The Milton Eagles shut out the Roswell Hornets in the second half and won 35-20 Friday at the Eagles’ Nest in a game that determined the Region 7-5A champion.
The Eagles, ranked No. 1 in 5A and No. 2 nationally by MaxPreps, finish the regular season 10-0, 6-0 in 7-5A and are region champions for a seventh straight year. They also extended their region win streak to 39 games. The No. 5 Hornets (8-2, 5-1) see their region titles streak end at two, and their region win streak end at 19.
The Eagles, as a No. 1 seed, will host the No. 4 seed from Region 6. The Hornets, a No. 2 seed, hosts 6-5A’s No. 3 seed.
“We’re very locked in, and have been all season,” said Eagles senior running back TJ Lester, who had 126 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. “We’ve taken it step by step and worked on perfecting ourselves, and we got what we deserved.”
The Eagles led 21-20 at halftime thanks to a 40-yard touchdown pass from Luke Nickel to Tristen Payne, a 3-yard Lester run and a 4-yard Nickel run, which came with a minute left in the second quarter. The Hornets responded on the next play with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Trey Smith to Nytrevain Davenport, who pulled a would-be interception from a Milton defender and ran another 65 yards with 0:47 left in the half.
That would be the Hornets’ final points, though.
The Eagles opened the second half with a touchdown on Ethan Barbour’s 2-yard run. They’d score the final points of the game with 2:26 left in the third with Nickel’s 47-yard touchdown to Barbour on a play-action pass. The Eagles’ defense limited the Hornets to three punts, an interception and three turnover-on-downs in the second half.
Now the Eagles will try to win the third championship in program history and their second in a row after winning 7A last year. If they repeat, they’ll also have their first-ever 15-0 season.
“We’re playing really well and coming together as a team, chemistry-wise,” Lester said.
Nickel was 12-for-20 for 236 yards and two touchdowns to an interception plus a rushing touchdown. Barbour had four catches for 113 yards and a touchdown, and his only carry was a touchdown. Payne had five catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.
The Hornets were led by Trey Smith, who was 18 of 33 passing for 306 yards and two touchdowns. Davenport’s lone catch led the team in receiving yards, and Ethan Gurela had five catches for 79 yards.
Roswell 3 17 0 0 - 20
Milton 7 14 14 0 - 35
R — Balint Vorosmarty 32 FG
M — Tristen Payne 40 pass from Luke Nickel (Alex Nover kick)
R — Synkwan Smith 8 pass from Trey Smith (Vorosmarty kick)
R — Balint Vorosmarty 48 FG
M — TJ Lester 3 run (Nover kick)
M — Nickel 4 run (Nover kick)
R — Nytrevain Davenport 80 pass from Trey Smith (Vorosmarty kick)
M — Ethan Barbour 2 run (Nover kick)
M — Barbour 47 pass from Nickel (Nover kick)
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