By PATRICK CASEY
South Walton senior football players Dillon Bates and Kyle Lenoir both had big nights as the Seahawks wrapped up the 2015 varsity football season with a 59-26 win at Jay to finish the year with a 6-4 mark.
Lenoir paced the running attack for South Walton as he tallied 181 yards on 14 carries by scoring touchdowns of 9, 5, and 82 yards while Bates threw for 310 yards with four scoring strikes.
Junior receiver Austin Garofalo wrapped up an outstanding year as the Seahawks premier receiver and kicker, making a 25-yard field goal on the first possession of the night for the visiting team while adding scoring receptions of 19, 11 and 58 yards. Garofalo had five receptions for 114 yards to finish 2015 with 60 catches for 1,154 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Jay pounded away at the Seahawks with their running game, posting 380 yards on the ground on 64 carries. The Royals threw the football only four times in the contest but two of their three completed passes were scoring strikes to Matthew Saylor. Senior Braden Cross had 222 yards on 38 carries with scoring runs of 36 and six yards. Senior quarterback Victor Mishoe had 162 yards on 24 carries with a pair of touchdown passes and a two-point conversion toss to Seth Goforth.
South Walton led 31-18 at the half and extended the lead to 45-18 after three quarters of play as Jireh Crittenden hauled in a 52-yard pass for a score with Garofalo getting loose on his 58-yard jaunt.
Bates’ 310-yard performance allowed him to finish the season with 2,095 passing yards with 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. His 14-yard run late in the game led to Blayze McBrayer’s 10-yard run for the final score of the night on the next play.
The Seahawks rolled up 547 yards of total offense with Harris Barton and Christian Johnson adding fumble recoveries on the night. Donnie Grosskopf had a quarterback sack and Bates boomed a 60-yard punt that pinned Jay at their own 1-yard line midway through the third quarter.
The contest marked the final outing for seniors Lenoir, Bates, Grosskopf, John Woolf, Lee Cox, Rick Roberts and Tiger Greene with Joe Ledo-Massey and, L.J. Chastain suffering injuries earlier in the season that kept them out of the line-up.
South Walton senior football players Dillon Bates and Kyle Lenoir both had big nights as the Seahawks wrapped up the 2015 varsity football season with a 59-26 win at Jay to finish the year with a 6-4 mark.
Lenoir paced the running attack for South Walton as he tallied 181 yards on 14 carries by scoring touchdowns of 9, 5, and 82 yards while Bates threw for 310 yards with four scoring strikes.
Junior receiver Austin Garofalo wrapped up an outstanding year as the Seahawks premier receiver and kicker, making a 25-yard field goal on the first possession of the night for the visiting team while adding scoring receptions of 19, 11 and 58 yards. Garofalo had five receptions for 114 yards to finish 2015 with 60 catches for 1,154 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Jay pounded away at the Seahawks with their running game, posting 380 yards on the ground on 64 carries. The Royals threw the football only four times in the contest but two of their three completed passes were scoring strikes to Matthew Saylor. Senior Braden Cross had 222 yards on 38 carries with scoring runs of 36 and six yards. Senior quarterback Victor Mishoe had 162 yards on 24 carries with a pair of touchdown passes and a two-point conversion toss to Seth Goforth.
South Walton led 31-18 at the half and extended the lead to 45-18 after three quarters of play as Jireh Crittenden hauled in a 52-yard pass for a score with Garofalo getting loose on his 58-yard jaunt.
Bates’ 310-yard performance allowed him to finish the season with 2,095 passing yards with 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. His 14-yard run late in the game led to Blayze McBrayer’s 10-yard run for the final score of the night on the next play.
The Seahawks rolled up 547 yards of total offense with Harris Barton and Christian Johnson adding fumble recoveries on the night. Donnie Grosskopf had a quarterback sack and Bates boomed a 60-yard punt that pinned Jay at their own 1-yard line midway through the third quarter.
The contest marked the final outing for seniors Lenoir, Bates, Grosskopf, John Woolf, Lee Cox, Rick Roberts and Tiger Greene with Joe Ledo-Massey and, L.J. Chastain suffering injuries earlier in the season that kept them out of the line-up.