Trojans still trying for win No. 2

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, September 25, 2024

(Editor’s note: This game is still being played Friday, but has moved to Mercer University and will kick off at 8:30 instead of 7:30.)

The long, hard road that is the 2024 John Milledge Academy football season continues this week as the Trojans are set to travel to Macon’s Stratford Academy.

It will be a game between teams with mirrored records. John Milledge enters at 1-5 with a four-game losing streak while the Eagles under Paul Carroll are toting a 5-1 mark. Their lone loss occurred in overtime last week at Brookstone, so Stratford is looking to bounce back.

“Paul Carroll’s got those guys flying to the football,” JMA head coach JT Wall said of his team’s upcoming opponent. “They’ve got skill guys everywhere. They’re good up front. They like to establish the running game, but they’re 60-40 run-pass, so they keep you honest.”

The Stratford offense is averaging just under 34 points per game and is quarterbacked by senior southpaw Connor Fitzpatrick. He’s both a throwing and running threat as he’s second on the team in rushing yards at 302 with six touchdowns. Junior Tyler Stephens, a transfer from Macon County, is the Eagles’ ground game leader at 491 yards and five TDs. He’s quick and very slippery as shown against another Milledgeville school earlier this year when he ran through and around the GMC Prep defense in a preseason scrimmage on Davenport Field.

Heading into the district play opener, Wall wants his team to make the most out of its possessions while causing the opponent to turn the football over, something the Trojans haven’t been able to do much this season.

“We need to cause some turnovers and us not turn it over,” he said. “The ball is the most important thing on the field. We’ve got to want it when we don’t have it. When we don’t have it, we’ve got to not want to give it up. We’re trying to stress that a lot more this week. And we’ve got to continue to play hard because good things happen when you hustle.”

Playing hard hasn’t been the Trojans’ problem this year. Sustaining drives on offense and stopping the big play on defense have.

Even with those troubles, John Milledge football does not look to be in danger of missing out on the state playoffs for the first time since 2010. There are 10 playoff slots in GIAA Class AAA and only 12 teams in the classification, meaning just two miss the cut. The Trojans are seventh in the MaxPreps power rankings, which will be used to seed the playoffs. Strength of schedule seems to be keeping JMA in the mix.

The Trojans will try to improve upon that placement with this week’s trip to Stratford set for Friday night.