South Walton’s playoff hopes briefly took a hit Friday night as Pensacola Catholic pulled away for a 31-14 win, despite a second-half push from the Seahawks that cut the deficit to 10.
South Walton got the ball to start, and senior quarterback J.D. Brown hit Roman Cartee for a first down. The Crusaders’ defense then forced a fourth-and-long, and the Seahawks went for it but could not convert, a stop that gave Pensacola Catholic a jolt of momentum.
The Crusaders drove down the field, and on third-and-goal, Jaylin Brown hit Donnelle Gulley for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
After a South Walton punt, Jaylin Brown connected with Gulley again, this time for a 60-yard field flipper. Two holding penalties on the Crusaders stalled the drive, and Pensacola Catholic settled for a field goal, which it converted to go up 10-0.
Defense dominated the rest of the second quarter until the Crusaders’ final drive of the half. Jaylin Brown found Gulley for another field-flipping gain, and Pensacola Catholic worked its way all the way to the goal line. The Seahawks’ defense forced another fourth down, but the Crusaders went for it, and Ethan Crandall took it into the end zone to put Pensacola Catholic up 17-0 heading into halftime.
South Walton found its momentum on the opening drive of the second half. With Pensacola Catholic in possession, Treiy Crenshaw forced a fumble by Nicholas McLendon, and Connor Rooney recovered. J.D. Brown then fired a strike to Carter Hawk, who took it in for a touchdown. Pensacola Catholic blocked the extra point, but the Seahawks had cut the lead to 17-6.
The Crusaders quickly took the momentum back. McLendon came through with a clutch third-down conversion, South Walton was called for pass interference on a third down, and Crandall ran in his second touchdown of the night.
Pensacola Catholic’s Tim Carroll Jr. intercepted J.D. Brown on the next drive, but the Crusaders fumbled the ball back, with Michael Wilson recovering for the Seahawks. South Walton then drove the field, and Rooney took it in out of the wildcat to make it 24-14.
Pensacola Catholic answered with a drive down the field of its own, capped by a McLendon touchdown, and the score held for a 31-14 Crusaders win.
South Walton’s postseason fate then rested on Saturday’s Mosley-Bay game. A win by the favored Dolphins would likely have kept the Seahawks ahead of Bay in Class 3A, District 1, but the Tornadoes edged Mosley 17-16 in overtime.
While that result would normally have hurt South Walton’s playoff position, the Seahawks now look poised to reach the postseason after Raines, projected No. 1 in Class 3A, Region 1, was bumped up to the Open Division on Sunday.
