Walton was trailing 21-0 when it got the ball at its 25-yard line after a North Cobb punt with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the first half of the teams’ Region 5-7A opener Friday night
On the next play, senior quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski threw a touchdown pass to Cameron Loyd, igniting a 28-point run that rallied the Raiders to a 35-27 victory at North Cobb’s Emory Sewell Stadium.
In a span of 7:02, Hecklinski threw four touchdown passes, three to Loyd covering 75, 73 and 30 yards, the last of which gave Walton the lead for good at 28-21 with 1:08 to play in the half.
Two of the touchdowns were set up by North Cobb fumbles, and another came after a 16-yard punt that gave the Raiders the ball at their own 45-yard line.
Third-ranked Walton (6-0, 1-0) established itself as the favorite to win the region title with the victory in this matchup of top-10 teams that was seen by many as the de facto region championship game. North Cobb beat Walton each of the past three seasons in games that ultimately decided the title.
“I’ve got a resilient bunch here,” Walton coach Daniel Brunner said. “We’ve been tested two weeks in a row, and they responded the right way. I had a coach ask me if I was nervous before the game, and I said, ‘Not really. We’re going to find out who we are.’ … I didn’t expect to go down 21-0, but the response that our kids displayed was absolutely excellent.”
No. 10-ranked North Cobb (3-3, 0-1) got back to within one point on its first possession of the third quarter, driving 43 yards on six plays to cut the lead to 28-27 on a 5-yard touchdown run by David Eziomume, but Walton held on to its one-point lead when North Cobb missed the extra-point attempt.
The Warriors had a chance to take the lead two possessions later, but a 30-yard field-goal attempt on the fourth play of the fourth quarter bounced off the left upright.
Austin Williams gave Walton a 35-27 lead on a 19-yard touchdown run with 1:47 remaining, and North Cobb’s last-gasp drive ended at the Walton 23 when an 8-yard pass on fourth down came up two yards short.
Hecklinski completed just nine of 27 passes but threw for 283 yards, 265 of which came in the first half.
“He had some plays that he probably would’ve liked to have had back, but he had some really good ones that were game-changers for us,” Brunner said. “I feel like if he’s on the field, we’ve got a chance to win.”
Loyd finished with 196 yards on four receptions, and Austin Williams rushed for 133 yards on 18 carries.
North Cobb punted on its first possession of the game but scored touchdowns on its next three, two of which came after Walton turned the ball over downs. Nick Grimstead threw touchdown passes of 10 and 51 yards to T.J. Smith, and Kaleb Narcisse threw a 26-yarder to Steele Ingram on an end-around pass to make it 21-0 with 11:53 remaining in the first half.
Grimstead, who appeared to be struggling with an injury in the fourth quarter, was 16-of-25 passing for 203 yards. Eziomume had 114 yards rushing on 22 carries, putting him over 1,000 yards for the season.
The teams combined for 611 yards of total offense in the first half. Walton had 353 of those despite being outgained 200-72 in the first quarter. For the game, Walton outgained North Cobb 397-389.
Walton - 0-28-0-7 - 35
North Cobb - 14-7-6-0 - 27
First quarter
N - T.J. Smith 10 pass from Nick Grimstead (Mustafa Mohamed kick), 5:48
N - Smith 51 pass from Grimstead (Mohamed kick), 1:57
Second quarter
N - Steele Ingram 26 pass from Kaleb Narcisse (Mohamed kick), 11:53
W - Cameron Loyd 75 pass from Jeremy Hecklinski (Sebastian Banai kick), 8:10
W - Loyd 73 pass from Hecklinski (Banai kick), 5:40
W - Jordan Bride 25 pass from Hecklinski (Banai kick), 3:36
W - Loyd 30 pass from Hecklinski (Banai kick), 1:08
Third quarter
N - Eziomume 5 run (kick failed), 9:34
Fourth quarter
W - Austin Williams 19 run (Banai kick), 1:47
About the Author
