MABLETON - Walker took advantage of some Whitefield Academy penalties and turnovers and overcoming some mistakes of its own to beat the Wolfpack 29-7 in the season-opener for both teams on Friday at Whitefield Stadium.

Whitefield took the early lead in the first quarter, but it was all Walker after that as the Wolverines took advantage of three interceptions and 13 penalties by the Wolfpack to secure a win over their Class A Cobb County private school rivals for the second year in a row.

Walker had some miscues of its own to deal with as the Wolverines lost three fumbles and committed four penalties.

"We're excited to get the win, but we just made too many mistakes," Walker coach Ben Williamson said. "If we want to win more football games, we can't turn the ball over like we did (Friday). We have to play smarter and better football to beat the tougher teams on our schedule. We still have a lot of work to do."

Quarterback James Clement led Walker both in the air and on the ground. Clement completed 7 of 11 passes for 88 yards and threw for one touchdown, while also rushing for 57 yards on 10 carries.

Whitefield signal caller Pryce Washington, who entered the game in place of starter Max Kemether late in the first half, provided much of the offense for the Wolfpack with 77 yards rushing on 12 carries.

Whitefield got on the board first when Kemether threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jay Fields with 6:31 remaining in the first quarter and Thomas East kicked the extra point to give the Wolfpack a 7-0 lead.

Walker struck right back on the next offensive series as a 26-yard run by Clements took the ball down to the Whitefield 15 and a 14-yard run by Wes Caulkin set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Brandon Johnson with 3:20 left in the first quarter, with Davis Parker booting the extra point, to tie the game at 7-all.

Johnson found the end zone again in the second quarter as he scored on a 4-yard run to cap off a five-play drive that started at the Whitefield 42 after the Wolfpack was forced to punt. Parker's successful extra-point attempt put the Wolverines ahead 14-7.

It appeared Whitefield was poised to even the score up on the next series as the Wolfpack moved the ball down to the Walker 32.

Instead of Whitefield closing the gap, Walker blew it wide open as Kemether threw an interception to Walker's Christopher Graham, who proceeded to return it 75 yards for a touchdown with 3:21 left in the first half.

After a Whitefield penalty on the extra-point kick moved the ball closer to the end zone, Walker decided to go for a 2-point conversion instead was successful at it as Johnson ran the ball in to give the Wolverines a 22-7 lead.

"It was an incredible play," said Williamson of Graham's interception. "Chris is an outstanding young man and a special player. He made a big play and it was definitely a big momentum- changer."

Walker put the finishing touches to its win early in the fourth quarter, when Clements connected with Caulkin on a 12-yard touchdown pass and Parker made the extra-point kick to give the Wolverines their final margin of victory.

"First of all, we congratulate coach Williamson and his team," Whitefield Academy coach Jimmy Fields said. "They did what they needed to do to win and they deserve the win. We're a young team and we made some mistakes that were costly, but I'm still excited about this football team and we're going to get better."