By PATRICK CASEY
The Walton Braves put together an 80-yard touchdown drive that ended in an Azende Rey 5-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter while the defense came up with a critical stop at the Braves’ 11-yard line with three minutes remaining in the game to escape with a 34-27 victory over the South Walton Seahawks.
The contest was the most competitive in the history of the series with South Walton jumping out to a 10-0 lead as Ben Balfanz hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Dillon Bates with Austin Garofalo adding a 30-yard field goal in the first seven minutes of competition.
Walton rallied with a 57-yard touchdown drive that was capped by an 11-yard scamper from Cody Phillips to trim the lead to 10-7 just 42 seconds into the second quarter.
Walton’s defense set up their next scoring drive as the Braves stopped the Seahawks on a 4th-and-1 at their own 29-yard line, allowing Walton to take over in excellent field position to drive in for the go-ahead score on a 2-yard run by senior quarterback Jace Fielder on a fourth down play at the goalline for a 14-10 lead.
South Walton responded by putting together an 18-play drive that moved 72 yards only to see Garofalo push a 25-yard field goal attempt off to the left with 17 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Braves appeared to take control of the contest with a pair of interception returns for touchdowns as Bates tossed the ball to the wrong squad on consecutive possessions with Juanyeh Thomas taking the first one back 47 yards for a touchdown with teammate Jalen Jones adding a 77-yarder moments later for a 27-10 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.
South Walton wasn’t done, however, as Bates settled down and began to bedevil the Walton defense with passes to Garofalo and power running by Joe Ledo-Massey. The Seahawks got a 42-yard field goal from Garofalo on their next possession to trim the lead to 27-13, then put together a 75-yard drive that ended with Garofalo hauling in a 13-yard pass to cut the margin to 27-20.
The Seahawks defense forced punts on Walton’s first two possessions on offense in the second half and tied the score with a 51-yard drive that had Kyle Lenoir run in from two yards out to give the host fresh hope in a 27-all affair with 8:50 left in the game.
Rey took over on the deciding drive of the game, carrying the ball on eight of the nine plays needed to score as he gained 55 yards with Alfonza Glenn adding a key catch for 25 yards before Rey scored for a 34-27 lead with 6:12 left in the game.
South Walton began their final drive of the night from their own 37-yard line with Bates working Garofalo and Balfanz with passes while Lenoir shouldered the running game. Lenoir lost control of the football at the Walton 8-yard line on a first and goal play with Bates getting on the loose pigskin to retain possession for his team. On second down from the Walton 12, Bates hit Balfanz for a 1-yard gain to the 11. Ledo-Massey then tried to hit Bates with a fade to the back of the endzone only to have Phillips knock down the throw. On fourth down, Bates was under heavy pressure before trying to complete a pass at the goalline that came up just short of his intended target to turn the ball over on downs with three minutes remaining.
Rey then picked up a pair of crucial first downs as Walton ran out the clock to grab their ninth consecutive win in the series while improving to 2-0 on the year.
Bates threw for 356 yards in the loss with Garofalo hauling in eight receptions for 231 yards and a pair of scores with Ledo-Massey leading the ground attack with 89 yards.
Walton got 133 yards from Rey on the ground while Fielder threw for 93 yards.
South Walton fell to 1-1 with the loss and travels on Friday night to face Cottondale(2-0) at 7 p.m.
Walton will host Panama City Arnold (1-1) on Friday night with kickoff set for 7 p.m. at Everette Yates Memorial Stadium.
