DALTON, Ga. — In a matchup 92 years in the making, Dalton High School’s football team will finally play its first game against the storied Valdosta Wildcats. The Catamounts have been playing football since 1924 but have never squared off against the state’s winningest program.

They finally get their chance in Friday night’s Class 6A semifinal at Harmon Field at 7:30 with a place in the state championship game on the line.

The Catamounts (13-0) appreciate the history of the Valdosta program as well as the excellence of the current team, but linebacker Tucker Sumner said they are just approaching this as the next game.

“They are big and they are fast, but they are just another team in the way of our goal,” Sumner said. “We have to play our brand of football and can’t get sidetracked thinking about who it is. We can’t play sloppy. Just have to play physical, play fast and play as a family.”

“It’s definitely a moment we are looking forward to,” quarterback JP Tighe said. “But you can’t get too jacked about it. We have to stay even keeled, go out and have fun in front of a big home crowd and get the job done.”

This is Dalton’s first semifinal appearance since falling in the state championship game in 2001, and the Catamounts achieved their first No. 1 ranking since 1986 this season.

The first time this year Dalton was the top-ranked team was in the Georgia Sports Writers Association poll released on Oct. 19 and that was in a tie with Valdosta. The Catamounts were ranked in the top spot by themselves in each subsequent poll afterward, including in the most recent poll released on Nov. 8 when Dalton received 10 first-place votes and the Wildcats six.

It’s been a special experience for the Catamounts’ seniors to have helped lead the program to more success than it has had in recent years.

“It feels great,” senior offensive lineman Caden Stokes said. “It’s been a long time since Dalton has been in the semifinals. I’m just happy and really proud to be on a Dalton team that has been able to accomplish all of this.”

The Wildcats have also brought up memories of days gone by with their success this season. Valdosta last appeared in the semifinals in 2003, when it lost to Camden County in the state championship game.

One advantage the Wildcats think they will have is that they are the more battle-tested team. The five teams in Valdosta’s Region 1-6A were all ranked in the top five at some point during the regular season, and Houston County (7-3) didn’t make the playoffs despite being ranked for most of the season. In addition, all six teams the Wildcats faced in the non-region schedule made the playoffs, and three were ranked in the top 10 in their respective classifications. Dalton has faced three ranked teams.

Valdosta coach Alan Rodemaker thinks his team’s schedule has benefited the Wildcats greatly.

“We have learned how to win ugly and played a lot of close football games,” Rodemaker said. “Everyone on our schedule was in the playoffs except Houston County and we knocked them out in week 10. I think it’s really prepared us for the postseason.”

Rodemaker emphasized that the Wildcats have only been able to get this far because of the approach of taking things one game at a time, and not focusing on living up to the tradition generated by the school’s 23 state championships and six claimed national championships.

“We don’t talk about championships,” Rodemaker said. “None of our kids have ever played this far. The secret to our success this year has been just going one game at a time. I told our kids we can’t win the state championship this week and it’s just another game. Our goal is to just win the day. That’s a tradition that’s been set by previous coaches and the way we’ve done things for a long time.”

Rodemaker has ties to the area as he coached at Southeast Whitfield as an assistant for two seasons in the early 1990s. He has also had a long friendship with Dalton offensive coordinator Bill Napier as the two met 25 years ago at a camp at Furman University, where Napier’s son, Billy, would eventually play college football. That means that Rodemaker is familiar with the Catamounts’ tradition and knows what to expect at Harmon Field.

“What I really see when I watch them is what I expected to see,” Rodemaker said. “I saw a good team, but also one that was well coached and well disciplined. That’s always been a staple of Dalton and they’ve always gotten the most out of their kids.”

In a game with such high stakes, between two programs with such proud traditions reaching this point for the first time in a long time, the crowd is expected to be standing room only, despite extra bleachers being brought in.

Earlier in the week, Rodemaker challenged his home fans to “take over Dalton” by bringing a large contingent to the game. Dalton senior defensive back Kyric McGowan doesn’t believe that is likely.

“That will never happen,” McGowan said. “It’s a big advantage for us (to play at home). Some people don’t think it is, but it really does make a difference on big plays and on third downs. Our fans are amazing and I know they will come out strong.”