Woodland falls at Dalton, 28-7

Isaiah Livsey had a 15-yard touchdown run Friday at Dalton.

Dalton scored back-to-back second quarter touchdowns in a span of 39 seconds Friday night to take a 14-0 lead and never trailed in a 28-7 Region 7-AAAAA win over visiting Woodland.

The Wildcats used a lengthy, time-consuming opening drive to keep the Catamounts offense and Class 5A’s leading rusher Tyson Greenwade on the sideline. After receiving the opening kickoff, Woodland drove to the Dalton 13-yard line and used up eight minutes off the clock before turning the ball over on downs.

After forcing Dalton to punt, the Wildcats’ second possession started just inside their own 40-yard line. Unable to advance this time, Woodland lined up to punt the ball back to the Catamounts.

A high snap sailed over the head of Woodland punter Nick Miranda who fell on the ball at the Wildcats’ 11-yard line.

From there, Dalton’s Greenwade had a nine-yard run and a two-yard run to give the Catamounts a 7-0 lead with 11:55 remaining in the second quarter. Adrian Gongora made Dalton’s PAT kick.

Following the ensuing kickoff, Woodland’s next possession ended with a fumble at their own 42-yard line.

Dalton quarterback Ethan Long connected with Luke Blanchard on a 40-yard crossing route pass play moving the ball to the two-yard line. Long’s keeper on the next play resulted in a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 11:16 remaining in the first half.

Woodland answered before the intermission to stay in contention.

The Wildcats drove 54-yards on six plays late in the half with Isaiah Livsey capping the drive with a spectacular 15-yard touchdown run from the direct snap Wildcat formation. Livsey ran a sweep left and broke a couple of tackles near the sideline before reversing the field and racing toward the opposite sideline to score with 3:33 left in the half. Spencer Fleming made the PAT kick to cut the Dalton lead to 14-7 at halftime.

The Catamounts drove 57-yards on nine plays for a touchdown to begin the second half.

Facing a fourth-and-ten situation at the Woodland 29-yard line, Long connected with Warner Ross on a scoring play that made the score 21-7 with 8:44 to go in the third period.

On their next possession, Dalton drove 56-yards on just five plays to score the Cats’ fourth and final touchdown. Greenwade did most of the damage with key runs but left the 3-yard touchdown run for Adriel Hernandez with 3:37 left in the third quarter.

Woodland had a fourth quarter drive reach the Dalton 16-yard line, but a fourth down sack ended the Wildcats’ final scoring threat in the final minutes.

Dalton improved to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in Region 7-AAAAA. The Catamounts travel to Cass next Friday.

Woodland (1-6, 0-2) will host Calhoun next Friday. The Yellow Jackets, who surprised Cartersville on September 29, lost to visiting Hiram Friday night 44-34.