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John Milledge Academy’s Briggs and Banks Eady combined for five touchdowns at Mercer’s Five Star Field in this year’s GIAA Class 3A State Championship game against Deerfield-Windsor last Thursday night.
This helped lead the Trojans shutout the Knights 49-0, and the win marked the program’s 50th straight victory and fourth consecutive state championship.
The win also marks head coach JT Wall’s fifth state championship since he took over at John Milledge Academy back in 2011. After the game, Wall acknowledged how important the class of 2023 is to the Trojans’ legacy.
“We’ve definitely got a bunch of holes to fill. Not only are we losing some great players, but we’re losing some great kids as well,” Wall said. “They’re great leaders, unbelievable competitors and they set the tone in everything they do and every sport they play. I expect to hear more great things from some of these guys before the school year is over.”
For some of the seniors that started playing varsity ball as freshmen, they got to enjoy 50 straight wins along with Wall.
The Trojans’ 2023 class is the winningest class in all of Georgia high school football and put up some insane numbers to get there.
John Milledge Academy’s offense has averaged almost 43 points through 50 contests dating back to the first game of the 2019 season. In that same timespan, the Trojans’ defense held opponents to, on average, less than six points per game.
For players like the Eady brothers, their football career will always bring back great memories.
“It’s crazy to think about. I mean, we never lost, and there is nothing more you can ask for in a football career,” Briggs said. “I’ll miss playing with the guys I love.”
“It’s definitely bittersweet, but this experience is just something you can’t top, and I’ll always look back at it fondly,” Banks added.
Other Trojan seniors may not have got to experience all four years of Wall ball, but players like Baylen Zielinski had as much of an impact on JMA’s success as others did.
The 6-foot-1 wide receiver racked up eight total touchdowns during the 2022 season after gaining almost 700 total yards on offense. After it was all said and done, Zielinski recognized his teammates and the great job they did all year.
“I’m very proud of all of them. When I transferred here, they all immediately took me in and locked in with me,” Zielinski said. “It didn’t matter who we watched on film or if we thought we were better, we just locked in every week to win.”
Even though winning got repetitive at times, JMA’s senior class stayed motivated and got the results they wanted.
“The coaches did a good job and made it fun for us,” Briggs said. “You can’t beat winning.”
“We wanted to make everybody proud and gain respect from all the other schools that doubted us,” Banks said. “I love every one of my brothers and am proud of them too.”