DALTON, Ga. — The Dalton High School Catamounts are certainly in good company as they prepare for their Class 6A state semifinal game against Valdosta at Harmon Field on Friday night.

For the first time since 2001, Dalton High School’s football team is one of four playing in the state semifinals. But this year’s final four in Class 6A is particularly noteworthy, as it truly includes some of the authentic “blue bloods” of Georgia high school football.

Dalton, Northside-Warner Robins, Tucker and Valdosta are four of the best programs in the state, regardless of classification, and all have won a state championship. In fact, the Catamounts are the only team that has just one. Dalton hosts Valdosta at 7:30 p.m. while Tucker hosts Northside in the other semifinal.

“It’s an honor to be mentioned among those other programs,” Dalton coach Matt Land said. “These four are perennially some of the best programs in the state and have been for a long time. Even their less successful years are still winning seasons and in the playoffs and we certainly do count ourselves among those. I think all four programs have common elements of teaching hard work, drive and a commitment to academics as well.”

The Valdosta Wildcats are billed as the winningest high school football program in the nation. Their resume includes 42 region titles, 23 state titles and six national titles, according to their website, and an all-time record of 887-222-34.

Valdosta’s most successful decade came in the 1960s with seven state championships in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969, with national titles in 1962 and 1969 as well. Then the 1971 team finished the year 13-0 and defeated Avondale 62-12 in the state championship. It was the most lopsided state title game in Georgia history and the Wildcats were voted the No. 1 team in the nation, just ahead of T.C. Williams High School in Virginia, the team featured in the film “Remember the Titans”.

It could be argued the Catamounts’ most successful era was during the same period as Dalton made state finals appearances in 1964 and 1966 before winning its only state title in 1967.

The two programs also have the distinction of each having a 300-win coach. Valdosta’s Nick Hyder won 302 games while coaching six seasons at West Rome and 22 seasons at Valdosta. His winning percentage of .858 is the highest in Georgia history among coaches who have won at least 200 games, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association website, ghsfha.org.

Dalton’s legendary coach Bill Chappell posted a record of 317-74-9 in 33 seasons at Dalton, leading the Catamounts to the state semifinals 15 times and winning five times. He ranks ninth in the state’s history in total wins and sixth in winning percentage (.792).

Hyder was preceded by the true godfather of the nation’s most successful football team, Wright Bazemore. He won 265 games in 28 seasons from 1941-1971, giving up his position for three years to serve in the Navy in World War II. While 56 of Hyder’s wins came at West Rome, all of Bazemore’s were as the coach of the Wildcats.

Valdosta won its first state championship in 1940, finishing 12-0, and had won a handful of region titles prior to that. Before Bazemore’s arrival, the Wildcats had a record of 160-46-24 in 27 seasons. So while Valdosta was already a winner, Bazemore turned it into a juggernaut. He led the program to 14 state and three national championships. Half the time he was on the sidelines, the year ended with the Wildcats being crowned a state champion. Bazemore-Hyder stadium at Valdosta is named for its two superior coaches.

“I don’t know that our team can be mentioned in the same breath as some of their teams,” current Valdosta coach Alan Rodemaker said. “Most of the grown men walking around in Valdosta are wearing a state championship ring. We are certainly proud of our history and are trying to build those expectations of winning again. That’s why Valdosta was so good for so long, because they expected to win. We don’t talk about championships, we just take it one day at a time. That’s been the secret to our success and that’s the way coach Bazemore and Hyder did it as well.”

Despite its storied history, it’s been a while since Valdosta has been at its traditional level of success. The Wildcats’ last state championship came in 1998 as they struggled in the past two decades to keep up with the rising enrollment numbers of state’s highest classification. Despite being under the cutoff for Class 6A in previous years, Valdosta had always petitioned to play up to remain in the highest classification. With the latest reclassification pushing Georgia to seven classes in 2016, the Wildcats decided not to submit such a request this year and to remain in 6A. This is the first season since the 1950s that Valdosta isn’t in the state’s highest classification.

While the two teams on the other side of the bracket don’t have the longevity of success of Dalton and Valdosta, Tucker and Northside have been two of the premier programs the past two decades.

Tucker started football in 1949 and enjoyed mild success in its first 20 seasons, reaching the semifinals four times and losing in the state title game once in 1962. The Tigers ended a 28-year semifinal drought when it lost in that round in 1994, and didn’t get back there again until 2003. But since 2007, Tucker has been in five semifinals and three state championship games, winning two in 2008 and 2011.

Tucker has an all-time winning percentage of .704 and has won 16 region titles. Dalton’s winning percentage is .724 and it has won 24 region titles. The Catamounts and Tigers have played each other twice, both in the first round of the state playoffs. Tucker won 35-13 in 2009, and Dalton won 17-10 in 1996.

Northside is the youngest of the four programs, having started football in 1963, but since then has a .732 winning percentage. The Eagles are currently in their golden age, having won three state championships in the past 10 years, losing in another two title games, and reaching the semifinals in six of the past 10 seasons.

The Eagles defeated Dalton 30-21 in the second round in 2014, which is the only meeting between the schools. Northside won the state championship that season and also won consecutive titles in 2006-07.

Dalton is no stranger to facing state championship caliber teams. In three out of the past four seasons, the Catamounts have been eliminated from the playoffs by a team that appeared in the state championship game. Dalton may already count itself among the state’s elite programs, but now is the Catamounts’ chance to prove it on the state’s biggest stage.

“We want to be where those teams have been and now we have our chance,” Land said. “We’ve been beat by the teams that have played in the state championship game, now we’re in a position to do that ourselves. That’s the goal, that’s what these kids and our coaches have been working for.”

BREAKOUT BOX

Dalton Semifinal Results

Year`Opponent`Result

2001`Paulding County`Won 22-3

1994`Thomas County Central`Lost 31-7

1993`Thomas County Central`Lost 21-7

1988`Stephens County`Lost 22-21

1982`Gainesville`Lost 28-19

1979`Redan`Lost 35-12

1978`Gainesville`Won 26-14

1977`Gordon`Won 20-12

1976`Avondale`Lost 32-3

1975`Brown`Won 14-13

1970`Lakeside-Atlanta`Lost 17-14

1968`Forest Park`Lost 28-7

1967`St. Pius X`Won 21-7

1966`Gainesville`Won 20-13

1964`Douglas County`Lost 16-13