On the night of Nov. 16, J.M. Allen was a matchup nightmare. 12 receptions. 200 receiving yards. Three touchdowns. This was playoff football, the Region 1-4A semifinals the backdrop. This was a statement from the 6-foot-2 South Walton receiver, who was the best player on the field in a 35-20 loss to West Nassau. Not only was an exclamation point on a season where Allen posted a school-record 75 receptions for 952 yards and eight touchdowns, it capped a three-game stretch where he eclipsed the 100-yard mark and put up 422 yards. Yet, as Allen will tell you, that was just a taste of what’s to come. “We’re about to put on a show,” Allen said of the 2019 Seahawks. At first glance, it’d be easy to dismiss Allen as a product of South Walton’s pass-centric offense. After all, the Seahawks produced 3,061 yards through the air and 794 yards on the ground last year (80-20 split) and had 400 pass attempts to just 218 rushes (65-35 split). Yet the 18-year-old possesses all the tangibles you’d want from a No. 1 wideout: height, speed, crisp route running, Venus flytrap hands. And, most importantly, chemistry with his main man: QB No. 1 Drake Roberts. “We’ve been playing together since seventh grade, so he knows where I’m gonna be before I’m there,” Allen said. “Like before I can even get my head around to look back, it’s right there for me. I don’t even have to adjust. “A lot of the times before the snap, he’ll look over at me and I’ll look at the defense and motion to him a different route. He can improvise well. That’s our biggest strength between us.” The improvising leads to extending plays. “The longer he can make a play last, I’ll find a way to get open,” Allen said. Q&A Who’s your favorite Marvel character and why? My favorite is Thor because the movies are great. He’s a strong guy. Funny. Pretty laid back. If you could have one super power, what would it be? To Fly. I want to see everything and that’s my favorite form of transportation. What’s your favorite football movie? “Facing the Giants.” Watched it with my dad when I was younger and it kind of got me into football. If you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring three items with you, what’d they be? This is cliché, but I’d bring a football, my “Wilson.” I’d bring a dog, probably a golden retriever. And I’d bring my guitar – I like John Mayer. Let’s talk team goals. What are the team’s strengths, weaknesses? Strengths? We have a lot of skill position players and we can throw the ball well. The offensive line is one of our weakness because we’re not very big right now. But we’ve been working all offseason to get there, so we’re hoping our run game takes off. It’s been 24 years since an area team (FWB in 1995) won it all. Is this the year, whether it be y’all or another team, break that drought? I definitely think so because with us anything can happen when the playoffs start. I 100% think we can win regions and go from there. We’re also underdogs because no one’s expecting anything from us and we have a high flying offense that’ll surprise a bunch of people. Why do you think has that drought has lasted so long? The talent down south is really big, and that’s a bit of a problem for us because it’s so stacked, so concentrated with certain programs down there. Let’s talk individual goals. What are you gunning for this year? I want to break my season receptions record (75) with 80 to 85. Who’s the most talented player on your team aside from yourself? Drake. If you could play with any NFL player, who would it be and why? I’d probably want to play with and learn from Adam Thielen for the Vikings because he runs his routes so precisely and always finds a way to get open. Can you explain the new RPI playoff system? I don’t even know. It’s not our job to figure out all that. I have no clue. (It’s 35% your record, 35% opponent’s record and 30% opponents’ opponents’ record)