South Walton looking for first district win

Both South Walton and Vernon are winless in the district, but one thing is for sure — it won’t be that way for long.
The South Walton Seahawks (4-1) travel to Vernon (2-2) this Friday for a 7 p.m. game.
“This is a big game for us,” said South Walton Coach David Barron.
“It would really put us behind the 8-ball if we lose,” Barron said noting it would put them at 0-2 in district play. South Walton lost to district opponent Baker two weeks ago by a 2-point margin.
Area teams that make up Class 2B District 1 are South Walton, Baker, Northview, Vernon, Holmes County and Northside Christian.
As for Vernon, “They play a Baker spread offense,” Barron said. “So we’ve got to cover the pass and they can burn you with the run. They’re very shifty and quick.”
Nevertheless, Barron said he thinks Vernon’s defense is outshining their offense right now.
And that’s almost true of the South Walton defense, which came close to posting a shutout against Cottondale this past Friday.
South Walton buried the Cottondale Hornets 38-6 for a homecoming victory.
“The defense rose up like we knew they could,” Barron said. “They made tremendous improvement. I’m proud of the defense.”
South Walton’s defense gave up 200 yards on the ground, but 161 of that was in the first half.
“Our defense came around and shut them down in the second half,” Barron said.
Quinston Morris had two quarterback sacks for the Seahawks, while Mason Gonzales and Spencer “CSI” Martin each had one.
As for the offense, Barron had challenged them to score in every quarter.
The Seahawks met the challenge with 263 yards of total offense, and it all started just seconds after the opening kickoff.
South Walton kicked off to Cottondale and forced the ball loose on the first play from scrimmage. Bryant Adams came up with the ball on the Hornets’ 23-yard line and two plays later, David Bazylak scrambled into the end zone on an 18-yard run.
The Seahawks struck again on a 17-yard run by Bryant Adams late in the first quarter for a 13-0 game.
Cottondale scored its only TD of the game midway through the second quarter on a 12-yard run by Jacob Herring. The 2-point attempt failed.
South Walton hit pay-dirt once more before the half on a 6-yard run by Cody Adams. Bazylak ran the ball up the middle for the 2-point conversion and the Seahawks led 21-6 at the break.
In the third, South Walton scored twice with Cody Adams breaking loose for a 13-yard touchdown run and Bryant Adams barreled through on a 2-yard score.
The last Seahawk score was a 36-yard field goal by Bazylak.
For the game, Bryant Adams rushed for 119 yards, two touchdowns and recovered a fumble.
“It feels good to bounce back after losing to Baker (by 2 points) last week,” Adams said as he walked off the field Friday night.
But as Seahawk receiver Hunter Infinger put it, “We can scratch another one off the list.”
With the win the Seahawks up their record to 4-1.