Week 13 | Region 21 Semifinal: #4 Dalton (10-2) vs. #1 Kirtland (12-0)

Kirtland4580

Kirtland4580

Well-known member
A great, great matchup for Saturday.

In 2016, the Hornets’ only time in the last ten years where they did NOT make the state finals, they battled to defeat Dalton 21-0 in the first round.

This has the makings of a special game. Dalton appears to be clicking on all cylinders since losing to Hillsdale, which I assume was just one bad night. They have outscored teams 265-61 in that span. Also, beating Brookfield by three scores (nearly four) caught my attention for sure.

Kirtland has relied on efficiency and team play the entire season. To my knowledge, they still do not have a 1,000 yard rusher this season and rely on strong team play on both sides of the ball. They put on a repeat performance with back-to-back 48-6 wins the past two weeks.

This game will be quite physical, as that is the brand of both teams. All I can hope is that both teams make it out of this game safely, so the winner can be prepared for ANOTHER physical test against one of Mogadore or Cuyahoga Heights.

Lastly, as one of these teams will end the other’s season, it should be noted that Kirtland @ Dalton will be played week one of next season in a rematch of this game.

Safe to say, I am excited to see both where this game will be located and how the game turns out. Looking forward to Saturday!
 
 
Should be extremely physical. Kirtland is Kirtland so they should win by a few scores. They'll know they were in a game the next day though for sure.
 
Haven’t really analyzed the matchup, but needless to say, my Bulldogs have a monumental task ahead of them. I’m sure there will be some great insight into how these two programs match-up in this thread leading up to the game, so I look forward to that. I know Dalton won’t get out-physicalled or out-efforted by anyone, so as mentioned above, if Kirtland is gonna take us out, they’re at least gonna earn it. But who knows, stranger things have happened. Really glad this game is gonna happen.

Twinsburg? Nordonia? Ravenna?
 
CommonManDZ said:
Haven’t really analyzed the matchup, but needless to say, my Bulldogs have a monumental task ahead of them. I’m sure there will be some great insight into how these two programs match-up in this thread leading up to the game, so I look forward to that. I know Dalton won’t get out-physicalled or out-efforted by anyone, so as mentioned above, if Kirtland is gonna take us out, they’re at least gonna earn it. But who knows, stranger things have happened. Really glad this game is gonna happen.

Twinsburg? Nordonia? Ravenna?
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This is one of the better teams Dalton has ever had and they have been playing extremely well for the past 6 weeks. I would love to see them match up with JFK next week to see if they could get over that hump from the last two seasons. Instead they get a juggernaut Kirtland team instead. This will be fascinating to see how they stack up with a program like Kirtland, but I see Kirtland winning by 3-4 TDs or more. Deep playoff runs are dependent upon how good you are (obviously), but they are also dependent upon regional pairings and if/when you run into the juggernaut teams. It sounds like Kirtland has multiple backs capable of carrying the load on offense. I see Kirtland having an advantage in strength, speed, and conditioning on the line. That spells doom for Dalton. I see Dalton hanging around for a quarter or so, but then reality will set in. Everyone wants to see Kirtland vs Marion Local in the D6 state title game. I don't see anybody stopping that from happening. I think Marion Local would be a 2 TD favorite in that game right now. Those two programs are at a different level than the rest of D6. This game will give the Dalton kids and coaches some easy motivation for the offseason with Kirtland coming to McFarren Field week 1 next August.
 
187xovr said:
This is one of the better teams Dalton has ever had and they have been playing extremely well for the past 6 weeks. I would love to see them match up with JFK next week to see if they could get over that hump from the last two seasons. Instead they get a juggernaut Kirtland team instead. This will be fascinating to see how they stack up with a program like Kirtland, but I see Kirtland winning by 3-4 TDs or more. Deep playoff runs are dependent upon how good you are (obviously), but they are also dependent upon regional pairings and if/when you run into the juggernaut teams. It sounds like Kirtland has multiple backs capable of carrying the load on offense. I see Kirtland having an advantage in strength, speed, and conditioning on the line. That spells doom for Dalton. I see Dalton hanging around for a quarter or so, but then reality will set in. Everyone wants to see Kirtland vs Marion Local in the D6 state title game. I don't see anybody stopping that from happening. I think Marion Local would be a 2 TD favorite in that game right now. Those two programs are at a different level than the rest of D6. This game will give the Dalton kids and coaches some easy motivation for the offseason with Kirtland coming to McFarren Field week 1 next August.
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The key word here is conditioning…many teams Kirtland plays start out just as physical as them. Where those teams typically run into problems is Kirtland’s physical never stops for 4 quarters and they wear you out.

