Big play Brentwood blasts Trojans 33-6

Published 10:47 pm Friday, September 20, 2024

SANDERSVILLE – Three first-half touchdowns of over 50 yards – and another in the third quarter – propelled the Brentwood War Eagles (5-1) past John Milledge Academy Friday, 33-6.

In what was the 51st meeting all-time between the schools, Brentwood got its 16th win in the series and first since 2013.

It was a bit of déjà vu for the struggling Trojan football program whose 2024 record now sits at 1-5.

“What did we say last week? On offense we’ve got to stay away from drive killers and turnovers,” JMA head coach JT Wall said after the loss. “Defensively we’ve got to eliminate the big play. And we didn’t do that at all.”

The same story has haunted John Milledge football this season. The Trojans’ opening drive reached the red zone, but a holding penalty quickly put them behind the chains and the offense couldn’t recover.

The JMA defense did get off to a good start against a Brentwood offense that entered the night averaging 45 points per game. The War Eagles’ first possession ended quickly when sophomore Trojan linebacker Ryan Murphey broke up a throwback screen attempt on third down.

Then things started going downhill.

The Trojan offense produced two first downs late in the opening period, but a fumble gave the football over to a Brentwood team that was going to be tough to keep down. They proved it on the next play when freshman playmaker Tristan Robinson slipped multiple tackles and toted the football 60 yards to the end zone to help the host team take a 6-0 lead into the second.

Early in the second John Milledge got down to the red zone again, but that foray also went in reverse thanks to back-to-back sacks by big ZJ Scott and outside linebacker Jackson Bragg. Looking downfield, backup quarterback David Todd seldom had anywhere to go with the football as his options looked to be covered. The drive resulted in a Trojan punt.

A couple of plays later, Brentwood junior Abe Williams was met with little resistance on his carry that wound up going 59 yards to the house with just under five minutes to go in the half, 13-0 War Eagles.

Down but not out, the JMA offense showed it still had some life in it as junior running back Cole Vining burst loose up the left side on a third-and-23 run that went 63 yards to paydirt. There was just one problem. A bit of dirty laundry was on the field as the Trojans were called for holding, nullifying the score. Again handing the football off to Vining was John Milledge’s best play all night, but he cannot run it on every play. And it wasn’t in the plans to, but Wall said one of the expected relievers got hurt in a junior varsity game Thursday, forcing him to miss Friday. Injury luck has not been on the Trojans’ side this season.

Following a JMA punt, Brentwood managed to score twice in the first half’s closing three minutes. A play-action pass from sophomore QB Baylor Cobb to Williams up the middle went for 68 yards for a TD before the Trojans fumbled their next possession away with 2:05 left. Robinson picked up the loose ball and ran it to the plus-13, setting the Eagles up nicely to add on to their lead.

Two snaps later, they did. Cobb rolled right threw a ball between three JMA defenders to find Robinson for his second TD of the night as Brentwood went into the break up 26-0.

“We’ve got to finish drives,” Wall said. “Then we gave them two scores right there at the end of the half. That’s hard to come back from.”

The second half was less eventful. The Trojans did recover the opening kickoff when it was muffed, but that didn’t produce points either. More bad news came as the backup QB Todd left that drive with an injury and did not return. Freshman Nathan Snow stepped in to lead the offense.

Brentwood upped its lead to 33-0 midway through the third when sophomore Jones Sheppard rumbled 51 yards on a well-executed fullback trap call. Those were the only points the Eagles scored in the final two quarters. John Milledge got on the board when Vining with his no-nonsense running style went 16 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth.

The JMA head coach had positive things to say about his hardworking running back in Vining.

“He’s a work horse. He doesn’t say much. All he does is work and continue to get better.”

As for how the Trojans are going to handle the remainder of the season, Wall said, “One thing about these guys is they are going to fight. All I know to do is to just keep working ‘em. The way we’re approaching this thing is it’s a brand new season starting next week with region play. It doesn’t get any easier, but we’re ready.”

John Milledge opens the region schedule at Stratford Academy, who was 5-0 entering Friday. Brentwood, meanwhile, will be back on its home field hosting Briarwood Academy in what will be a showdown between two of the top teams in GIAA Class AA.