Courtesy of Walter Pinion

Tyren Jones came to Walton from Lassiter looking to carry the ball a bit more. The Walton coaching staff has obliged. Against Dacula in the GPB Game of the Week, the Raiders pounded Jones for 137 yards to move to 13-0 for the first time in school history. Walton advanced to the semifinals with a 21-13 victory to face Jones’ former squad, the Lassiter Trojans.

Jones would give Walton an early lead thanks to a long punt return for a score and a 43-yard touchdown scamper. Dacula would draw close at intermission with a touchdown recovery on a bad punt snap by Walton and a field goal.

Jones didn’t do it all himself though as Zack Blaylock contributed with a 95-yard, game-icing touchdown with 9:38 to play in the fourth to stretch Walton’s four-point lead to 21-10. Parker McLeod fired a deep pass down the sidelines before Blaylock out-maneuvered and outran the defender to the end zone. Blaylock also had a big fourth quarter as he intercepted a pass on the two-yard line and then intercepted a pass in the closing seconds to seal the Walton win.

Dacula’s kicker and Walton penalties kept the Falcons in the game. Davian McEwen had a pair of field goals (26, 42) and Walton was penalized 17 times, but it would not be enough to knock off the Raiders. Now Walton will welcome in Lassiter, a team the Raiders beat earlier this season on GPB TV 34-10. Walton and Lassiter are in the same region as the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. The matchup guarantees a Cobb County school will play for the title in the Georgia Dome.