Just when Woodstock tried to make it game, No. 10 Walton found its rhythm. It was all over then.
The Raiders' trio of stars--quarterback Addison Shoup, running back KK Brooks and tight end Sam Letton--shined on homecoming, leading Walton to a 49-21 victory over visiting Woodstock on Friday.
Shoup completed 23 of 31 passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns. The junior also rushed for a score. Brooks rushed for 153 yards and three scores and also caught a touchdown, and Letton caught two touchdowns for the Raiders (7-1, 5-1 Region 5-AAAAAA), who have responded to their only loss of the season, a 48-14 defeat at No. 3 Roswell, with two convincing wins.
Walton jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, before Woodstock's Jerrail McMickens broke off a 78-yard touchdown run to cut the Wolverines' deficit to seven with three minutes left in the half.
It looked looked Woodstock was going to get back into the game, but Walton answered right back, with Brooks catching a short dump off pass from Shoup and racing through the Woodstock defense for a 56-yard touchdown.
"He's highly underrated," Dixon said of Brooks, who is committed to Penn. "Some of the bigger schools, they talk about his quote 'top-end speed,' but take the Roswell game, he broke two long ones that there were definitely great athletes chasing him."
The Raiders forced the a three-and-out on Woodstock's next possession and tacked on another touchdown right before halftime. Shoup led a 57-yard drive in just three plays and found Letton on a corner rout to put Walton head comfortably 28-7 at halftime.
"We got to move," Walton coach Mo Dixon said. "We're not like a 90-mile-an-hour offense, but we've got to keep things moving, keep things shaking. When we do that, we're pretty good."
Walton racked up 507 yards of offense.
Woodstock quarterback Liam Byrne completed 29 of 39 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns. McMickens finished with 107 yards and a touchdown, and Ethan Chamberlin caught nine passes for 73 yards with a touchdown for the Wolverines.
With games left against Cherokee and Milton, Walton appears poised to earn the No. 2 seed out the region in the AAAAAA playoffs.
Defensive back Jack Hoskyn's interception and return to Woodstock 19-yard line set up the Raiders' second score. Shoup hooked up with Bryce Washington on a 18-yard completion and then scored on a 1-yard snkea to put Walton up 14-0.
Woodstock running back Jerrail McMickens broke off a 78-yard touchdown run to cut the Walton lead to 14-7 with 3:23 left in the first Addison Shoup, half.
Woodstock (4-4, 2-4) needs two win out to have a shot at the postseason. That won't be easy: The Wolverines host unbeaten and third-ranked Roswell next week.
WOODSTOCK -- 0 7 7 7 -- 21
WALTON -- 0 28 14 7 - 49
2nd
WA -- K.K. Brooks 16 run (Nicholas Jones-Orrell kick)
WA -- Addison Shoup 1 run (Jones-Orrell kick)
WS -- Jerrail McMickens 78 run (kick good)
WA -- Brooks 56 pass from Shoup (Jones-Orrell kick)
WA -- Sam Letton 9 pass from Shoup (Jones-Orrell kick)
3rd
WA -- Brooks 4 run (Jones-Orrell kick
WA -- Letton 24 pass from Shoup (Jones-Orrell kick)
WS -- Ethan Chandler pass from Liam Byrne (kick good)
4th
WA -- Brooks 4 run (Johnny Randall kick)
WS -- No. 33 9 pass from Byrne (kick good)
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