Walton won against Etowah last Friday with 42 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. The Walton Raiders blew past the North Paulding Wolfpack 42-20. Given the Raiders' advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia football rankings (they are ranked 35th, while the Wolfpack are ranked 95th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Walton's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Kaeden Gilstrap, who rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries, and also threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns while completing 73.3% of his passes. Noriega Thompson was in the mix as well, providing Walton with two touchdowns.
Walton wouldn't let North Paulding keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Walton can thank Drake Luckie and Ethan Stannard for forcing both of them. Stannard also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 13. Walton got some further help from Hudson Beard: he made 14 total tackles and snagged an interception.
Walton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 233 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as North Paulding only rushed for 125.
Despite the loss, North Paulding still got an impressive performance from Dube Enongene, who picked up 236 receiving yards and a touchdown. Enongene has become a key player for North Paulding: the team is undefeated when he posts at least 80 receiving yards, but 1-4 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Tyler Niehr, who threw for 324 yards while picking up 11.2 yards per attempt.
The win (which was Walton's fourth in a row) raised their record to 7-3. As for North Paulding, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-4.
Walton does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for North Paulding, they will square off against Marietta at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
