The upset was not meant to be for South Walton. In the week leading up to South Walton’s Region 1-4A semifinal trip against Bolles, Phil Tisa called it a David vs. Goliath matchup. It turns out Bolles was dubbed Goliath for a reason, the top-seeded Bulldogs (9-1 overall) rolling at home to a 62-6 victory over the fifth-seeded Seahawks (6-5) Friday night. In fact, Bolles secured the eventual running clock just 10 minutes into the contest by jumping out to a 35-0 lead. “That start definitely boosted our confidence for the rest of the game,” Quarterback Ben Netting, who was 7 for 7 on the day for 208 yards and three touchdowns, told the Florida Times-Union. “We were on fire coming out and being able to score 35 points in the first quarter was awesome. Not playing for a whole week definitely had us hyped up for this one.” The assault on the scoreboard started with an onside kick recovery that led to a Netting 21-yard touchdown run, followed by a recovery on a pooch kickoff and South Walton fumble led to another pair of touchdowns. Kade Frew had three rushing touchdowns in the first quarter and Netting also connected with Davis Ellis for a 63-yard score. “We had seen them do the onside kick in the film we had of them,” Tisa said. “They executed it and we didn’t. When you’re playing a football team as solid as they are, you give them a head start, it’s going to hurt. “We don’t get to play in places like this very often. I think it’s the whole atmosphere, you’re kind of starry-eyed. We played a little better later on but once you put yourself in a hole against talent like that, it’s going to be hard to recover.” It was South Walton’s second straight exit in the region semifinals, the furthest the team has ever advanced in the playoffs. Meanwhile Bolles entered the contest leading Florida in state championships (11) and playoff-qualifying appearances (38) and second to only St. Thomas Aquinas in consecutive playoff appearances (26), playoff games played and playoff games won.