Milton subdues Bears offense in 56-14 win to advance to GHSA 5A semifinals
As the Georgia High School Association football state championship tournament continued on Friday night, the defending 7A champs, the Milton Eagles, were back in action as they hosted the Houston County Bears in the Class 5A quarterfinals as both teams entered the night off dominating wins in the second round of the playoffs.
While Milton defeated Dutchtown 41-3 last week, the Bears were coming off a 63-12 win over Lakeside-Evans, marking back to back weeks posting 60 or more points and the third time doing so this season as they averaged 45.6 points per game entering Friday's showdown with Milton.
Looking to set the tone early, the Eagles would open up the game scoring on the first drive in just one minute as Miami commit, Luke Nickel, would connect with Tristen Payne for his first of five touchdown passes of the night. Forcing the Bears to punt on their first two possessions, Milton would then take a 14-0 led on their third possession as running back TJ Lester, who finished with two rushing touchdowns, would score on a 24-yard run.
Still in the first quarter, Houston County would eventually find the end zone thanks to an Antwaan Hill Jr. rushing touchdown after the Eagles' defense forced the Bears' senior quarterback to scramble out of the pocket. However, on their next two possession, the Eagles would score courtesy of Nickel's second passing touchdown and Lester's second rushing score of the night, as they would take a 28-7 lead.
Yet, the Bears would still show fight and add to their score thanks to a Austin Stinson rushing touchdown, making it a 28-14 lead after the successful extra points, however, the Eagles' defense would shut Houston County's offense down from that point on, while offensively scoring 28 unanswered points in route to the 56-14 win.
"A lot of hard work went into this so just proud of our guys, our coaches, you know they earned it tonight," Milton head coach, Ben Reaves Jr., said after the Eagles' win, praising his defensive staff for their game planning to limit Houston County to 14 total points. "Houston County was definitely peaking at the right time. You know, in any other region they're probably a one seed. They're a very good football team, a lot of respect for them and their coaches but our guys just zoned in and did what it took to shut them down tonight," Reaves Jr. said.
And while the Milton defense was able to stifle one of the top scoring teams in Georgia, the Eagles themselves now average 42.2 ppg after their 56 points in Friday's win, which was their third time this season scoring 56 points or more in a game. "We talked about that earlier in the week, just going out their and striking first," Nickel, who surpassed 3,000 passing yards for the season in Friday's game, said of the Eagles' quick start.
"Just going out there and showing what we could do, get the ball to our playmakers early, just let them go do their thing," Nickel added as he credited his teammates for their efforts in Friday's quarterfinals win. Milton will now turn their attention to Lee County, who they will face next Friday in the semifinals and defeated Sprayberry 64-0 on Friday.
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