South Walton Seahawks open up playoff at home versus the Baldwin Indians
SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. (BVM) — The South Walton Seahawks opened up playoff action in the “Hawks Nest” this past Friday night after having a first-round bye in the playoffs.
The Seahawks finished the regular season on Nov. 5 beating LightHouse Christian Academy 41-6 to improve to 9-1 on the season, locking up first place in a tough 4A Region 1.
While the Seahawks were given the week off to recover, their opponent had to host a tough fight with the Marianna Bulldogs. The Bulldogs had a slim one point lead on the Indians most of the night, till a costly pick six in the fourth quarter put the Indians up for the first time in the game 21-14. After that, it was the Indians game the rest of the evening as the Bulldogs gave up another costly turnover to the Indians’ defense, as they went on to beat the Bulldogs 28-14.
The last time the Seahawks played the Marianna Bulldogs on October 1 it was an action packed 35-28 road victory for the Seahawks, giving the Bulldogs their only loss at home out of the six they had this season.
Heading into the matchup the Seahawks are 5-0 at home and on a seven game win-streak with their lone loss of the season coming from Caleb Wagner and the defending 1A state champions Baker Gators. The Indians are 7-3 this season with them being 3-2 on the road.
The Seahawks this season, before this matchup, have scored a total of 422 points and are averaging 42.2 points a game. The offense is led by senior Kemper Hodges who has racked up 2,597 passing yards in the regular season with 29 touchdowns. He has also been able to do it on the ground as well scoring another 24 touchdowns with 903 yards. He has been able to have some help this season from senior and University of South Florida commit Cade Roberts.
Roberts in the last game the Seahawks played broke the state record for all–time receptions with 73, totaling 982 yards and 10 touchdowns. On the other side of him is junior wide receiver and University of Georgia commit Pearce Spurlin III. He has not only had an outstanding season helping South Walton make it to the regional semifinals against Baldwin. Spurlin III has brought in 16 of Hodges 29 passing touchdowns and 1,169 of Hodges 2,597 passing yards.
The Hawks Nest was loud early with students, alumni, and a vast amount of the community in attendance for the 7 p.m. playoff kickoff. Once kickoff happened, the fans in attendance got one action packed night.
The first half started with Baldwin winning the toss and selecting to defer to the second half. Both the Seahawks and the Indians punted on their first possession of the game. The second drive kicked off with a trick pass, with Spurlin tossing the football for 40-plus yards. Spurlin also ended the drive with a 12–yard touchdown reception from Hodges.
The Indians countered with a touchdown of their own on the next possession to tie up the game. The remainder of the first half was a battle that ended up with Hodges having three turnovers, but the Seahawks went into the half with a 14-7 lead because of a 35–yard scramble from Hodges.
“They are a good defensive team, you know, they have shown that over the years giving up less than 20 points a game,” head coach Phil Tisa said of the Seahawks’ slow start.
The Indians are a great defensive team, only allowing 21.6 points a game this season. They were no match however for the high powered Seahawks’ offense once they got settled in. South Walton put up their season average of 42 points a game.
It’s not the Indians defense that needs to be discussed from this game, it’s the Seahawks. A defense that allowed 427 points during the 2020-21 season, compared to 237 points this campaign. The Seahawks came up with multiple big fourth down stops and three turnovers to help Kemper Hodges and his offense do what they do.
“I think that is the biggest part is what the defense did,” Tisa said of his defense. “We wouldn’t have been able to do that last year. This group has grown over the course of the year and I couldn’t be prouder.”
The Seahawks will be hosting the 7-2 Bolles Bulldogs in the Hawks Nest next Friday on Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. The Bolles Bulldogs beat Gadsden county 27-6 to face the Seahawks for the regional final.
“When you don’t have to go to their place, that is going to be big,” Tisa said. “We got to pack the Hawks Nest. It is the goal of every high school football team is to ruin Thanksgiving.”
