John Milledge Academy (3-0) continued its dominance so far this season with a 42-7 trouncing of the Tiftarea Panthers last Friday night in Milledgeville.
The Trojans’ defense held the Panthers to just one score that came in the final minute of the second quarter to leave JMA ahead 35-7 at halftime.
JMA began the night with ball on its own 39-yard line and drove downfield on just three plays, beginning with a 50-yard run by Jamel Cooper and ending with a five-yard run by Javaris Hurt into the endzone.
The Trojans’ offense continued to roll throughout the first half as quarterback Lewis Cheney threw a pair of touchdown passes to wide receiver Bryce McDonel.
A 41-yard rushing touchdown by Cooper midway through the third quarter wrapped up the night’s scoring. He ended the game with 188 rushing yards on just eight carries.
The Trojans’ defense took over the second quarter, forcing two turnovers, including a fumble recovery and interception.
Braden Faulkner made the first of two secondquarter interceptions while Bradyn Harrison had an impressive night in recovering a fumble to end Tiftarea’s first possession of the half and later intercepting a pass, too.
In the final quarter, Gus Cumming made the game-sealing interception that led to a Trojans drive eating up the final eight minutes of game clock.
“We should have put this [game] out of reach way earlier than we did, but I’m still proud of the way they kept fighting and kept playing.”
Trojans head coach J.T.
Wall said of his offense.
“It’s a true thunder- and-lightning deal and they’re the two must unselfish backs that we’ve ever had,” Wall said of Hurt and Cooper following the game.
“Those guys love each other. One of them will bust a long (run) and the next one gets the next carry. It’s just kind of how we’ve been approaching it and they alternate every rep at practice and they’re doing a great job of learning the offense.”
Cheney also continued to impress in his second start at quarterback for JMA, completing seven of 14 pass attempts for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver McDonel also had one of the best games of his career, catching two passes and scoring on both for 160 yards receiving.
Asa Wall also continued to have success, totaling 92 all-purpose yards on three passes for 43-yards receiving and carrying the ball five times for 49 yards and a touchdown.
The Trojans’ defense totaled 55 tackles, with three tackles for loss, three interceptions, and a fumble recovery.
“Sometimes we gave them a short field with our kickoffs but [the defense] still played well,” Coach Wall said. “We’ve still got to check on some alignment things and different things like that.
We’ve got a tough test [this Friday night] up in Athens. We’ve got to get ready and get focused on them.”
The Athens Academy Spartans pose the biggest threat so far this season to JMA’s unblemished record. Wall said his team’s biggest challenge will be in the trenches and keeping up with the Spartans’ speed.
“They’re well coached, they’re big up front, and they are fast,” Wall said of Athens Academy.
“They’ve got speed we haven’t seen yet. And that’s what we’re going to see in September; we’re going to see speed in every game we play in September.”
The Trojans play Athens Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Slaughter Field in Athens.