I specifically remember the Perry (I think it was Perry) game this year. Up until about 4 minutes remaining in the 1st half, Perry was hanging with Kirtland, looking to go into HT tied 8-8. Kirtland turned it up and never looked back and went into HT with a 15-8 lead. By the start of the 4th quarter Perry was down 3 scores.

I truly hope for a close game. If Kirtland does win they need the pressure to get them ready for Marion Local (if they both make it to the championship game). Even though Kirtland is 2-1 against Marion Local in championship games, both wins were close games won in the 4th quarter. The other game Marion Local put a running clock on Kirtland.
 
Is it fair to say Dalton is better this year than last year? Well at least the Dalton that has been on the field the last 5 or so weeks. Seems like after that Hillsdale game Dalton figured something else and have been on a major roll since.
 
fini316 said:
The key word here is conditioning…many teams Kirtland plays start out just as physical as them. Where those teams typically run into problems is Kirtland’s physical never stops for 4 quarters and they wear you out.

I specifically remember the Perry (I think it was Perry) game this year. Up until about 4 minutes remaining in the 1st half, Perry was hanging with Kirtland, looking to go into HT tied 8-8. Kirtland turned it up and never looked back and went into HT with a 15-8 lead. By the start of the 4th quarter Perry was down 3 scores.

I truly hope for a close game. If Kirtland does win they need the pressure to get them ready for Marion Local (if they both make it to the championship game). Even though Kirtland is 2-1 against Marion Local in championship games, both wins were close games won in the 4th quarter. The other game Marion Local put a running clock on Kirtland.
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Yes, you're thinking of the Perry game, and you're absolutely correct that they wore them down in the second half. Remember that Perry was up 8-0 and about to score again when they fumbled inside the Kirtland 5 yard line. Kirtland then scored the next 36 points. However, they had a bit of trouble running the ball in the first half, and it was a couple long passes that got things going for them, leading to the 15-8 halftime advantage. In the second half, once they had the lead, they just started to wear them out with the ground game from what I remember.
 
fini316 said:
The key word here is conditioning…many teams Kirtland plays start out just as physical as them. Where those teams typically run into problems is Kirtland’s physical never stops for 4 quarters and they wear you out.

I specifically remember the Perry (I think it was Perry) game this year. Up until about 4 minutes remaining in the 1st half, Perry was hanging with Kirtland, looking to go into HT tied 8-8. Kirtland turned it up and never looked back and went into HT with a 15-8 lead. By the start of the 4th quarter Perry was down 3 scores.

I truly hope for a close game. If Kirtland does win they need the pressure to get them ready for Marion Local (if they both make it to the championship game). Even though Kirtland is 2-1 against Marion Local in championship games, both wins were close games won in the 4th quarter. The other game Marion Local put a running clock on Kirtland.
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What is interesting is this is exactly how Dalton has been wearing teams out as well. I think there are levels to the strength and conditioning aspect to it though. Dalton is good in this area. Kirtland is elite. That Perry game has my attention for sure. They have been pasting teams all year long. They just blew out a solid Fairless team last night. A wire to wire butt whooping. Kirtland beating them by multiple scores tells me all I need to know about next Saturday night. I will be in attendance and hoping for some Kirtland turnovers and for Dalton to stay in the game as long as possible and maybe pull off a shocker at the end. It is an extremely long shot this week though.
kingpin2010 said:
Is it fair to say Dalton is better this year than last year? Well at least the Dalton that has been on the field the last 5 or so weeks. Seems like after that Hillsdale game Dalton figured something else and have been on a major roll since.
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I think this Dalton team is better than last year's team. They were really good last year too, don't get me wrong. The coaching staff seems to have a complete pulse on this year's team. Every kid is playing where they should be playing and everyone seems to be on the same page. It is the kind of team who is very easy to root for. They had more star power last year with two kids who are on D2 rosters this fall and one taking meaningful snaps on a really good team (Jaden Schlabach, University of Indianapolis running back). They do not have anyone like that on this year's team, but they are solid all the way around and very young. The biggest difference between this year and last year is the quarterback play. Last year's quarterback was a solid kid, but Colin Pearson allows them to do more things offensively than they have in the past. The variety in the passing game is much more effective this year with more polished quarterback play. Last year's passing game was more or less chucking jump balls down the field and letting their athletic, star receiver (Jaiden Malone, Walsh) make a play on the ball. Maybe the best characteristic about this Dalton team is that they only have 4 or 5 seniors playing. These kids will almost all be back next year and they have a really solid 8th grade class joining the program next year. They should be set up for long term success.
 
