By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

All season long, J.T. Wall waited.

Who was going to get hurt? Somebody, somewhere.

Who was going to step up? Somebody, somewhere.

That grit, along with talent, has John Milledge back in the GISA Class AAA title game at 8 p.m. Friday at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium.

Kickoff can’t come soon enough, considering JMA’s last visit there, in last year’s finale.

Frederica, a team that lost 14-13 in overtime to John Milledge just more than a month earlier, strolled into Five Star on a roll and strolled out with a stunning 48-0 win over the Trojans.

“It was pretty rough,” said Wall, who earned his 100th win at his alma mater last week. “Winning it in ’16 was an unbelievable feeling. But last year is probably more in the forefront of our minds.

“You hear people all the time talk about you’ve got to hate losing more than you love winning, and I think we do. It was such a bad feeling.”

And a stunning one for a program that hadn’t been shut out since 2010, by Tattnall, and thus suffered its sixth-worst loss in program history.

In a title game.

Undaunted, and antsy, the Trojans are back, and undefeated, going for their second perfect season under Wall, a former Georgia fullback.

The offense, led by major prospect Amaad Foston at running back and a versatile offensive line, averages 39.58 points a game, third-best in program history.

The defense, keyed by Ethan Huff (112 tackles, 5 sacks), Landon Courson (63 tackles), and Landon Burney (57 tackles, 7 for loss), has allowed all of 4.25 points a game, a Trojan record.

And it’s happened despite an injury bug.

“We’ve dealt with injuries this year than I ever have,” Wall said. “But we’ve had different guys step up each week. We’re trying to hold these guys together the best we can. We’ve got a few more band-aids left.”

And Wall reeled off a partial list of players, in all sorts of positions in all grades, who have come up when needed: Grayson Hopkins, Justin Aldridge, Dalton Prestridge, Garrett Strong, JV Brookins, Jordan Stevens, Jayson Wright, Devin Kitchens, Brandon Courson, and so on.

“There have just been multiple guys that have stepped up,” Wall said. “It’s really a different guy every week.”

All that and to still be undefeated is a sign of John Milledge’s balance, among other things. Wall doesn’t think those impressive team stats tell the whole story.

“I think we’re pretty good at everything, we’re solid,” Wall said. “I don’t think we stand out in one category more than the other. You can’t really put your finger on it.

“We’ve got 11 guys on defense that fly to the football, 11 guys on offense that block to the whistle. These guys, they want to be great.”

One Trojan lucky enough to stay healthy is Foston, the focal point of the offense. The junior is among the top 10 rushers in any association in the state with 1,926 yards and 30 touchdowns.

“Amaad Foston is Amaad Foston,” Wall said. “He’s just solid.”

Valwood is more of a passing team compared to John Milledge, with two quarterbacks teaming for nearly 3,000 yards, and Wall said wideout Aalah Brown is the Valiants’ version of Foston as far as a playmaker.

“He’s a Division I prospect,” Wall said. “There are only like 10 or 12 guys ranked higher than him as Georgia prospects.”

Valwood won the AA title in 2012, and 3A championships in 2015 and 2017. The teams have played only five times, four coming in the playoffs. Valwood leading 3-2, and winning 42-7 in the quarterfinals.

“They’re big, fast, physical,” Wall said. “But the one word that comes to my mind when I look at them is they’re explosive. They don’t really have a weakness.”

The same can be said for the Trojans, so this meeting is likely to be closer to the first four meetings – decided by a total of 17 points, in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016 – than the last one.

“They do a lot of things very well, just like we do,” Wall said. “It’s gonna be a heavyweight bout.”