Varsity Football Annihilates Apalachee High School in Historic Blowout

photo courtesy of Magic Moment Photography

Friday, September 18th, Walnut Grove Varsity Football hosted Apalachee High School and delivered an unexpected beating. WGHS Varsity Football continues to show they are not to be underestimated and came to win.
by Harrison Smith, Semaj Chestnut, and Jake Weitzman

On Friday, September 18, Walnut Grove varsity football hosted Apalachee High School and delivered an unexpected beating. WGHS varsity football continues to show they are not to be underestimated and came to win.

Sawyer Hughes, a junior, plays outside linebacker and long snapper for the Walnut Grove Warriors. Sawyer has been playing football since middle school and has been on varsity since his freshman year. The team had a lot of momentum from its back-to-back victories against Alcovy and Rabun. Many players had different motivations, such as reputation, college offers, and proving themselves, but Sawyer's motivation came from his tenacious attitude and not wanting to end the winning streak. “The motivation is that we gotta eat, we gotta do the same thing, we gotta replicate it, and be confident in all areas of the team.” Along with the motivation of continuing to win, Sawyer was also motivated by the homecoming celebrations and the team's brotherhood. “Homecoming was definitely a big factor, but I feel like when we all walked out there, we had an ‘I got your back, and you got my back’ type of mentality, and it helped us all realize to pick up our slack and dominate on both sides of the ball.”

The team has had many notable moments, but Sawyer has his opinion on what the best highlights were. “Biggest highlight on offense would probably be one of the rushing touchdowns from Nico, and when Ty ran with like five dudes over and won it for a touchdown. That was definitely big when he showed grit through a play. Defense would be when Zy got that big tackle for loss on No. 3, because that boosted our confidence because we made a game plan around him.”

With all of this winning, it's easy to gain confidence in the team, but it's equally as easy to feel a little bit of pressure at the same time, and Sawyer is aware of this. “It does give us the confidence that we’re not bad after that first loss, but it still gives us pressure to do what we’re supposed to do, and that we need to get the job done. Don’t be content with what we did in the first game; we gotta start it up next week and get back to work.”

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​Ethan, a junior, also understands the pressure on the team, but for a completely different reason. He explains, “We definitely want to have a winning season this year and don’t want to stop, especially since last year and previous years, we won at the beginning and then, at the midpoint of the season, we lose it all.” He adds that after the loss, the coaches can see the team is capable of bouncing back: “We wanted to show the coaches that we can flip the switch and go when we have to.” Ethan demonstrated his effort to prove he is one of those who changed for the better with his six-yard touchdown pass during the game, following Apalachee’s 80-yard touchdown, getting the Warriors' lead back and making the score 13-6.

Walnut Grove High School continues to surprise its opponents, whether it is an upset against a team it was projected to lose to, like Rabun, or an absolute blowout against Apalachee. The WGHS students, staff, and fanbase continue to grow more confident in the team, and school spirit has been higher than ever. Walnut Grove will travel to Loganville High School to play its cross-county rivals and take home another victory!

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