The Dalton Academy’s Lady Pumas played their first pair of home flag football games in Dalton on Thursday and, despite falling short of victories over a dominant Fannin County team and Heritage’s Lady Generals, Puma head coach Summer Garrison said she is “proud” of the team’s improvement since their inaugural season in 2024. “We’re still finding our footing,” Garrison said. “We haven’t won a game last year or this year, but we have made tremendous improvement. I am so proud of them. Last year, we were getting beat just about every game by 40 or 50 points. This year, we’ve been playing close games.” That included a narrow 7-2 loss to Heritage at The Dalton Academy’s Dalton Stadium. “Heritage is a really good team,” she said. “So, I’m super proud of our girls. I think we can only go up from here and each year we’ll just get better. It’s really helped me having two really good coaches (in defensive coordinator Scott Thompson and offensive coordinator John Allen).” The Lady Pumas celebrated senior night between their two bouts Thursday, which honored the team’s 12th-grade players, including Helen Gonzalez Mendez, Elena Jeronimo Ramires, Bianca Nunez, Fatima Pimentel, Valerie Huerta and Gaby Ramires Santizo. The Dalton Academy’s first bout, which ended with a 41-0 loss to Fannin County, began with the Lady Rebels scoring on their first possession thanks to a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Lynnex Patterson. Other scorers for Fannin County included Makenzie Duvall, Lily Williams and Annaleigh Cheatham, who was responsible for three touchdown receptions. Cheatham also completed two extra point attempts alongside another two from Lexy Gravley. Khloe Mead, the Lady Pumas’ sophomore quarterback, made several stops on defense against Fannin County, beginning when she stepped in front of a pass from Rebel quarterback Kendall Gaddis and swatted the ball to the ground on an extra point attempt at the end of the first half. At the beginning of the second half, Mead once again stepped between an intended pass from Gaddis to Lola Temples and swatted it down to mark it incomplete. Against Fannin County, Dalton Academy running back Ceci Garcia Raymundo completed a long run down the field, while senior Heidi De La Cruz secured a quarterback sack to Gaddis midway through the fourth quarter. The Dalton Academy’s following home bout against Heritage saw a determined defense from the Lady Pumas, beginning with an immediate quarterback sack by De La Cruz to the Lady Generals’ Ava Murdock. In the first half of the game, both teams kept each other to several turnovers on downs, with Mead and Garcia Raymundo sealing the Lady Generals’ final turnover of the half thanks to blocked passes. Heritage scored their lone touchdown of the evening in the third quarter when Kaidence Shoelen ran into the end zone on a 10-yard rush. A successful extra point play by Aly Varner put the Lady Generals up by seven points. The Lady Pumas’ first scoring play took place in the final minutes of the game when, after Heritage began a possession on their own 4 yard line, a fumble and recovery by Heritage in their own end zone secured a safety for The Dalton Academy. Garrison said the Lady Pumas, who play as part of Area 7-D2, have built tremendously on their defense. “I think they finally are understanding defense,” she said. “We’re reading passes now and knocking them down, whereas in the beginning we didn’t know what defense was. So, they’ve learned a lot. Of course, they don’t see a win on the scoreboard, but I see more than that and I try to tell them that there’s more to it than that. We have fun no matter what we do.” The Lady Pumas’ last game scheduled for the regular season takes place Thursday, Nov. 20, in Rome against the Lady Wolves. Garrison said she is proud of the team’s seniors as they prepare to play the final game of their high school career. “One of our better players, Fatima Pimentel, got hurt (the day before the home games) during practice on her last play that we were running,” Garrison said. “She punts for us and she’s our center, so she is going to be a big loss next year. We’re going to have to find somebody to step up and replace her. Valerie (Huerta) plays on defense and they’re both just real leaders on the field and off the field.”.
https://daltoncitizen.com/2025/11/23/showing-improvement-dalton-academys-flag-football-team-prepares-to-finish-second-year/
Showing ‘improvement’: Dalton Academy’s flag football team prepares to finish second year
