The Walton High School Braves accomplished a feat that had never been done before in school history. They went undefeated in the regular season. They also won the first district championship in 17 years. Consider that most of the team had not been born the last time this had occurred. Unfortunately, poor play saw them exit the playoffs in round 1.
Coach Stephens realizes that in 3 years he has turned the culture and level of expectations around in the program. This year’s team is young and inexperienced with only 4 starters returning. He knows he and his staff will have to coach and develop young players quickly for the Braves to maintain their success from the prior year.
Replacing great players is difficult in high school, and the Braves saw a great player Azende Rey graduate and head to play for Florida A&M. His younger brother, Juanyeh Thomas, (8 interceptions, 5 for TD’s), decided at the end of the school year to transfer to Niceville High School. Walton High has other players who will step up and help carry the load. OLB Dre Matthews (62 tackles, 15.5 TFL) is back and ready to help the Braves to return to the playoffs.
Walton High School has one of the smallest enrollments of all 4A schools in the state of Florida. Currently they only have 32 players on the varsity roster. In spite of this, there is not one player on the roster that does not to expect to have a winning season this year.
Walton Braves
Written by Arnold Gamber
