Central Georgia HS football scouting reports: Warner Robins, John Milledge, Brentwood
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
(Most stats are from MaxPreps unless noted)
GHSA
Semifinal
Class 5A
No. 4 Warner Robins (R1/2, 12-1) at Creekside (R3/2, 11-2), at Banneker
Warner Robins road: 64-20 over Jonesboro; 24-17 over Cartersville, 49-21 over Jones County
Creekside road: 28-18 over Coffee; 41-34 over St. Pius X; 20-13 over Whitewater
FYI: This is Warner Robins’ fifth straight semifinal, and eighth since the turn of the century, while it’s Creekside’s third in program history (starting in 1990). The Seminoles went 15-0 for the 5A title in 2013.
The Seminoles have no doubt seen and heard enough all week about Fred Perry, who was a little underrated and overlooked until RB Malcolm Brown went down with a season-ending injury against Veterans. He has gone off for an astounding 633 rushing yards and 10 TDs on the ground in the playoffs alone, after having only one 100-yard rushing game in the regular season, 110 yards against Camden County. That’s nothing to say of his all-purpose yards on returns. He’s not been a target yet, which means that could change in this game.
And he’s almost as big a playmaker – with 38 tackles in the last four games - on a defense loaded with playmakers.
Creekside has some balance, with QB Nyqua Lett passing for 1,961 yards on 63.7 percent completions, and 22 TDs against 7 INTs, with four quality targets (led by Derrick White, with 28 catches for 678 yards and 9 TDs). Three running backs have at least 548 yards, and that trio has combined for 32 rushing touchdowns.
Warner Robins will try to neutralize Vincent Hill, who has 12 TFLs and is good for 13.7 tackles a game. Javeon Miller has 23 stops behind the line and 22 sacks, while Bruce Cowert has three of the Noles’ 10 INTs.
The Demons are more explosive, with 49.1 points a game, but the Seminoles are pretty stout, having cracked 40 points in six gams this year. They’re 9-2 at home the past two years, the 2020 season ending against visiting Ware County in the second round. But this is up the road at Banneker, where Creekside won 41-0 in mid-October.
Warner Robins is 10-2 against ranked teams in all classes – excluding last year’s forfeit win with Valdosta) – in the past two season, while Creekside is 5-5.
Next: Blessed Trinity or Calhoun, Dec. 11, 3:30 p.m., Center Parc Stadium, Atlanta, state championship
GISA
Championship
Five Star Stadium, Mercer
Friday
Class AAA, 7:30 p.m.
No. 2 Pinewood Christian (6-5) at No. 1 John Milledge (10-0)
Pinewood road: 42-0 over Valwood, 32-20 over Westfield
JMA road: 42-6 over Bulloch; 49-13 over Tiftarea
FYI: John Milledge leads the series 15-9, with seven straight wins, the Trojans giving up 52 points and scoring 259.
Life will be different next year for John Milledge with the re-influx of former GISA upper-level programs, so expect the Trojans to go even a little more all out to send a message that maybe they don’t much care.
John Milledge hasn’t lost since the stunning 48-0 hammering by Frederica in the 2018 championship game. Since then, the Trojans have had only three wins by 21 points or less. Closest final score this year is 38-12 over AA Brentwood in the season opener.
They bring a multi-faceted attack with QB Briggs Eady, who can run or pass with proficiency. In last week’s 49-13 win over Tiftarea, Eady scored on a run and threw a TD pass, and three others ran in a touchdown. A week earlier, three Trojans scored.
And John Milledge picked up defensive points in both games, Bud Veal with a 24-yard fumble recovery return in one game and a 17-yard interception return in the other. Veal has four picks.
Eady has passed for 1,52 yards and 17 touchdowns, and rushed for a team-leading 705 yards and 12 touchdowns. Javian Butts has 12 scores and 603 yards on 15 fewer carries, and Marcus Prestwood is the go-to target, with 34 catches for 693 yards and 8 TDs.
Dawson Smith and Ameir Glenn have 10 TFLs each for the JMA defense, led by Andrew Mullis’ 7.1 tackles a game.
The defending champs don’t much know what it means to play without a running clock.
Pinewood rides the shoulder and legs of Mic Wasson, a Division I recruit and state GISA player of the year. He ran for 221 yards on 34 carries last week in the win over Westfield, scoring on runs of 3, 37, and 1 yards. His lone completion on eight tries went for 77 yards and a touchdown.
He has completed 57.4 percent of his passes for 992 yards and 14 scores, running for 1,839 yards and a whopping 28 touchdowns. In the first meeting, he managed 83 yards on 12 carries.
It’s doubtful the Trojans’ defensive game plan will change much.
Class AA, 4 p.m.
No. 2 Terrell (11-1) vs. No. 1 Brentwood (10-1)
Terrell road: 37-7 over Augusta Prep; 41-20 over Edmund Burke
Brentwood road: 49-21 over Robert Toombs; 49-8 over Gatewood
FYI: Veteran coaches? Goodness. Terrell’s Bill Murdock has been at two schools, Southwest Georgia and Terrell, since 1989, and is 267-136-5 with 14 region and five state championship. Brentwood’s Bert Brown has been the War Eagles’ boss since 2000, and is 158-106-5, with six region and two state titles. In all those combined years, they’ve faced each other twice, Brentwood winning 42-14 in the 2019 second round and 54-25 in the 2003 championship.
Both teams are familiar with postseason runs, Terrell reaching the quarterfinals in five of the last six years, losing 51-17 to Gatewood in the 2018 championship.
Brentwood has made the playoffs every year since 1999, every year since Bert Brown took over in 2000. This is the War Eagles’ second straight championship game, last year ending with a 34-14 loss to Gatewood, who Brentwood knocked out two weeks ago.
The Eagles have scored 514 points. The last time they cracked the 500-point mark? In 2008, when they won the first of two straight Class A titles.
Brentwood is on target for the fewest points allowed since 161 in 2013, in one more game.
Terrell QB Lawrence Carpenter has passed for more than 2,700 yards and 40 touchdowns. Luke Addison is among the targets helping the Eagles to 41 points a game.
The War Eagles are run-heavy with an efficient passing game. Robert Jackson is 9 for 13 for 199 yards and three touchdowns in the last two games. They throw a bunch of quality backs in the power offense, with eight getting a carry against Robert Toombs in the first playoff game.
They tightened up against Gatewood, with Wells Fuller going for 113 on seven carries and Thomas Denton 100 on eight, leading to a 350-yard rushing night.
Class A, 1 p.m.
Piedmont vs. Thomas Jefferson
Both are Class AA programs. The GISA does not have Class A. Class AA teams may state at the start of the season if they’ll participate in Class AA playoffs or Class A. Piedmont is 9-3, Thomas Jefferson 10-1 and Region 4 champion.