Milton Stuns Colquitt To Win First Football Championship

By Mike Blum

MILTON, GA — The Milton High School Eagles victory in the Dec. 12 state championship game was not only historic because it was the first-ever win for the team. It was monumental because the Eagles took down a high school football powerhouse on its path to glory.

Milton defeated the Colquitt County Packers 14-13 in the 7A championship game to become the first team not from south Georgia or Gwinnett County to win in the state’s highest classification since 1995.

The Eagles won much the way they had in scoring four victories to reach the title game – by playing stingy defense and coming through with a clutch drive or two in the second half to either pull off a come-from-behind win or put away a victory in a close game.

The Packers had rolled over many of the state’s top teams while on its way to a 14-0 record and a top-5 position in several national high school polls. Colquitt, which was playing in its fourth championship game in the last five seasons, showed some signs of mortality in a 22-21 overtime win in the semifinals over Archer, a team Milton defeated in its season opener on a neutral field.

Milton coach Adam Clack and two of the team’s top players downplayed the significance of Colquitt’s close call against Archer, pointing to the Eagles’ belief in themselves regardless of the opponent.

“They believed and trusted each other as cliché as that sounds,” Clack said after the monumental Milton victory. “This is one of the greatest teams – TEAMS in capital letters – a coach has ever had.”

Quarterback Jordan Yates and defensive back/receiver Joseph Charleston echoed the thoughts of their coach.

“It was heart and belief,” Charleston said of the keys to the team's win. “We were confident against any team that we were going to win.”

Yates added team members "trusted each other."

“We were not afraid of the big moments," the quarterback said. "In our past five wins, we had some clutch drives in the second half.”

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here)

The drive that won Wednesday’s title started halfway through the third quarter after a Milton field goal attempt to tie the game earlier in the period hit the right upright and was no good. Yates directed a 66-yard drive that produced no points, but the Milton defense quickly got the ball back
for the offense after the missed field goal. Starting from their 25-yard line, the Eagles methodically marched 75 yards in 15 plays, converting three fourth downs along the way.

Yates got the drive started with a 15-yard completion to Dylan Leonard, and converted the first of the three fourth downs with a 6-yard run and fourth-and-4 from the Milton 46. Yates lined up in short punt formation, as he did once before in the game, but this time kept the ball to make Clack’s coaching gamble pay off. A 12-yard run by Yates got Milton to the Colquitt 36, and he hit Jordan Cox for 11 yards to set up a fourth-and-1 from the 27.

With the Packers expecting another Yates run, he handed to running back Josh Edwards for seven yards and the first down. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Yates gained eight yards on third-and-9, leaving another fourth-and-1. He again handed to Edwards, who bulled for 11 yards and the touchdown to put Milton ahead 14-10 with almost the entire fourth quarter to play.

The Packers drove inside the Milton 10, but the Eagles held on third-and-2 from the 7, and Colquitt coach Rush Propst elected to kick the field goal rather than go for the first down. His strategy seemed to work, as the Packers got the ball back with 3:28 to play after forcing the Eagles to punt.

However, the Milton defense again came up big, sacking the Colquitt quarterback on the first play after the punt and again later on the series. Zander Barnett made the first sack and Allen Walker was responsible for the second one, which put the Packers in a third-and-13 from their 43 after they had picked up two first downs.

Following an incomplete pass on third down, the Eagles pressured the Colquitt quarterback into a desperate dump off to a running back, who was swarmed by a host of Milton tacklers for a 2-yard gain. Yates took a knee three times to end the game and start a joyous celebration by Milton players and fans.

“This is amazing,” said Yates. “I hope we set the bar for future Milton teams.”

Yates evaded constant pressure by the Packers to rush for 100 yards on 24 carries, 78 of that total in the second half. He was also 13 of 23 passing for 178 yards, including a 66-yard scoring strike to Cox on Milton’s second series to put the Eagles ahead 7-3.

“We found some rhythm on offense in the second half and created situations to get the ball in the hands of the best player on the field,” Clack said, referring to his quarterback.

Colquitt scored first after recovering a Milton fumble at the Eagles’ 18, with the Eagles’ defense forcing a field goal after not allowing a first down. The Packers drove inside the Milton 10 on the game’s first possession, but Jackson Michaels ended the threat with an interception at the 1.
Milton threatened to increase its lead in the second period, with Yates connecting with Leonard for 15 yards and Holden Shaw for 25 on consecutive plays to move the Eagles inside the Colquitt 40. But the 66-yard drive was stopped at the 17 and the Packers blocked Hayden Hairston’s field goal attempt.

The Packers then drove for their only touchdown, and got the ball back in Milton territory after a short punt by Yates. The Packers reached the Milton 3 in the final minute of the half, but the Eagles tackled standout running back Ty Leggett for a 4-yard loss on second down, and Cameron Davis sacked quarterback Jaycee Harden on fourth down. Milton then returned the favor by blocking the Colquitt field goal attempt to keep the Packers’ lead at 10-7 going to halftime.

Colquitt, which had been averaging 41 points a game, was limited to 240 yards by the Milton defense, 140 on the ground and just 100 on 22 pass attempts. The Eagles had 331 yards of offense, with Edwards adding 45 yards on 12 attempts as Milton finished with 153 yards on the ground. Cox was Milton’s leading receiver with five catches for 96 yards.

The Eagles finish the season 13-2 and now have eight state playoff victories in the last five seasons after never having one before 2014. Milton has two region titles in that span, and will look to repeat as 5-AAAAAAA champions in 2019 despite some heavy graduation losses.

Milton will lose more than 15 front line seniors, including all its skill position starters and over half its starting defense, including Charleston, Davis and Walker. The Eagles will return standout junior offensive lineman Paul Tchio, which will ease the process of breaking in a new quarterback after three seasons of Yates as the starter.

The Eagles have some key returnees on defense, including Jack Rhodes, Marcos Rangel, Connor Gay. Michaels and Barnett, but they will face a tough task replacing the senior members of an outstanding defensive unit.

Image via Shutterstock