The John Milledge Academy (JMA) Trojans bounced back from a season-opening loss by dominating the Augusta Christian Lions with a 39-19 victory in Martinez last Friday.
The Trojans and Lions matched up well, tied 0-0 at the end of the first quarter, but JMA assumed command when senior quarterback Kolt McMichael hit tight end David Todd with a 10-yard touchdown pass with five minutes to go in the first half.
Kicker Jacob Noles missed the point after, and the score remained 6-0 until Augusta Christian put together a scoring drive capped by an 80-yard touchdown pass to tie the game with about three minutes to go in the half.
However, the Lions made a crucial mistake with under a minute to go in the half as JMA’s David Todd intercepted a pass at the Lions’ seven-yard line, leading to McMichael making a one-yard rush to score and give the Trojans a 13-6 lead after Noles added the extra point.
When the game resumed after halftime, JMA continued to capitalize off the Lions’ mistakes, with Colby Jacobs recovering an early third-quarter fumble on the Augusta Christian six-yard line. That led to McMichael again reaching the endzone to extend the Trojans’ lead to 19-6.
After continuing to exchange possessions in the third quarter, JMA eventually drove the ball 69 yards, capped off by a third touchdown of the night for McMichael from two yards out. A failed two-point conversion attempt ended the quarter at 25-6 favoring JMA.
Augusta Christian answered back with a 12-yard touchdown pass to cut JMA’s lead to 25-13 within the first minute of the final quarter.
In the next sequence, however, JMA’s Cole Vining scored his first touchdown this season with a 30-yard rushing score capped off by the extra point by Noles to make it 32-13.
Augusta Christian managed to put one more rushing touchdown on the board, but a two-point conversion failed and set the score at 32-19.
JMA’s defense did not surrender another point on a night capped off by a pick-six from freshmen linebacker Asa Wall to seal the Trojans’ 39-19 victory.
McMichael finished with 8 of 13 completions for 134 passing yards, with 64 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Vining led the way in rushing for JMA with 137 yards on 15 carries.
The Trojans (1-1) will travel to Chula this Friday for a 7:30 kickoff against Tiftarea Academy (2-0).