JMA, GMC Prep to host football scrimmages

Published 10:47 am Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Friday night lights are close.

In just over a week, high school football teams across the state will suit up for their first games of the 2024 season.

Before that though, many this week have one final dress rehearsal before the real thing that counts. Two preseason scrimmages will be played in Baldwin County as John Milledge Academy hosts ACE Charter at 6 p.m. Thursday while GMC Prep welcomes Stratford Academy to Davenport Field 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The JMA Trojans and Gryphons were originally scheduled to meet in Macon, but installation of ACE’s artificial turf field isn’t complete.

Head coach JT Wall enters his 14th season at the helm of his alma mater John Milledge. The Trojans are coming off a year that saw them wind up as the GIAA Class AAA state runners-up following a championship loss to Valwood. That ended what was at the time the nation’s longest active high school football winning streak at 62 games.

If Wall and the Trojans are to start anew, it will be with an almost completely different cast of characters in place as John Milledge returns only six starters from a season ago. The JMA head coach traditionally only plays his starters about a half in scrimmages, so it will be interesting to see if he keeps that up or opts to get more reps for his inexperienced, young roster. All-State quarterback Kolt McMichael and TE/LB David Todd headline the returners as key seniors for the Trojans.

John Milledge opens the 2024 regular season at home Aug. 16 versus Bethlehem Christian Academy.

ACE, still a young program entering its seventh varsity season, is coming off its second consecutive 8-3 campaign that saw the Gryphons get bumped from the first round of the GHSA Class AA state playoffs. ACE is now a Class A Division 1 school after the league went from eight classifications to seven.

GMC Prep and new head coach Gavin Tierce will also get some late preseason work against a Macon school when Paul Carroll, formerly of Howard High School, and the Stratford Eagles visit Friday. It’ll be two new head coaches looking to evaluate their teams. Tierce came to GMC Prep last year as offensive line coach under Bobby Rhoades, who left after only one season at the school. The Bulldogs went 3-7 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Stratford went 5-6 in 2023. Its record was punctuated by a first-round loss in the GIAA Class 4A state playoffs.

This will be GMC Prep’s second scrimmage after the Bulldogs traveled to Montgomery County last week. Their regular season begins Aug. 16 at Atkinson County.

The Braves of Baldwin High are off this week after they went to Dutchtown for a scrimmage last week. Baldwin and new head coach Kevin Patterson only get one fall scrimmage because they played a spring game back in May.