DALTON - Monday through Thursday caught up with Sprayberry on Friday night.

Trailing 27-21, the Yellow Jackets had 2 seconds left with the ball on the Dalton 12-yard line, poised to go in for the game-winning touchdown. That's when the week caught up with them, at least according to head coach Billy Shackelford.

"Make no mistake about it, we played hard," Shackelford explained, "but we didn't take care of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and that's why Friday didn't take care of itself."

Jerick McKinnon's final pass sailed out of the end zone and Sprayberry fell to 0-2 on the season.

"Our preparation during the week is what hurt us last week and it hurt us tonight," Shackelford said. "I keep telling the boys that if they take care of Monday through Thursday, then Friday nights will take care of themselves."

Although Dalton's Shaquan Moore ran for 95 yards and quarterback Stryker Brown threw for 155 yards and three touchdowns, the Yellow Jackets did plenty to hurt themselves.

Sprayberry had three fumbles and an interception that stalled several key drives. McKinnon tried to carry Sprayberry on his legs and shoulders, as he ran for 109 yards and a touchdown and passed for 194 yards and two scores.

Dalton rode the running of Moore and the key passing of Brown in the second half to hold off the Yellow Jackets. After a 14-14 first half, Dalton drove 59 yards in nine plays to take a lead it would never relinquish.

Moore punched the ball in from four yards out and Jose Garcia's extra point gave the Catamounts a 21-14 advantage with 8:08 left in the third quarter. Dalton then seemingly put the game away by starting a drive at the 6:08 mark of the third quarter.

The Catamounts drove 74 yards in 15 plays before Brown tossed a shovel pass to Moore for a 9-yard touchdown. Garcia's missed point-after attempt put Dalton ahead 27-14. However, McKinnon capped a 63-yard drive for the Yellow Jackets with a 1-yard plunge to bring Sprayberry close with 7:29 left in the game. Paul Bailey's extra point made it 27-21 in favor of Dalton.

With the game tied at 7-7 and a little more than two minutes left in the first half, Sprayberry was driving and was in Catamount territory. McKinnon's shovel pass, however, was intercepted by Dalton's Jalen Fields.

On the next play, Brown connected with Tevin Collins on a 53-yard touchdown to take the breath out of Sprayberry and the Yellow Jacket fans. Carlos Garcia's extra point gave Dalton a 14-7 lead at the 2:29 mark of the second quarter.

On Sprayberry's next possession, McKinnon ran the ball four times for 30 yards and passed twice for 32. His final pass was a 15-yard scoring strike to P.J. Stone, tying the game with 55 seconds left in the first half. Paul Bailey tied the game at 14-14 with the point-after.

Shackelford said that despite Sprayberry's disappointing start to the season, he and his players don't have to look far for motivation.

"If you remember, last year we started the season 0-3," Shackelford said. "We were able to put together a winning streak and ended up winning the region and making the playoffs."