Trojans barely in playoff picture after GIAA bracket change

Published 2:50 pm Friday, October 11, 2024

By Gil Pound | gpound@unionrecorder.com

Compared to many other teams around the state, John Milledge Academy’s football schedule was relatively untouched by Tropical Storm Helene.

But the Trojans (0-1 region, 1-6 overall) may feel the effects more than a month after the fact in a big way.

With so much schedule movement, the Georgia Independent Athletic Association has elected to make changes to the playoffs. The Class AAA 10-team postseason tourney was originally scheduled to begin Nov. 1 with the teams seeded 7 through 10 playing to continue their seasons. That Friday has now been dubbed a makeup week for teams who need it. Instead of being a 10-team playoff, the field has now been cut down to eight.

Heading into this week’s home game against FPD, John Milledge is ranked No. 8 in its class, putting the Trojans on the cusp of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

“There’s no wiggle room,” head coach JT Wall said. “Teams like us that are in that back tier may have to wait until after those games on Nov. 1 before we know if we made the playoffs.”

With the toughest schedule in Class AAA, a win would go a long way in cementing a playoff berth for JMA. It won’t be easy with the 7-1 FPD Vikings coming into town Friday. They are the defending 4A state champs and the current favorite to win it all again under second-year head coach Brett Collier.

“They’ve lost one game on the year and shouldn’t have lost that one,” Wall said of FPD’s 18-6 week three loss to St. Anne-Pacelli. “They were playing some guys in different places early on.

“Collier’s a fiery guy and he’s got really tough guys and plays a lot of them both ways.”

That includes Viking starting quarterback Major Simmons, who also lines up at safety. He’s a dual-threat QB in FPD’s run-first offense. On defense, the Vikings are led by senior linebackers Brady Lincoln and Kip Cawley.

On the Trojans’ side, they are coming off a bye and hoping to reach double digits on the scoreboard for the first time since the 47-14 loss to Athens Academy over a month ago. John Milledge has not been shut out this season, but scored just six, six, and seven points their last three times out.

“Normally you’re trying to focus on getting healthy on an off week, which we’re still trying to focus on, but there’s a lot of things we’ve got to get better at,” said Wall. “We got after it and went back to blocking and tackling. We were able to scrimmage live a couple of days and work on some situational stuff we haven’t been able to do in a while.”

How that translates to the field will be revealed in Friday’s 7:30 p.m. kick against the visiting Vikings. It will be John Milledge’s Homecoming game for the 2024 season.