BAINBRIDGE – A Walton team starting the season 0-2 seems almost unfathomable. Yet, the Warriors were staring that unlikely result in the face with 3:29 left in Friday’s game at Bainbridge-Guilford.
The Warriors, who suffered a last-minute defeat to Sidney the week before, completed a perfectly executed drive, and scored with 13.2 seconds remaining to edge the Bobcats, 30-26.
The Warriors moved 53 yards on 10 plays, and won the game on their only pass completion of the game. Sophomore Dalton Kaminsky fired a strike to Isaac Wacha, who was dragging across the endzone for the winning points.
“Dave Gardepe, who calls the plays for us, did a heck of a job,” said Walton head coach Jim Hooever. “He called that last play, and it worked. Our prime receiver on that play is actually out in the flat, and that guy (Wacha) is just an extra guy to clear out. Kaminsky did a great job seeing him, and he hit him.”
While the end result of the game was typical for Walton – who have won every matchup with B-G over the last 30 years – the formula for success was atypical.
Bainbridge-Guilford (1-1) launched itself to a 20-8 lead in the second quarter. Its ground game was especially effective up the middle with fullback Billy Holden, and senior tailback Dakota Vandermark was elusive and untouchable once he broke past the initial line of scrimmage.