The streaks - wins and championships - come to an end for John Milledge after a complete performance from Valwood (first edition)
By Michael A. Lough
Central Georgia Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
There was, as it turns out, not a hint of hyperbole in J.T. Wall’s scouting report on Valwood.
He said the Valiants were the fastest team John Milledge would face all year, that they had speed coming from all directions, that they had multiple weapons on offense and a defense that flew around the football.
Wall was on the money.
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So was Valwood, in a big way.
The Valiants overcame a fairly normal John Milledge first 15 minutes and pretty much owned the second half en route to a 42-21 win over the Trojans Thursday night at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium for the GIAA Class AAA state title, in the process ending John Milledge’s nation’s-best 62-game winning streak.
A loss was inevitable, and amazingly came on the exact date of the Trojans’ last such result, 48-0 to Frederica in the 2018 state finale on this same field.
This time, the Trojans (12-1) weren’t as handled as in that game, suffering a variety of mistakes they’re used to seeing others commit. In the second quarter alone, they were flagged eight times for 90 yards in penalties.
And the times when they’d normally force their will, they found a team forcing its own will back.
The Trojans were up 13-0 after a 20-yard TD pass from Kolt McMichael to Bud Veal with 9:58 left in the second quarter. The PAT was blocked, and it may have been an omen.
Four plays later, Valwood’s Triston White found a huge hole and went 30 yards for a score. John Milledge moved and then stalled, and Valwood (11-1) got a 62-yard pass from Tayt Snellgrove to Marquis Fennell third and 15, taking a 14-13 lead on the PAT with 5:07 left in the half, overcoming John Milledge’s last lead of the 2023 season.
That’s the way the half ended. Expectations that the Trojans would respond to getting an inevitable earful about composure, fundamentals, and execution last a few plays until Landen Ryan got good position for an interception.
At the Valwood 3. Three plays and a 15-yard sideline interference penalty later, the lead grew to 21-13, on a keeper from sophomore quarterback Snellgrove, who didn’t play like a sophomore.
The Trojans eventually answered, Kolt McMichael connecting with Bud Veal on a 26-yard TD pass, Veal squeezing in just inside the pylon. They all but repeated the play with a shorter version for the conversion and a tie with 1:37 left in the third quarter.
And so began the rolling of the snowball.
On the second play of the next possession, Snellgrove made the right read and kept right and kept going for a 62-yard touchdown run 52 seconds later, and it was 28-21.
Progressively tiring with more two-way players, the Trojans did threaten, with a first down at Valwood’s 41 only to be stopped on fourth and 7. This time, it was De’Mar Riley’s turn to burst through a bbig hole up the middle, for 52 yards, setting up White’s 4-yard score three plays later for a 35-21 lead.
McMichael connected with Isaiah Womble down the middle on the first play for 20 yards, but Womble was walloped and fumbled at the Valwood 47.
Three plays later, Riley had a few step deep down the right side and hauled in a 33-yard TD pass, putting it away with 6:28 left.
John Milledge got within a few steps of the goalline, but again came up short on fourth down.
Wall said that big plays were part of Valwood’s season, and Thursday night, the Valiants gained 204 yards on five touchdown plays alone, to go with gains of 52, 50, and 20, those eight plays adding up to 326 yards.