Walton reacts to loss of teammate

By ADAM PRUIETT

adamp@nwfdailynews.com

About a week ago, Deron Hogans had a conversation with Logan Alford, his teammate and one of his best friends, about what they were doing this summer and how much they were looking forward to the Walton High football season.

Around 9 a.m. Monday, a friend called Hogans to tell him Logan, a 17-year-old rising senior, and brother Lucas Alford, 21, never came home after a fishing trip Sunday in Choctawhatchee Bay.

"I just dropped the phone," Hogans said. "I thought it couldn't be true. I didn't know what to do."

Logan's body was found at about 1 p.m. Monday, said Lt. Mark Hollinhead, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Lucas' body was found later in the evening.

Word spread quickly about Logan among members of the Walton football team. Hogans called Tarrell Bramlet, the team's quarterback, to verify what he'd heard. Bramlet, who had already heard the news from his mother, was just as rattled.

"I kind of looked at (my mom) like, ‘Nah, it's got to be somebody else.' I was just shocked," Bramlet said.

Teammates and coaches remembered Logan as an ever-improving player who was well-liked on and off the field.

"One of the best ways to describe Logan was he was friends with everybody on the team. He was popular not just with the team, but around the school," Walton coach Lenny Jankowski said. "There's not anything easy about it."

Bramlet said Logan could always be counted on to tell a joke. Hogans fondly recalled the day at his house when Logan chased down a rabbit in cowboy boots, the perfect example that he was a country boy through and through.

"That's a moment I'll never forget in my life," Hogans said.

About 10 of Logan's friends and teammates gathered at Hogans' house on Monday to share stories. Bramlet said tears were shed and, once the team reconvenes to begin preparing for the season, there will be plenty of heavy hearts.

"That first practice most likely will be rocky," Bramlet said. "We've got to come together. We know Logan's going to be with us still."

Logan played linebacker and on the offensive line last season for Walton. He was eyeing offensive line and defensive end duties this year.

"He was a role player and when we needed him, he did good for us," teammate Larel Jackson said.

Lucas was an All-Area linebacker for Walton in 2003 and was coached by Frank Sorrells. Hogans called Lucas a "high-end linebacker" and Sorrells witnessed his play-making ability first-hand.

"He's a very hard-nosed, tough, physical kid," Sorrells said. "His senior year, he dedicated himself and became a great player. He came a long way as a student and a player."

Logan was following the same path.

"It's not something you get over in a day or a season," Jankowski of Logan's death. "It's something that won't be forgotten about."