By PATRICK CASEY
Johnathan Ortner tossed five touchdown passes and threw for 216 yards in just over one half of action as the South Walton Seahawks pummeled Jacksonvillle Christ’s Church Academy 49-0 in the regular season opener for both teams.
The rout began on the Eagles’ first possession as Robbie Watson was tackled in the endzone by Tanner Wimberley for a safety and a 2-0 lead.
The Seahawks took the ensuing free kick and marched 44 yards for their first touchdown of the night as Kyle Lenoir dove in from a yard out for a 9-0 lead.
The onslaught continued as South Walton scored touchdowns on their next five possessions of the first half to post a 42-0 lead at intermission.
Joe Ledo-Massey caught a pair of touchdown passes from Ortner, who also connected with Jireh Crittenden, Alex Smith and Ben Balfanz on scoring tosses in the first half.
The South Walton defense was dominant as Eagles senior quarterback Connor Adams could barely turn around to hand off the football before being pulled down by the likes of Jeremy Seilhan and Beau Sheidy. Seilhan had three tackles for a loss and 1 ½ quarterback sacks in the contest.
The Eagles offense gained positive yardage on only nine of 32 offensive plays in the game with the entire second half being played under the Mercy Rule.
Smith ended the scoring for the night with a 3-yard run midway through the fourth quarter for the final margin of 49-0. Smith led the team with nine receptions for 95 yards as the Seahawks won their regular season opener for the second consecutive season.
South Walton will travel to Bozeman High School to face North Bay Haven(1-0) on Friday night with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
