By PATRICK CASEY
The Walton Braves rallied from a one-point deficit in the second half on Friday night at Everette Yates Memorial Stadium to capture a 27-17 victory over the South Walton Seahawks.
Turnovers plagued both sides at very inopportune times but South Walton could not overcome three interceptions and a pair of fumbles to pick up their first win in varsity football against their county rival.
Walton had a pair of interceptions in the contest, one that stopped a scoring threat late in the first half and another that set up the Seahawks’ lone score of the second half.
Walton got the first break of the night as Seahawks receiver Ben Balfanz fumbled away the football on a hard hit after a catch near his own 35-yard line with Jalen Jones falling on the loose pigskin to set the Braves up at the 30-yard line. Walton cashed in moments later as junior quarterback Jace Fielder hit Taylor Sutton with a 35-yard pass along the home sideline for a 7-0 lead.
After Joe Ledo-Massey returned the kickoff to the 41-yard line, the Seahawks put together a 10-play, 59-yard drive that saw Donnie Grosskopf cap the possession with a 1-yard run to tie the game at 7-all with 2:26 left in the first quarter.
Walton moved inside the Seahawks’ 20-yard line on their next possession but was stopped short of a first down with South Walton taking over from there. The Seahawks went backwards on three plays and Cooper Isacks’ punt was muffed by Walton’s Rodney Shipman at the 47-yard line. Teammate Cody Phillips scooped the bouncing ball up and raced 43 yards for a touchdown, working from the middle of the field to the home sideline to get the angle to the goalline. Dylan Scott pushed the extra point wide left to hold Walton’s lead at 13-7 early in the second quarter.
The Seahawks did not need long to respond as a pair of seniors connected to tie the game. Quarterback Johnathan Ortner hit receiver Alex Smith over the middle for a 56-yard scoring strike on the second play from scrimmage as Walton’s secondary lost the visiting team’s leading receiver on a deep route, leading to the easy score. Austin Garofalo’s extra point gave South Walton a 14-13 lead with 9:05 left in the first half.
The Braves had a pair of chances to take the lead over the remaining nine minutes of the first half but Fielder tossed an interception to kill one drive with the Seahawks defense holding the Braves out of the endzone on a fourth down play at the 5-yard line with 15 seconds left before intermission.
Walton’s defense slammed the door on the Seahawks offense in the second half. South Walton was forced to punt on their first two possessions of the third quarter and the Braves took advantage of a short field midway through the period to march 53 yards for the go-ahead score with Fielder running in from eight yards out to put Walton up 19-14. Fielder then connected with Azende Rey on a two-point pass to extend the lead to 21-14 with 5:51 to go.
The Seahawks biggest offensive play of the second half came when Ortner hit Smith with a 55-yard bomb that got South Walton to the Braves 25-yard line. Disaster struck moments later, however, as Ortner was sacked by Truth Richardson and fumbled with Trvecio Wengert scooping up the loose ball on the 27-yard line.
The Seahawks defense forced their own turnover moments later when Fielder made an ill-advised throw while under pressure with Payton Strain picking off the pass at the Braves’ 12-yard line and returning it to the nine.
The Seahawks offense could not get into the endzone and head coach Phil Tisa decided to send Garofalo out for a 23-yard field goal that trimmed the lead to 21-17 with 27 seconds left in the third quarter.
Walton was forced to punt on their next possession but Ortner was picked off by Walton freshman Juanyeh Thomas as he made a bobbling grab of a throw into traffic to set the Braves up at the Seahawks’ 38-yard line.
Walton took advantage of the field position as Rey carried the ball on four consecutive plays, earning all 38 yards while scoring from seven yards out to give the Braves a 27-17 cushion with 8:07 left in the game.
Ortner was intercepted for the third time on the Seahawks next possession as Thomas made an outstanding grab of a desperation pass at midfield, just getting a foot down in front of the side judge and an elated Walton coaching staff.
The Braves were unable to move the ball and Fielder pinned the Seahawks at their own 5-yard line with a punt with 4:35 left in the game.
The Seahawks picked up one first down but Ortner was unable to scramble for a first down on the squad’s next fourth down try as the Braves took over possession of the football with 2:30 left in the contest.
Walton turned to their running attack and bilked the rest of the clock to earn the victory.
Walton held the Seahawks to 208 total yards while forcing five turnovers. The Braves harassed Ortner most of the night, earning six sacks and holding the visiting team to 20 rushing yards in the 48-minute contest.
Rey was a workhorse as he carried 36 times for 213 yards and took a myriad of hard hits from a scrappy Seahawks defense that battled to the last play on a humid night.
Walton held the football for more than 31 minutes of the game as they won for the eighth time in eight games in the series.
Walton (3-0) will travel on Friday night to Chipley (1-1) to face one of their oldest rivals at Philip Rountree Stadium in Chipley with kickoff set for 7 p.m. South Walton(2-1) plays host to Blountstown(1-2) in a key District 3, Class A district contest with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
