Revamped Dalton, North Murray rosters open season in budding new cross-Conasauga rivalry
Dalton High and Murray County had some great battles in the 1980s and 90s as region rivals, but the two schools haven’t shared a region since 2009 and haven’t played each other at all since 2011.
Games between Dalton and North Murray, the school that opened in 2009, may be becoming the spiritual successor to the old rivalry that saw one team cross the Conasauga each year.
Dalton and North Murray met on the field for the first time in 2022, and, after the two played again last season, the two schools are back on each other’s schedules for a new two-year scheduling cycle.
The third edition of Dalton vs. North Murray will be played Friday night at 7:30 at Harmon Field in Dalton.
Larger Dalton, now a 4A school won the first two matchups against 2A North Murray — 49-27 in 2022 and 35-14 in 2023 — but both teams come into 2024 after a considerable amount of roster turnover.
Both schools lost pass-catching playmakers — like North Murray’s Judson Petty and Dalton’s Bubba Tanner and RJ Storey — to graduation, and both schools lost last year’s starting quarterbacks to transfer — Dalton’s Ethan Long is now at Adairsville and North Murray’s Skyler Williams is at Warner Robins.
Caine Woods, part of a deep class of 43 freshmen for the Catamounts, is in line to make his first varsity start in his first varsity game for Dalton, while junior Hudson Hulett is set to man the QB position for North Murray after playing receiver last year.
The game is part of a tough non-region schedule for the new-look Catamounts. Dalton plays North Oconee, which won its first 12 games last year before falling in the 4A quarterfinals, next week, before renewing a dormant rivalry with Northwest Whitfield the next week. North Murray will play its own game against Northwest Whitfield next week before starting its eight-game Region 7-2A slate with LFO Sept. 6.
Northwest, Coahulla renew north-end rivalry
After two ultra-competitive games in the series between Coahulla Creek and Northwest in 2021 and 2022 — Creek won in three overtimes in 2021, and the Bruins took a shootout victory in 2022 — Northwest shut down the Colts 42-7 last season.
When the two schools open the 2024 season against each other Friday night at 7:30 in Varnell, the Colts will hope this year’s game is more like 2021 and 2022, while the Bruins hope last year’s rout is a sign of a return of the early form of the northern Whitfield County rivalry. Northwest won the first three matchups in the series by a wide margin and now leads the series 5-1 heading into Friday’s game.
If the Colts are to topple Northwest, they’ll have to do it with a new-look roster. Creek has some experienced line play, but the skill positions are pocked with new starters, including quarterback Waelyn Baliles and a receiving corps that lost its top six pass-catchers from last season.
Northwest lost some key contributors from last year’s team that thumped Creek — Like now-UTC freshman Hudson Gray, who caught two touchdowns in last year’s game — but, unlike the Colts, they won’t be breaking in a new starting quarterback.
Gavin Nuckolls, a junior who threw for 2,566 yards and 22 touchdowns as a sophomore last year, is back to lead the Bruins, who have a mix of returning standouts and fresh faces. Nuckolls tossed for 263 yards and four touchdowns against Coahulla last year.
The game is one of only two non-region games for Creek. The Colts play Chattooga next week before before Region 7-2A play gets started for them at North Cobb Christian the following week. Northwest gets four non-region tune-ups before starting its Region 7-3A schedule.
Christian Heritage meets Heritage in Ringgold to open year
After playing last season with just one senior and with a new coach, Frank Barden, that came in just over three months before kickoff, the Christian Heritage Lions are set to start a season in which they hope the experience gained by last year’s underclassmen translates into a winning year after a full offseason with Barden.
To start the year, Christian Heritage puts its continuity to the test in a “Heritage vs. Heritage” game.
Christian Heritage plays at Heritage in Ringgold Friday night at 7:30.
Christian Heritage is coming off a 5-6 season, but brings back nearly every major contributor on offense and defense. The passing game, led by returning all-region QB Carter Triplett, looked sharp already in a 47-0 scrimmage victory over Murray County last week.
The Lions will play a Heritage team that finished 6-5 last year and reached the playoffs in Class 4A.
The “Heritage Bowl” has been played twice before, with each team taking a game. Christian Heritage won 39-7 during its region championship season in 2020, and Heritage took 2021’s game 25-24.
Murray County hosts Towns County team coming off winless season
Murray County finished 2-8 last season, but the Indians have the chance to come out of the gate in 2024 on the right foot.
Murray County hosts Towns County, which was winless last year, Friday night at 7:30 to open the season.
After a 1-9 finish two seasons ago followed by a two-win campaign last year, the Indians head into the year hoping the program’s progress will translate to some more wins.
Murray made a huge leap in offensive production from 67 total points scored in 2022 to 168 last year, and head coach Kurt Napier’s ideal team identity of a defensive squad should match up well with a Towns County team that struggled last year to put up points on the board themselves, totaling just 64 in 10 games.
Southeast Whitfield aims to keep Gordon Central’s winless streak going
Gordon Central has lost 31 consecutive games going back to the 2020 season, and three of those defeats came at the had of the Southeast Whitfield Raiders.
Southeast Whitfield hopes to add a fourth win over Gordon Central and keep the Warriors’ winless streak going as the two teams open their seasons Friday night.
The game is at 7:30 p.m. at Southeast Whitfield.
The Warriors, though, may be an improved squad this season. After three straight 0-10 years, Gordon Central’s fall scrimmage resulted in a 23-7 win over Coahulla Creek. The Warriors will try to bring the momentum from that win into an official victory.
Southeast squeaked by Gordon Central 19-16 last season, their lone victory of the year.