Perhaps Walton and Lowndes should get together more often. The first meeting in history of two of the state’s most consistent and successful programs was one for the books.
Walton survived a furious Viking comeback – 14 points in the game’s final two minutes – and hung on for a 34-28 win in overtime, in the fourth of five Corky Kell Classic games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Saturday.
Raider head coach Daniel Brunner said the game came down to one word for his team.
“Gutts,” he said. “Lowndes is a great team over there, but our guys played their hearts out. We had guys going down with cramps but we kept that next-man-up mentality. It was a total team effort. Selfless football.”
Walton appeared to have put the game away with 1:50 left in regulation when senior quarterback Zak Rozsman kept the ball on a zone read, went off tackle to his right and then sprinted down the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown run to give the Raiders a 28-14 lead.
But Lowndes and AJC Super 11 senior quarterback Jacurri Brown didn’t give in. Brown’s passing and running led the Vikings down the field and a 12-yard touchdown pass to senior Chase Belcher cut the lead to 28-21 with :13 seconds left, after Franklin Aguilar’s extra point kick.
Senior Khris Thomas recovered Aguilar’s onside kick and on the next play hauled in a long pass from Brown down to the Walton 3-yard line. An illegal formation penalty on the next play moved the ball back to the 8-yard line, but that didn’t phase Brown and the Vikings. The Miami commit rolled to his right, stayed patient and then hit Belcher with a strike in the endzone along the far sideline. Belcher tapped his toes in bounds and the Vikings had improbably tied the game at 28.
Lowndes took the ball first in overtime, but Walton’s defense stepped up. On third-and-eight from the 13-yard line, Raider senior safety Cade Thompson knocked away a pass intended for Thomas in the endzone to force fourth down. Aguilar missed a 30-yard field goal attempt, and Walton took possession.
On the Raiders’ fourth play from scrimmage, senior running back/defensive back Sutton Smith powered in from three yards out to give Walton the win.
“We talked about how you have to handle the peaks and valleys of a game,” Brunner said. “You can’t get too high and you can’t get to low when things don’t go your way. These guys did a helluva job doing that.”
Early on it looked like Walton may run away when the Raiders scored two touchdowns in two minutes early in the first quarter. First, senior running back/defensive back Sutton Smith capped a six-play, 51-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown run. Then on the first play of Walton’s next possession, Rozsman hit senior Mustafa Hefner with a 62-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders a 14-0 lead midway through the period.
But Brown got going in the second quarter, mostly on the ground. The Miami commit, found running room on designed runs and on drop back passes, including a 22-yard scramble down to the Walton 4-yard line midway through the period. He bulled his way into the endzone on the next play to trim the Raider lead to 14-7, and the score remained that way at halftime. By then Brown had 117 yards rushing on 17 carries.
The Vikings’ ground game kept that momentum on the first drive of the third quarter, as Belcher and sophomore Jacarre Flemming ripped off solid runs along with Brown. Lowndes cashed in when on third-and-goal from the Walton 8-yard line Brown hit Belcher with a dart on a quick slant in the back of the endzone to tie the score at 14, with 4:50 left in the third quarter.
Walton 14 0 0 14 6 34
Lowndes 0 7 7 14 0 28
W – Sutton Smith 26 run (Lucien Michelin kick)
W – Mustafa Hefner 62 pass from Zak Rozsman (Michelin kick)
L – Jacurri Brown 4 run (Franklin Aguilar kick)
L -- Chase Belcher 8 pass from Brown (Aguilar kick)
W – Smith 23 pass from Rozsman (Michelin kick)
W – Rozsman 31 run (Michelin kick)
L – Belcher 12 pass from Brown (Aguilar kick)
L – Belcher 8 pass from Brown (Aguilar kick)
W – Sutton 2 run
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