The Milton Eagles coasted to a 41-3 win over the Dutchtown Bulldogs in Round 2 of the Class 5A playoffs Friday, keeping their aspirations for a 15-0 season and back-to-back championships well intact.
The top-ranked Eagles (12-0), a No. 1 seed from Region 7, advance to the quarterfinals for the fifth year in a row after winning 7A last year. They’ll face Houston County, a No. 4 seed from Region 2 next week.
Eagles quarterback Luke Nickel was 17 of 29 passing for 243 yards and three touchdowns to one interception, and he rushed for a 1-yard touchdown. His 49-tard pass to CJ Wiley in the second quarter gave the senior over 9,000 passing yards for his career. His leading receivers were Tristen Payne with seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown, and Ethan Barbour (4-43-2).
“I felt like we did pretty good,” Nickel said. “We’ve just got to keep it rolling throughout the playoff run. I feel like the offense revolves around the pass game, and we’ve been able to run the ball a good bit. So, props to the O-line. Everyone is working together.”
Eagles senior running back TJ Lester had 159 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
The Eagles jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on Nickel’s 12-yard pass to Payne, and Lester’s 3-yard run. They scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter, the first a 2-yard pass from Nickel to Barbour, set up on the previous play, when Nickel’s 20-yard pass to Payne on fourth-and-4 from the 20 extended the drive.
The Eagles scored their final points in the third quarter on Nickel’s 22-yard pass to Barbour, and finally on Lester’s 41-yard run with 2:44 left to make it 41-0.
The Bulldogs kicked a 21-yard field goal with 17 seconds left to avoid the shutout in what was a dominant effort for the Eagles defense. Senior defensive end Caleb Bell had 3.5 sacks to lead the effort, which included holding Dutchtown dual-threat junior quarterback Mike Johnson to just 16 yards on 16 carries.
“Shutout, in my opinion,” Nickel said. “They played great all night long. Dutchtown, props to them for coming out and fighting all four quarters. Our defense played great. We’ve got a lot of underdogs on our defense and they play hard each and every single week.”
The Eagles produced 447 yards of offense to Dutchtown’s 175.
Dutchtown, which upset 11-point favorite Decatur in the first round, finishes 7-4 as the No. 3 seed from Region 3.
Dutchtown 0 0 0 3
Milton 14 13 14 0
M — Tristen Payne 12 pass from Luke Nickel (Alex Nover kick)
M — TJ Lester 3 run (Nover kick)
M — Ethan Barbour 2 pass from Nickel (Nover kick)
M — Nickel 1 run (kick failed)
M — Barbour 22 pass from Nickel (Nover kick)
M — Lester 41 run (Nover kick)
D — Sebastin Fernadez 21 FG
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