VALDOSTA, Ga. — Fourteen down, one to go.

The winningest high school team in the nation added another chapter to its storied history Friday night when No. 2 Valdosta traveled more than 300 miles to Harmon Field to hand No. 1 Dalton its first loss of the season 27-6 in a Class 6A semifinal game.

In victory, the Wildcats advance to the state championship game for the first time since 2003 where they will play Tucker next Friday night. But after the game, Valdosta head coach Alan Rodemaker just wanted to focus on the now.

“These kids don’t care about 2003, all they care about now,” Rodemaker said. “You hear so much about the old teams, but I want everybody to appreciate this team.

“I don’t want to compare them to any other team.”

He didn’t need to Friday night — the Wildcats’ play did all the talking.

Dalton entered ranked the top team in Class 6A on the virtue of an unblemished season fueled by a balanced, grinding offense that doesn’t give the ball away and a physical, stingy defense that takes the ball away from its opponents.

The Catamounts were still balanced offensively, they were just equally ineffective in the run and pass game against a Wildcats defense flying to the ball.

“They’re strong,” Rodemaker said. “Their back ran strong, their line is big. I’m not sure we were winning it physically early, but we were winning it with speed, especially defensively.”

Valdosta held Dalton to 80 total yards of offense in the first half and 176 in the game, with just 48 on the ground by running back Ahmaad Tanner, who entered the game with nearly 1,500 yards rushing this season.

The Wildcats forced the Catamounts to punt on each of their four first-half possessions, and Dalton’s defense held pace for a while, forcing three straight Valdosta punts to start the game, but on the Wildcats’ third punt, the Catamounts made the first mistake of the game.

Receiver Kyric McGowan dropped back to return a punt, but the 247Sports Composite three-star prospect muffed it and Valdosta was back in business after recovering at Dalton’s 29.

Dalton’s defense nearly bailed McGowan out, but facing a third-and-goal from the 20-yard line after a penalty, Valdosta quarterback Josh Belton hit defensive end-turned-tight end Devonnsha Maxwell over the middle of the field on what Rodemaker referred to as the turning point of the game.

Maxwell was hit as he caught the ball and still turned and stretched the ball across the goal line for the game’s first score.

Valdosta’s 7-0 lead stood through halftime, but the Wildcats quickly went about adding to it in the second half when Dalton fell victim to nearly the same special teams gaffe as the first half. The Catamounts forced a Wildcats three-and-out to open the half, but the ball bounced off an unsuspecting Catamount and the Wildcats fell on it at the Dalton 39.

Three plays later, Belton found tight end Jontae Baker running wide open over the middle for a 29-yard touchdown after drawing in the defense with a run-pass option.

After another quick three-and-out for by Dalton, Valdosta pushed its lead to 21-0 on Belton’s 25-yard touchdown pass to J.R. Ingram — the two connected again late in the fourth quarter after the Catamounts trimmed the deficit to 21-6.

Belton finished the game 15 of 21 for 190 yards and four touchdown passes, a performance that became even more crucial when co-quarterback Hunter Holt left the game in the third quarter after only a handful of snaps. Holt was injured in last week’s victory against Stephenson.

Valdosta has rotated Belton and Holt all season, and Friday underscored the luxury of having two capable quarterbacks when Dalton lost starter J.P. Tighe to an injury midway through the fourth quarter. The Catamounts only trailed by two scores at the time with the ball in Wildcat territory, but backup Chandler Starks’ first pass attempt fell incomplete on fourth down.

“I thought Josh Belton did really good,” Rodemaker said. “Hunter Holt went in there and tried hard, but he’s still banged up a little bit.

“Everybody’s wondering why we’ve got a two-quarterback system. They know now why we have a two-quarterback system, because we need both of them. If you’re going to play 15 games, you need two quarterbacks, especially the way we run him.”

Derrick Davis is a sports reporter at the Valdosta Daily Times.