 8-yard run with 1:16 remaining in the first half to cut the Gainesville lead to 20-13, and the Cats would have been happy to go to halftime behind by a touchdown and getting the ball to start the second half. But a 27-yard kickoff return by Fred Payne gave the Red Elephants the ball at their own 40, and Gainesville certainly didn’t waste any seconds.

In just over a minute of game clock, coach Bruce Miller’s team ran nine plays and drew Dalton offsides to convert a first down before Watson hit Caleb Hayman on a “Hail Mary” pass into the end zone that saw the 6-foot, 2-inch receiver tower over the Dalton defenders for a score with no time remaining on the clock and a 27-13 lead at the half.

It was even more significant for Dalton, which opened the second half with the ball and would drive 80 yards in 14 plays for a score. Had the Cats been able to survive the end of the first half without giving up a score, Dalton would have likely tied the game. The Cats’ drive to start the second half was a mastery in ball control as Dalton ran off more than eight minutes of game clock, keeping the potent Red Elephant offense off the field and giving the Cats’ defense more rest after the break.

It mattered little, though, as Watson and the Gainesville offense merely seemed well rested and went 67 yards in just six plays for a score to extend the lead back out to two touchdowns. Dalton couldn’t answer with its ensuing drive stalling at the Red Elephants’ 41 and had to punt the ball away on the second play of the fourth quarter. The Cats needed a stop and needed it badly after pinning Gainesville at the 12.

However, Watson and the offense did its most impressive work of the night with a little help from Dalton.

On 3rd-and-4 from the 18, the Cats’ defense had seemingly held Gainesville when Watson was tackled for a 1-yard loss and an offensive lineman was flagged for holding. However, Dalton was flagged for a dead-ball personal foul at the end of the play. The hold backed the Elephants back 10 yards, but the personal foul gave Gainesville a new set of downs.

That was all Watson needed, as he drove his team on what would be an 18-play drive which covered 88 yards and ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Justin Cantrell.

Dalton’s offense had an impressive night with 27 points and more than 400 yards of total offense, but Gainesville made the most of their opportunities with Watson accumulating more than 400 yards of total offense by himself with five touchdowns passing and two more on the ground. And it wasn’t for lack of effort by the Dalton defense as time after time, Catamount defenders delivered punishing blows to Red Elephant skill players. Miller called it the hardest hitting game his team had been in all year.

“My hat is off to them,” Land said. “They have a great, great team. When you have the right people in the right place at the right time and the other team still makes the plays, you tip your hat.”

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