Peoria Christian’s Walton wins CSM 2025 Boys Soccer Player of the Year

No boys soccer player in the Peoria area is known to have had the type of season that Peoria Christian’s Jacob Walton had. 

The Chargers’ senior forward scored 55 goals, which broke his own previous Peoria Christian season record of 45 and is believed to be the most ever in a season by a Peoria-area player, along with 17 assists. The senior also broke the school’s all-time goals record after finding the back of the net 100 times in just his last two seasons alone. 

Walton, who was an IHSSCA all-sectional pick, scored or assisted in all but two of Peoria Christian’s 28 games during the fall. He scored multiple goals in 16 games, including seven hat tricks, two four-goal games and a five-goal showing against Manteno on Aug. 30. That performance came at the Charger Classic, which Walton helped his team win and earned all-tournament honors for. 

He scored goals against several top-tier opponents on Peoria Christian’s schedule, including Dunlap, Morton, Chicago University High, plus state finalists Mendota and Glenbrook North. 

Walton was a central part of Peoria Christian’s success over the last four years, which was the winningest four-year stretch in team history. The Chargers have won 83 games and four regional titles in that span — including 20-win seasons in each of the past three years — along with a third-place finish in Class 1A in 2023. Peoria Christian finished 20-6-2 in 2025 and won a Class 1A regional title before falling 4-2 to state quarterfinalist Quincy Notre Dame in the Class 1A sectional semifinals. 

Walton earned a spot on Clutch Sports Media's All-Area first team, along with teammates Colson Below and Trae Brickner. The Chargers' Myles Zimmerman and Josiah Kniep also earned all-area honors.

Hear more from Walton about this past season and his career in our interview with him below. 

What have you been able to reflect on in the days since the season has ended? 

“Looking back on this year and my four years at PCS, I'm just blessed to have such a good coaching staff and, being such a small school, having that good of a team throughout the four years,it's just really a blessing. And being able to be put in positions where I can break records and all that, I want to thank my teammates. It means a lot to me.”

What inspired your love for soccer?

“I used to live in [Ontario] Canada, actually and in elementary school, I started out, I think it was in second grade, I was just playing for a local team. It wasn't for like their top team but one of the coaches on that top team saw me and he said I should come try out. And I did go on that tryout and I lived in Canada for up to fifth grade and I came to PCS, and I kept the love for the game. I played for the school team, I played for FC Peoria and different local teams so I was always either playing for club or for school. That's what really kept my love going.”

What was it like to play with so many other talented players during your four years?

“I'll put Trae [Brickner] up there with the top defenders in the area and Colson [Below] up there with one of the best players in the area. They're great players to play with, but we have other people that probably didn't get recognition but they still came to practice, worked hard every day and then Quentin [Hynek] last year, he's a great player in college now. Just being able to play with those guys for the last four years, it was great. Even though we didn't end how we wanted to, that senior class, we fought through every year.”

What’s the biggest thing you learned since you were a freshman?

“For me, a big thing was just learn from your mistakes and also when you're in a game, if you make a mistake, you can't just think about it all the time. You kind of [have] to just forget, there's plenty of times where I was one on one with the goalie and I just missed. In freshman year and sophomore year, I would just think about that all game long and I just would be kind of out of it. But I’m the senior and captain, I have to keep the spirits up and sure, forget about that and keep playing.”

What’s a motto or mindset you take when you’re competing?

“Our team motto was ‘Go green.’ Coach showed us a video and it was about a women's

college team. I forgot which team, but they were talking about going green, which just means go hard every play. Whether you're in there for the whole game or you're in there for one minute, just give it your all and just know that the team has your back.”

Aside from winning, what was your favorite memory of the season? 

“Breaking the career goal-scoring record, that was pretty cool, especially with some of the alumni coming back and the record holder before me [Jonny Lehman] giving me a ball. It was crazy because it let me know that the PCS community has my back and is there for me.” 

You had 55 goals this season, are there any others that you especially remember well?

“I’d say probably my goals against Dunlap, just because I played with a lot of those guys that go to Dunlap for club. So you know, we're always messing with each other on the field and before the game so scoring that goal just really stood out to me.”

What are your future plans or aspirations?

“I’m still looking at colleges and all that. I can’t really say I have anything in place yet but we’re definitely still looking.”