By PATRICK CASEY
The Walton Braves dominated the Bay High Tornadoes from start to finish as the varsity football team capped off a 10-0 regular season with a 36-3 thrashing of the Bay County squad at Tommy Oliver Stadium on Thursday night.
Walton’s Cody Phillips returned the opening kickoff 70 yards to the Bay 15-yard line, setting up Thomas Brack’s 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
Walton’s defense tallied the next score as Dillon Kelly tackled Tariq Morgan in his own endzone after the Tornadoes were only able to return the kickoff to their 5-yard line.
The Braves’ offense went back to work after the free kick as they drove inside the Tornadoes 10-yard line before having to settle for another 25-yard field goal by Brack for an 8-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
Bay got their offense going on their next possession as the Tornadoes moved 73 yards in 15 plays but had to settle for a 20-yard field goal from Tanner Reese to trim the lead to 8-3 with 1:17 left in the opening frame.
Bay would never get any closer as the Braves passing attack, led by senior quarterback Jace Fielder, took over. Walton needed less than 90 seconds to respond with their first touchdown of the night as Fielder hit Alfonza Glenn with a 9-yard scoring strike for a 15-3 lead. Walton would score on their next two possession as Azende Rey grabbed a perfectly thrown ball for a 41-yard score, then ran in from four yards out with 65 seconds left in the first half for a 29-3 lead at intermission in front of a shell-shocked group of Bay High fans.
The Tornadoes got the ball first to start the second half but any hope of a comeback disappeared on the Tornadoes’ first possession as sophomore Kieuntae Williams won a battle for the football with a Bay receiver on a sideline toss for an interception and raced 34 yards for a touchdown, scoring the Braves’ 14th defense or special teams touchdown of the 2015 regular season.
Holding a 36-3 lead, the rest of the game was played with a running clock, despite the Braves being two points shy of triggering the Mercy Rule officially.
Sophomore Juanyeh Thomas had a pair of receptions in the contest for 54 yards and collected his record-setting eighth interception of the regular season when he picked off a Justin Davis pass in the final 20 seconds of the first half on a deep throw.
Fielder finished the night 12-of-18 with 227 yards and two touchdowns as he hit seven different receivers to keep the Tornadoes defense from keying on any one person.
Rey ended the game with 51 rushing yards to go with 43 receiving yards as he earned some much needed rest time before the Braves’ showdown with Jacksonville Bolles in this week’s opening round playoff game against the Class 4A power. Azende ended the regular season with 1,243 rushing yards to go with 406 receiving yards for 1,649 total yards. Rey also leads the team in scoring with 22 touchdowns, good for 132 points.
The Braves defense held the Tornadoes to 166 total yards with senior running back Raekwon Webb limited to 102 yards on 26 carries. Bay crossed into Walton territory only twice on the night with the Braves forcing two turnovers while also recording their second safety of the season.
The Braves 10-0 season marks the first time Walton has won all 10 regular season games on their schedule in the 95-year history of the program. Walton was 9-0-1 in 1986 before beating Jefferson County in the opening round of the playoffs to move to 10-0-1 overall. That Braves’ squad then lost a heartbreaker to Bolles 10-9 the next week to be denied a chance to host the state championship game in 1986.
Walton last met Bolles in 2002 in a playoff game in Jacksonville with the Bulldogs posting a 41-0 win over the Frank Sorrells-led team.
Walton(10-0) will host Bolles(8-2) for the second time in school history on Friday night with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. at Everette Yates Memorial Stadium.
The Walton Braves dominated the Bay High Tornadoes from start to finish as the varsity football team capped off a 10-0 regular season with a 36-3 thrashing of the Bay County squad at Tommy Oliver Stadium on Thursday night.
Walton’s Cody Phillips returned the opening kickoff 70 yards to the Bay 15-yard line, setting up Thomas Brack’s 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
Walton’s defense tallied the next score as Dillon Kelly tackled Tariq Morgan in his own endzone after the Tornadoes were only able to return the kickoff to their 5-yard line.
The Braves’ offense went back to work after the free kick as they drove inside the Tornadoes 10-yard line before having to settle for another 25-yard field goal by Brack for an 8-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
Bay got their offense going on their next possession as the Tornadoes moved 73 yards in 15 plays but had to settle for a 20-yard field goal from Tanner Reese to trim the lead to 8-3 with 1:17 left in the opening frame.
Bay would never get any closer as the Braves passing attack, led by senior quarterback Jace Fielder, took over. Walton needed less than 90 seconds to respond with their first touchdown of the night as Fielder hit Alfonza Glenn with a 9-yard scoring strike for a 15-3 lead. Walton would score on their next two possession as Azende Rey grabbed a perfectly thrown ball for a 41-yard score, then ran in from four yards out with 65 seconds left in the first half for a 29-3 lead at intermission in front of a shell-shocked group of Bay High fans.
The Tornadoes got the ball first to start the second half but any hope of a comeback disappeared on the Tornadoes’ first possession as sophomore Kieuntae Williams won a battle for the football with a Bay receiver on a sideline toss for an interception and raced 34 yards for a touchdown, scoring the Braves’ 14th defense or special teams touchdown of the 2015 regular season.
Holding a 36-3 lead, the rest of the game was played with a running clock, despite the Braves being two points shy of triggering the Mercy Rule officially.
Sophomore Juanyeh Thomas had a pair of receptions in the contest for 54 yards and collected his record-setting eighth interception of the regular season when he picked off a Justin Davis pass in the final 20 seconds of the first half on a deep throw.
Fielder finished the night 12-of-18 with 227 yards and two touchdowns as he hit seven different receivers to keep the Tornadoes defense from keying on any one person.
Rey ended the game with 51 rushing yards to go with 43 receiving yards as he earned some much needed rest time before the Braves’ showdown with Jacksonville Bolles in this week’s opening round playoff game against the Class 4A power. Azende ended the regular season with 1,243 rushing yards to go with 406 receiving yards for 1,649 total yards. Rey also leads the team in scoring with 22 touchdowns, good for 132 points.
The Braves defense held the Tornadoes to 166 total yards with senior running back Raekwon Webb limited to 102 yards on 26 carries. Bay crossed into Walton territory only twice on the night with the Braves forcing two turnovers while also recording their second safety of the season.
The Braves 10-0 season marks the first time Walton has won all 10 regular season games on their schedule in the 95-year history of the program. Walton was 9-0-1 in 1986 before beating Jefferson County in the opening round of the playoffs to move to 10-0-1 overall. That Braves’ squad then lost a heartbreaker to Bolles 10-9 the next week to be denied a chance to host the state championship game in 1986.
Walton last met Bolles in 2002 in a playoff game in Jacksonville with the Bulldogs posting a 41-0 win over the Frank Sorrells-led team.
Walton(10-0) will host Bolles(8-2) for the second time in school history on Friday night with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. at Everette Yates Memorial Stadium.