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Powder Puff 2021 Results

Congratulations to the sophomore Powder Puff Team who defeated the juniors and the seniors to become the 2021 Walton Powder Puff Champions. Thanks also to all the fans who came out to support their team. The sophomores and the seniors had a great showing from fans! It was a great night for the fans and the players.

Congratulations Sophomore Powder Puff Team Champions!

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Article By Arthur W.

The Powder Puff Football Tournament was an exciting event to watch and a fun twist on football.

There were three games, the championship, played by the winner of Seniors vs Freshman and Juniors vs Sophomores. The freshmen were green, sophomores played in orange, juniors were in blue, and senior wore pink. At the beginning of the event, the sun was starting to fade, and teams were warming up on the practice field. By game time, it was dark, and the giant lights turned on.

The first game of the night was Seniors vs Freshman, which turned out to be the closest match of the day. The seniors took the lead 6-0 early in the first half. The freshman fired back with a touchdown of their own and tied the game 6-6 going into the half. The senior’s playstyle in the first half was a heavy run offense mixed with deep passes. Both teams scored passing touchdowns in the first half. The freshman played heavily on the run game mixed with screen passes and medium passes.

In the second half, there were close opportunities to score, but no one capitalized until the 9-minute mark, where the seniors threw yet another passing touchdown, taking the lead 12-6. To tie the game, the freshman went for it on fourth down and converted, but there just wasn’t enough time on the clock to win. In the end, seniors won 12-6. Seniors were probably the favorite to win this matchup, and possibly the championship. We’ll have to wait and see.

In the midsection of PPF, the sophomores took on the juniors.

The sophomores started out with a 30-yard touchdown on their opening drive. Their defense held up, grabbing an interception on 4^th and 16. Keeping up the hot streak, they started their next drive with a 40-yard QB run. Later, the sophomores claim another interception, and this defensive crew is looking like the ’85 Chicago Bears. Starting the half off with another touchdown, the sophomores are dominating the scoreboard 12-0. The juniors didn’t back down, showing some grit on back-to-back 10-yard runs. They drive all the way down to the goal line but could not put points on the scoreboard. After a long run, the sophomores threw a 30-yard touchdown taking the lead 18-0. At the end of the game, the sophomores caught another interception, totaling three in this first game. Overall, the juniors failed to move the ball many times, and the sophomores totaled 3 interceptions in the first game.

Championship Game: Seniors vs Sophomores

Lock in your bets now, who do you think will win? The offensive-minded Senior team or the defensive-minded Sophomores.

After the National Anthem, the Seniors opened with a long drive including a fourth down conversion, but the sophomores pulled off another interception a returned it for over 40 yards. They then amassed 30 yards in two consecutive plays. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t turn their drive into points. Soon enough, the sophomores sacked the QB in the endzone for a SAFETY. That puts them up 2-0. After a few run plays, which has been the sophomores predominant force on offense, they threw an interception. With some time left on the clock, but there was not enough time to score. Analyzing the first half, the sophomores may only be winning slightly, they have outperformed every team they matched so far. The seniors put up the most offensive points in game one, but haven’t been able to reproduce that production in the championship. Beginning the half of with a stalemate, with neither team making much progress past midfield, the next big play was a pick 6 for the sophomores, increasing their odds of winning the championship. Getting the ball back, the seniors are running the ball while down big. With around 2:30 left, they lean on the pass game to put points on the board. On 4^th down, they punt the ball, and the rest is history.

Overall, the sophomores defense was too powerful for any team to score on. All games were entertaining to watch. I want to thank all the volunteers, players, coaches, and staff who made this event possible. See everyone at the 2022 PPF!

Magnet Distribution

Watch for your new 2021-22 Foundation car magnet to be distributed this week. Walton families that have donated $250 or more to the Foundation will receive a car magnet. Let’s proudly display them on our cars around town!

Judy McNeill’s Legacy

Judith McNeill served Walton High School for 30 years. Originally from Indiana, she began teaching in 1966. She joined Cobb County Schools in 1983 as a teacher at Osborne High. In ‘88, she came to Walton as a guidance counselor, working her way through the ranks to administrative assistant, assistant principal, associate principal and eventually principal, a role she held since 2008. Mrs McNeill was our principal for 10 years when she retired in 2018.

Mrs. McNeill accomplished many things at Walton including increasing the number of Advanced Placement Courses that Walton offers. When she came to the school in 1988, Walton offered three Advanced Placement courses for students. Now, it boasts more than 30. One of her greatest accomplishments is our new school building. Mrs. McNeill created a multifaceted plan with the help of her staff and the faculty to present to the Cobb County Board of Education to get the new facilities built. Originally the county just wanted to replace the theater and gyms at Walton. With McNeill’s guidance a plan was launched to prove Walton’s need for a completely new re-build. The new school building was opened in 2017 and the fine arts and athletic building opened in 2019.

Mrs. McNeill retired with 42 years in education. She is still a Raider at heart and can be spotted at Walton athletic events from time to time.

40 Parent Volunteers Needed by Oct 7th to Proceed with Homecoming Dance

Walton’s Student Leadership Council (SLC) is excited to announce that it will be hosting Walton’s Homecoming Dance on Saturday, October 16th from 7:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. The dance will be held outside under tents in the back of the school building. (It will be brought into the main gym if we have bad weather and refunds will be issued to any families who are uncomfortable with the dance being indoors.) The theme for the night is “Under the Stars.”

We need parent volunteers in order for this event to take place. To ensure the safety of our students, we need more parents than we have asked for in the past. We hope that ALL of our parents will want to jump in to help make this event happen for our students. Please see the sign up below. We need to have 40 parent volunteers registered to chaperone by October 7th or the event will be CANCELLED. Of course we will also have help from faculty, administration and local police that night. We are anticipating a large number of attendees since this will be our first dance in two years so please help us make this a fantastic night for your students.

Parent Volunteer Signup

Walton Students Remember Those Lost on 9/11

The Student Leadership Council (SLC) and the Student Government Association (SGA) installed 2977 American flags around campus to remember every person who was lost in the September 11, 2001 attack on America. This week marks 20 years since that terrible tragedy. Even though these students were born after the attack, they understand the deep loss our country suffered that fateful day.