Walton scored on its first five possessions of the game Friday night, quickly dashing any hopes of an upset by upstart Osborne, and coasted through a second half that was played with a running clock for a 35-0 victory in a Region 5-7A game at Walton’s Raider Valley.
Walton (9-0, 4-0) is the only remaining unbeaten team in the region and can claim its first region championship since 2017 with a victory over Wheeler next weekend in the regular-season finale. A win by Wheeler would create the possibility of a three-way tie for first place, which would include North Cobb, with the champ to be determined by the region’s tiebreakers.
Jeremy Hecklinski threw two long touchdown passes to Hunter Teal, sandwiched between two touchdown runs by Makari Bodiford, giving the Raiders a 28-0 lead with 8:52 remaining in the second quarter. Austin Williams added a 9-yard touchdown run about six minutes later for the final points of the night.
Hecklinski was 10-for-14 passing for 216 yards in the first half, during which the Raiders outgained Osborne 335-34. His 60-yard pass to Teal on the first play of Walton’s second possession made it a 14-0 game with 7:19 to play in the first quarter, and the two connected again for a 57-yard score with 1:19 remaining in the period for a 21-0 lead. Hecklinski finished with 242 passing yards.
Bodiford’s 1-yard touchdown run capped off Walton’s seven-play, 58-yard opening drive less than three minutes into the game, and he scored on a 22-yard run midway through the second quarter. Bodiford had 59 of his 62 yards rushing in the first half. Williams had all 54 of his rushing yards in the first half.
“It felt like we were playing a complete game in the first half,” Walton coach Daniel Brunner said. “We had one blemish on special teams, and I take responsibility for that, but we’ve got to do that for four quarters and not just two. So we’ve got to get back to work this week and try to get that fixed.”
Neither team had the ball more than twice in the second, which played in about 30 minutes because of the running clock.
The loss was the second straight for Osborne after a 7-0 start, but the Cardinals (2-2 in region play) have already clinched their first state playoff berth in school history. Barring an upset of North Cobb next weekend, Osborne will be the region’s No. 4 seed and play at defending state champion Mill Creek in the first round of the playoffs.
“We’re proud of what we’ve done,” Osborne coach Luqman Salam said. “We kinda got a little out of character in the first half that allowed the score to balloon on us. You can’t do that against a team this good. But it’s a learning moment for us, a new situation, a new experience. We’ll just get back to work and keep doing what we do.”
Osborne had the ball three times inside Walton territory but failed to convert those opportunities into points. The Cardinals’ best chance came late in the second quarter when they recovered a fumbled punt at the Walton 32. Two plays later, however, Marques Vincent was intercepted by Walton’s Ashton Woods to end the threat. Osborne missed a 42-yard field goal midway through the first quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the second half on its other chances.
Vincent, playing in place of injured starter Edward Burr, was 11-of-17 passing for 88 yards but was sacked five times for 30 yards in losses. Licori Humphrey was held to 19 yards rushing on nine carries.
Walton finished with a 370-77 advantage in total offense.
“That’s a good ball team,” Brunner said of Osborne. “They’ve done a heck of a job. I can’t compliment Coach Salam enough on what he’s done with that program. They’re doing a phenomenal job over there and they played all the way to the end of that game and fought us tooth and nail in the second half.”
Osborne - 0-0-0-0 - 0
Walton - 21-14-0-0 - 35
First quarter
W - Makari Bodiford 1 run (Sebastian Banai kick), 9:37
W - Hunter Teal 60 pass from Jeremy Hecklinski (Banai kick), 7:19
W - Teal 57 pass from Hecklinski (Banai kick), 1:19
Second quarter
W - Bodiford 22 run (Banai kick), 8:52
W - Austin Williams 9 run (Banai kick), 2:47
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