Roswell vs. Walton – Pre-game 

For the first spring football game, the Roswell Hornets will be facing the Walton Raiders Friday, May 13th in their very own Ray Manus Stadium. Last season the Hornets went 10-3 and made it to the third round of 7A playoffs, coming second in region 5. The Raiders went 9-4 and made it to the fourth round of 7A playoffs, coming third in region 3. Although, this game does not affect the record of the Hornets or the Raiders.

I asked some of the star players about how they felt about this game. I spoke with Andrew Stargel (9), Anthonie Knapp (10), KJ Smith (10), and Jayven Hall (11) and here is what they said. 

Knapp says that spring football “is like a wake up for the whole team because it’s the first time we are back together since December.”  

Knapp is a left tackle, number 55, who has been playing for 6 years and he will be a junior next year. He has been playing varsity football since his freshman year. 

Stargel says he is excited to be “able to get back out there after an off season that felt like forever” 

Stargel is a right tackle, number 63, who has been playing football for 6 years as well. He started as the only freshmen on varsity in the 21-22 season. 

Smith says that “playing Walton in the spring is a big test and one of our biggest rivals.” 

Smith is a quarterback, number 4, and has been playing football since he was six. Smith is about to enter his third year of playing varsity football for Roswell. 

Hall says, “with it being a spring game we are more focused on being the best version of ourselves.” 

Hall is a linebacker/running back, who wears the number 22, and he has played football since he was 5. Hall has been playing varsity for two out of the three years he has played Roswell Football.  

The Hornets will have 9 practices leading up to this scrimmage. The practices take place every Monday & Tuesday and Thursday & Friday from April 28th to May 12th. 

All the boys talked about how different this game would be without QB Robbie Roper. This is guaranteed to be a difficult game for the whole Roswell community because, as Knapp says, it will be the “first time the team will be putting on our pads since the loss of Robbie.”  

The past four years Roswell has gone 3-1 playing Walton. Roswell beat Walton in 2018 through 2021 but lost the most recent game in the 21-22 season. Regardless, the 3 wins give the Hornets a lot of hope to win this scrimmage.