187xovr said:
What is interesting is this is exactly how Dalton has been wearing teams out as well. I think there are levels to the strength and conditioning aspect to it though. Dalton is good in this area. Kirtland is elite. That Perry game has my attention for sure. They have been pasting teams all year long. They just blew out a solid Fairless team last night. A wire to wire butt whooping. Kirtland beating them by multiple scores tells me all I need to know about next Saturday night. I will be in attendance and hoping for some Kirtland turnovers and for Dalton to stay in the game as long as possible and maybe pull off a shocker at the end. It is an extremely long shot this week though.

I think this Dalton team is better than last year's team. They were really good last year too, don't get me wrong. The coaching staff seems to have a complete pulse on this year's team. Every kid is playing where they should be playing and everyone seems to be on the same page. It is the kind of team who is very easy to root for. They had more star power last year with two kids who are on D2 rosters this fall and one taking meaningful snaps on a really good team (Jaden Schlabach, University of Indianapolis running back). They do not have anyone like that on this year's team, but they are solid all the way around and very young. The biggest difference between this year and last year is the quarterback play. Last year's quarterback was a solid kid, but Colin Pearson allows them to do more things offensively than they have in the past. The variety in the passing game is much more effective this year with more polished quarterback play. Last year's passing game was more or less chucking jump balls down the field and letting their athletic, star receiver (Jaiden Malone, Walsh) make a play on the ball. Maybe the best characteristic about this Dalton team is that they only have 4 or 5 seniors playing. These kids will almost all be back next year and they have a really solid 8th grade class joining the program next year. They should be set up for long term success.
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That is good to hear that Dalton is young…should make for a great season opener next year against Kirtland 😁
 
dhs22p said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1589322294593089536
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One of the better located games I have seen on this forum today. About a half hour for Kirtland & 45 minutes for Dalton. A nice facility too from the pictures I looked up on maps & Google.

Saturday should be a fun one. Forgot to mention that this game is between two of the rather more mispronounced/misspelled teams in the state.

Kirtland is often spelled/pronounced KirKland (whether because of autocorrect or assumption) and Dalton is NOT pronounced “DOLL-tin”, but rather “Dal (like gal) -tin”. Hopefully the PA announcer is on their A-game with this come gameday.
 
Kirtland4580 said:
Kirtland is often spelled/pronounced KirKland (whether because of autocorrect or assumption) and Dalton is NOT pronounced “DOLL-tin”, but rather “Dal (like gal) -tin”. Hopefully the PA announcer is on their A-game with this come gameday.
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I didn't realize this. Nice tidbit, thanks for sharing!
 
I’m actually very curious to see how this game plays out.

The closest team to Kirtland that Dalton has faced this season is Garaway, who beat the Bulldogs on a running clock early in the season. Since then, however, Dalton has improved greatly (which is typical for a young team) and is playing some great football down the stretch.

What makes this game interesting to me is how Dalton wins games is very similar to how Kirtland wins games. Up front, conditioning, toughness. It’s been mentioned in other threads, but I think it bears mentioning here, that Dalton has gotten their last two “elite” opponents to self-implode in frustration in the 3rd quarter (Norwayne and Brookfield). This happens because Dalton just keeps coming with the physicality from whistle to whistle, and teams aren’t used to that. They can hold up for a bit, usually a half, but then you can start to see the frustration build and, eventually, the wheels come off and the meltdown begins.

Obviously, Dalton isn’t going to beat Kirtland into submission. This is why it’s similar to their matchup with Garaway. The Pirates “out Daltoned, Dalton” and the young Bulldogs didn’t know what to do. Kirtland will do the same thing, so I’m curious to see how much better Dalton is 10 weeks or so later at facing an opponent that’s going to give it as well as they can take it. To me, this is kind of a milestone game for the Dalton program. Obviously we want to win, but if we don’t win, can we be in the game in the fourth quarter with a chance. If Dalton wants to continue making these deep playoff runs a program staple, these are the challenges that the team is going to have to eventually figure out how to handle and, eventually, overcome.

I have tremendous respect for the Kirtland program. It’s an honor to knock helmets with you guys this weekend, and I hope the Bulldogs are up to the challenge. I think they will be, but we’ll see how it plays out.
 
CommonManDZ said:
I’m actually very curious to see how this game plays out.

The closest team to Kirtland that Dalton has faced this season is Garaway, who beat the Bulldogs on a running clock early in the season. Since then, however, Dalton has improved greatly (which is typical for a young team) and is playing some great football down the stretch.

What makes this game interesting to me is how Dalton wins games is very similar to how Kirtland wins games. Up front, conditioning, toughness. It’s been mentioned in other threads, but I think it bears mentioning here, that Dalton has gotten their last two “elite” opponents to self-implode in frustration in the 3rd quarter (Norwayne and Brookfield). This happens because Dalton just keeps coming with the physicality from whistle to whistle, and teams aren’t used to that. They can hold up for a bit, usually a half, but then you can start to see the frustration build and, eventually, the wheels come off and the meltdown begins.

