Milton coach Ben Reaves wasn’t choked up in the middle of the scrum at midfield on Friday at Lambert High, but there was certainly some emotion hanging on his words. Maybe it was pride, or perhaps a note of defiance, as if speaking directly to the detractors who said this moment wouldn’t happen for his football team this season.
“There were a lot of them out there,” Reaves said. “A lot of people who said we couldn’t win it this year. And we just proved a lot of people wrong.”
The Eagles topped Lambert 31-21 on the road Friday, breaking a tie atop the Region 6-7A standings in the final week of the regular season. Both teams had entered the week undefeated in region play, making Friday’s contest a de facto region championship.
No. 10 Milton (7-3, 5-0), despite having won its past four region championships, came in an underdog to No. 7 Lambert (9-1, 4-1), which had not lost a game yet this season. Instead of watching their streak of region titles come to an end, however, the Eagles wore those doubts on their shoulders, Reaves said, and it made the win that much sweeter.
“This is my favorite one,” said Reaves, in his first season as the team’s head coach after spending the previous five as its offensive coordinator. Asked if he personally felt underestimated because of the lower expectations earlier in the season, Reaves conceded he wore that on his sleeve, as well. “I owe a lot to those coaches before me who made this program what it was, and I do feel like I owed it to them to hold the line. A lot of people said we didn’t have the athletes, and we did lose a lot off of last year’s team.
“But this team has a lot of great players, and to be honest it kind of ticked us off.”
Milton lost its first two games of the season to out-of-state opponents and fell to 2-3 overall after losing to North Cobb in its final non-region game this season. Once region play rolled around, however, it was the same old Milton Eagles. They outscored their five region opponents 146-70 in five straight victories to close out the regular season.
On Friday, the Eagles started fast. Just a few plays into the game, quarterback Luke Nickel hit Marc Essley for a long touchdown strike of about 60 yards. Defenses held serve for most of the first half, and the two teams entered the break tied 7-7.
Milton caught a break early in the third quarter when Lambert quarterback James Tyre threw a pass that was intercepted by Jacorey Stewart. The Eagles took advantage, going 54 yards in just four plays to regain the lead. The big strike on that drive was a 42-yard pass to Debron Gatling, which set the offense up at the 4-yard line. Robert Billings took it the rest of the way on the next play.
After a 50-yard run by Lambert running back Cam Bland tied the score back up, Milton responded with another big pass to Gatling on the ensuing drive. Nickel hit Gatling for a 23-yard score, capping a 9-play, 80-yard drive.
After a field goal made it a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, Lambert got as close as three again. On a pass that appeared to be intercepted by Milton, Lambert receiver Christian Smith instead held focus on a tipped ball that he caught and ran in for a 49-yard score to make it 24-21.
Milton needed just five runs by running back Scott Moskowitz, the last a 64-yard burst to the end zone, to put the game away.
“There were guys who could barely walk anymore going out and making some big plays at the end,” Reaves said. “That shows you how bad these guys wanted it.”
Now, both teams turn their attention toward a bigger prize in the GHSA state playoffs, where Milton will be a 1-seed and Lambert a 2-seed. They’ll play in the first round next week against the 4-seed and 3-seed from Region 5, respectively.
“This one is nice,” Reaves said to his team, gesturing to the region championship trophy in his hands. “But I want another one.”
Milton – 7 – 0 – 14 – 10 – 31
Lambert – 0 – 7 – 7 – 7 – 21
First Quarter
M – Marc Essley 60 pass from Luke Nickel (Felipe Mota kick)
Second Quarter
L – James Tyre 8 run (Ryan Degyansky kick); 3:16
Third Quarter
M – Robert Billings 4 run (Mota kick); 9:38
L – Cam Bland 50 run (Degyansky kick); 7:13
M – Debron Gatling 23 pass from Nickel (Mota kick); 3:58
Fourth Quarter
M – Mota 22 kick; 8:07
L – Christian Smith 49 pass from Tyre (Degyansky kick); 4:11
M – Scott Moskowitz 64 run (Mota kick); 1:54
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