High School

Wake Forest commit Jeremy Hecklinski propels Walton (Georgia) over East Paulding

QB's throws four touchdown passes as the nationally-ranked Raiders pull away from the previously unbeaten Wolfpack

Gary Adornato

Wake Forest commit Jeremy Hecklinski propels Walton (Georgia) over East Paulding
Wake Forest commit Jeremy Hecklinski propels Walton (Georgia) over East Paulding /

MARIETTA, GEORGIA – A pair of undefeated teams hooked up at Walton on Friday night, as North Paulding visited the nationally-ranked Raiders, ranked No. 23 in the latest SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25. The Wolfpack put up a fight, but Walton quarterback Jeremy Hecklinski, a Wake Forest commit, threw for four touchdowns and rushed for one more to lead the Raiders to a 44-24 win.

Hecklinski passed for 341 yards in the contest and now stands just two yards shy of 7,000 for his career.

All four of Hecklinski’s touchdown passes came in the second half. He tossed a pair to Hunter Teal and one each to Cameron Lloyd and Jordan “Bam” Bride to finally shake free of the determined Wolfpack (5-1).

The teams traded blows in an exciting first half with Walton (5-0) jumping out to an 8-0 lead on a 12-yard touchdown run by Austin Williams and a Hecklinski two-point shovel pass to Makari Bodiford. North Paulding countered with a pair of sensational long touchdown passed from Tyler Niehr to Javarius George, but in between Walton’s Jake Thorner sacked Niehr in the end zone for a safety and Hecklinski scored on a QB sneak, as the Raiders led 17-14 at the break.

North Paulding got back within six late in the final minute of third quarter on a 36-yard field goal by Aiden Noble, but Hecklinski immediately found Lloyd on a crossing pattern and he raced free up the left sideline for a 61-yard score, with just nine seconds to play in the third, to give Walton a 30-17 lead.

In addition to the safety, the Walton defense came up with six interceptions in the game, including two by Bride.

-- Gary Adornato | gary@scorebooklive.com | @sblivega

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Gary Adornato
GARY ADORNATO

Gary Adornato began covering high school sports with the Baltimore Sun in 1982, while still a mass communications major at Towson University, and in 2003 became one of the first journalists to cover high school sports online while operating MIAASports.com, the official website of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association. Later, Adornato pioneered market-wide coverage of high school sports with DigitalSports.com, introducing video highlights and player interviews while assembling an award-winning editorial staff. In 2010, he launched VarsitySportsNetwork.com which became the premier source of high school media coverage in the state of Maryland. In 2022, he sold VSN to The Baltimore Banner and joined SBLive Sports as the company's East Coast Managing Editor.

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