ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Hyped matchups don’t always live up to their billing, but that was not the case Friday night when powerhouse programs John Milledge Academy and Frederica Academy took the field against one another. 

The non-region contest lived up to the hype and then some, and it was the Trojans (9-0 overall, 1-0 region) that earned a hard-fought 14-13 road victory in overtime. 

“I just can’t say enough about how hard our guys are playing right now,” John Milledge head coach J.T. Wall said via phone interview after the win. “On paper when you look at it we were definitely the underdog, but our guys played hard and we can’t ask for much more than what they’re doing. The way the defense is playing, the way the offensive line is playing, and the way Amaad Foston toted that rock — it was all very impressive.”

The Knights, 6-2 entering Friday’s contest, carried a 7-0 lead into halftime, but a special teams miscue helped even things out. A mishandled snap on a punt led to the Trojans taking over on the Frederica 13, and they capitalized with a Foston TD run to tie up the ballgame late in the third. 

Back and forth the ball went throughout the remainder of regulation, but neither team could find pay dirt until the extra period. Frederica won the coin toss in overtime, and chose to go on defense first. The John Milledge offense made the most of its opportunity, fighting its way the full 25 yards to the end zone. Senior quarterback Brandon Bellflower was the one to get across the goal line, and the extra point helped extend the Trojans’ first lead of the night. Frederica had been in a similar situation earlier this season where their opponent scored first in overtime, according to Wall. The Knights answered and in that instance went for the win by going for two rather than tying the ballgame up and going to another period. They did the exact same thing against the Trojans, scoring a touchdown and going for two, and were turned away by the stalwart John Milledge defense to seal the win for the visitors. 

“These guys are resilient and they’re fun to coach,” Wall said when asked what this win says about his team. “Our coaches are doing great jobs of putting them in the right positions and the kids are just making plays repeatedly. We’ve said this before this year, but we do not want this to be the pinnacle of our season. This game tonight really means nothing. We can’t get a big head or too jacked up about this. It was a great win and we’re glad we got it, but we’re playing for a region championship next week.”

The Trojans return home next week to take on GISA Region 4-3A foe Augusta Prep. A win means JMA will be region champions and receive a first-round bye in the state playoffs, both things the team wants desperately. Kickoff between the Trojans and Cavaliers is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.