Sneads fall to South Walton 35-0

The Sneads Pirates suffered a costly defeat Friday night in Santa Rosa Beach, falling to the South Walton Seahawks 35-0.

With the win, South Walton improved to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in District 1-1A.

Sneads fell to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in district play.

The Pirates fumbled on the opening kickoff to set up South Walton’s first score.

The Seahawks scored two more times in the second period to take a 21-0 halftime lead.

South Walton added two more scores in the second half to salt the game away.

Sneads coach Don Dowling said he would have liked to see his team play the game without the wet conditions, but the Seahawks were simply the better team Friday night.

“We got smoked,” the coach said. “The field was just a quagmire. On a dry night, maybe we make some cuts and we might still be running.

“But you can’t take anything away from South Walton. They had a heck of a gameplan.”

South Walton took advantage of a pair of fumbles on kick returns by the Pirates, mistakes Sneads could ill-afford on a night when it had trouble finishing drives all game.

“The two turnovers on kickoff return were real big,” Dowling said. “It was just one of those nights where nothing went right. We actually moved the ball, but just inside the 20s.

“We’d get a couple of first downs, then we’d have a holding penalty and be 1st-and-20. Most coaches don’t have a whole lot of plays in the playbook for those kind of downs.”

Defensively, the Pirates had difficulty containing the Seahawks all night.

Sneads was coming off its most impressive defensive performance of the season, a home shutout of the Vernon Yellowjackets.

However, the balanced Seahawks kept the Pirates’ defense on its heels all night.

“They completed a few passes here and there. We tried to stop the run, and they sneaked some (passes) past us,” Dowling said. “We had a bunch of missed tackles. It was just one of those nights.”

It was a discouraging loss for the Pirates, but Dowling said with trips to Northview and Bozeman coming up, the team had no time to let up.

“We still have some football left to play,” the coach said. “We’ve got three more weeks. We’ll have to listen to a lot of crap this week, so that will stink. You only play one game a week, so when you lose you have to live with it for seven days.

“But we can’t take any days off. We have to load up and go to Northview. Obviously, we’re still having trouble on the road.”

Sneads is now 0-3 on the road this season.

The Pirates will finish the season at home Nov. 13 against county foe Marianna.