Canes stay unbeaten and win the Region 7-5A title with a 42-21 win over Dalton
The visiting Dalton Catamounts led Cartersville 21-7 in the second quarter Friday night. However, the Purple Hurricanes dominated from that point with 35 unanswered points to capture the Region 7-5A championship and a 42-21 win at Weinman Stadium.
Dalton scored first with an 11-yard touchdown run by Adriel Hernandez with 9:55 remaining in the first quarter.
After the Canes missed a 31-yard field goal attempt, the Catamounts grabbed a 14-0 lead with 3:40 left in the opening period on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Long to Bubba Tanner.
The Canes cut the lead in half with their next possession. Khristian Lando finished off the Cartersville scoring drive with a 2-yard run to make the score 14-7 with 0:26 remaining in the first quarter.
Dalton pushed its lead back to two scores at the 9:40 mark of the second quarter. Long connected with one of his tight ends, Bannon Phelan, for a 7-yard scoring pass that gave the Catamounts a 21-7 lead.
The Cartersville comeback started with their next score with just 1:23 left in the half. Quarterback Nate Russell hooked up with Brady Marchese on a 23-yard scoring strike that made the score 21-14 at the intermission.
The third quarter belonged to the Hurricanes. Lando finished off three straight scoring drives with touchdown runs of 40-, 5-, and 15-yards as the Canes built a 35-21 lead. Turner Abernathy then picked off a pass and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown that put Cartersville up 42-21 with 1:08 left in the third quarter.
Cartersville kicker, Ryan Johnson, converted all five of his PAT attempts.
Neither team scored in the final period securing the region title for the Purple Hurricanes.
Lando finished the night with 236 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
Dalton (7-3, 3-2) slips to the No. 3 seed with their loss meaning the Catamounts will open the state playoffs on November 10 on the road.
Cartersville (10-0, 5-0) has a bye week as the rest of the state finishes up the regular season. The Canes will host a first-round state playoff game on November 10 against the No. 4 seed from Region 6-5A.
HIRAM 27, WOODLAND 0
The visiting Hiram Hornets spoiled Woodland’s final home regular season game of the year Friday night by shutting out the Wildcats 27-0.
Hiram, the highest-scoring offense in the Class 5A classification, led 20-0 at halftime and added only one additional touchdown in the third quarter.
Combined with the other results in Region 7-5A games on Friday, the Hornets’ victory secured a home playoff game in two weeks and the region’s No. 2 seed.
Kaden Hamilton scored the Hornets' first touchdown with 8:37 remaining in the opening period on a 4-yard run. Quarterback Ryan Strickland then added a pair of touchdown throws in the second quarter. Strickland connected with Chase Tyler for an eight-yard score with 9:12 left in the half and added a 61-yard strike to Hamilton with 2:04 remaining before the intermission. The final Hiram touchdown was a Kendrick Brown 4-yard run with 5:40 left in the third quarter.
The Woodland offense reached the red zone three times with scoring opportunities but was denied each time.
Strickland passed for 158 yards and two touchdowns for Hiram. Hamilton had 142 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns on 12 touches.
The Hornets improved to 8-2 and will host the No. 3 seed from Region 6-AAAAA in the first round of the state playoffs on November 10.
Woodland’s season ends with a 2-8 record.
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