South Walton ready for Kickoff Classic (with VIDEO, PHOTOS)

By TRAVIS DOWNEY

travisd@nwfdailynews.com

SANTA ROSA BEACH - Monday brought with it the long-awaited arrival of game week on the South Walton campus.

Unfortunately, Monday also witnessed the arrival of heavy rains that forced the Seahawks to cancel their regularly scheduled practice.

Not exactly the way South Walton coach David Barron had envisioned kicking off his fourth year with the Seahawks.

"People don't understand what it's like to have to go out in a snorkel and fins to practice football," Barron said. "I didn't have enough scuba gear to send them out Monday."

As a result, the Barron said his team is admittedly "behind schedule" as it prepares for Friday night's Kickoff Classic at West Gadsden.

Once the Seahawks returned to the practice fields on Tuesday, Barron noted a stark difference in his team's body language.

"Things picked up," Barron said. "We've started preparing for somebody else, that's added a little life to the party."

Coming off last season's 3-7 campaign, the Seahawks - still in search of the program's first winning season - will arrive on the Panthers' home field looking to break in a new defense under coordinator Phil Tisa.

And while several experienced players return, the Seahawks are ripe in the middle, where linebackers Bryant Adams and Keith Stewart are learning new positions.

"We're going to have a test because we're going to have two rookie linebackers," Barron said. "That's the one position in our package that has a steep learning curve."

The learning begins in earnest Friday, when the Seahawks will face a West Gadsden offense that figures to run.

"We know they're fast and they're going to run a lot of option," Barron said.

With their season opener against Franklin County one week away, Barron is hoping to use Friday night's precursor to gauge just how far his team has come since spring.

So far, he has liked what he's seen.

"We're encouraged," Barron said. "I'm hoping to see us go out and execute what our coaches have installed so far.

"I want to see an offense execute without turnovers and defensively, I want to see 11 people get to the football as fast as they can get to it."

PHOTOS: Click to view more photos