Obviously, Dalton isn’t going to beat Kirtland into submission. This is why it’s similar to their matchup with Garaway. The Pirates “out Daltoned, Dalton” and the young Bulldogs didn’t know what to do. Kirtland will do the same thing, so I’m curious to see how much better Dalton is 10 weeks or so later at facing an opponent that’s going to give it as well as they can take it. To me, this is kind of a milestone game for the Dalton program. Obviously we want to win, but if we don’t win, can we be in the game in the fourth quarter with a chance. If Dalton wants to continue making these deep playoff runs a program staple, these are the challenges that the team is going to have to eventually figure out how to handle and, eventually, overcome.

I have tremendous respect for the Kirtland program. It’s an honor to knock helmets with you guys this weekend, and I hope the Bulldogs are up to the challenge. I think they will be, but we’ll see how it plays out.
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Garaway has played phenomenal, especially defensively this season. That matchup against an explosive offense like Perry will be fun to keep an eye on Friday. Dalton sounds very similar to Mogadore teams we have played in year’s past who have taken us down to the wire with fast, physical, and relentless play.

I agree with this being a milestone game for Dalton. They have been knocking on the door for some time, and a game like this is a huge litmus test, especially given that they square off to start the next season. I am expecting a four quarter game this week given how well the Bulldogs have performed down this latter stretch of the season. It also sounds like both teams have small senior classes (I believe Kirtland has roughly 10-11 seniors this year which is about a third less than they are accustomed to, so definitely a young team).
 
Freak Hands said:
They may not have open enrollment but i would bet there are families moving into the district to get their kids into the football program.
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That is a fair point. I will tell you as an observer of the dynasty that has developed over the years, and I can check back on the rosters from year-to-year, I can only count on one hand how many football players moved into Kirtland and significantly contributed on the team. Only two come to mind from back six or seven years ago, and I don’t believe they even won a state championship.

To my knowledge, just about every other player on each of the rosters dating back to 2006 or so has played with one another dating back to youth leagues starting in 1st or 2nd grade or middle school for those who opted to play soccer at an early age.

If there are two things that Coach LaVerde and his staff are proud of, they are consistency (in a number of different metrics & ways) and the community involvement from high school down to youth leagues. The way the whole operation works is an anomaly in and of itself.
 
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Kirtland4580 said:
A great, great matchup for Saturday.

In 2016, the Hornets’ only time in the last ten years where they did NOT make the state finals, they battled to defeat Dalton 21-0 in the first round.

This has the makings of a special game. Dalton appears to be clicking on all cylinders since losing to Hillsdale, which I assume was just one bad night. They have outscored teams 265-61 in that span. Also, beating Brookfield by three scores (nearly four) caught my attention for sure.

Kirtland has relied on efficiency and team play the entire season. To my knowledge, they still do not have a 1,000 yard rusher this season and rely on strong team play on both sides of the ball. They put on a repeat performance with back-to-back 48-6 wins the past two weeks.

This game will be quite physical, as that is the brand of both teams. All I can hope is that both teams make it out of this game safely, so the winner can be prepared for ANOTHER physical test against one of Mogadore or Cuyahoga Heights.

Lastly, as one of these teams will end the other’s season, it should be noted that Kirtland @ Dalton will be played week one of next season in a rematch of this game.

Safe to say, I am excited to see both where this game will be located and how the game turns out. Looking forward to Saturday!
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After 12 weeks, Tommy Gogolin finally cracked 1,000 yards (1,002). He averages 83.5 ypg and 11.3 ypc. Of note on the defensive side of the ball is freshman, Evan Koprowski, who has an interception each of the last 4 games.
 
Have followed football in the area around Dalton for a long time & have been fascinated with Kirtland since state finals in 2011 when they held Coldwater to 7 points.

The one thing that has always struck me watching the Hornets is how focused they are on simply winning. I know, that's obvious, right? The difference is they literally remind me of a Dean Smith UNC basketball team in the pre-shot clock era. They get ahead, they will strangle you. 3 yards here, 4 there, another 2, counter on 4th down to move the chains. Then do it again. You can almost see the other coaches getting antsy watching the clock run down. They try a blitz & the dive pops out the other side for 30 yards. The other offenses feels the pressure of that clock that never stops running and they force a pass that gets picked off. Then the 4th quarter starts and it's Katie bar the door as those 5 yarders turn into gash runs.

Having seen Dalton several times this year, they will not be intimidated in the game. The questions will be if they'll be able to have the patience to play the game at Kirtland's pace and avoid pressing. The other part is Dalton's secondary will make more tackles in this game than they probably have all year.

This is going to be one of those games you could broadcast in black & white because it's going to be pure football.
 
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