Two unbeatens entered John Milledge Academy’s Ted S. Smith Stadium on Friday night, but only one left.

The Trojans (6-0) celebrated 2018 Homecoming the right way by leaving their home field with a 29-14 victory against the Bulloch Academy Gators (5-1).  

“It feels good,” said JMA senior quarterback Brandon Bellflower. “I’m happy with the way the guys came out and played. These young guys really stepped up tonight, and it just feels good to be able to say I won my last homecoming.”

The hyped up matchup was a battle for field position in the early going as both teams were able to move the ball a little, but came up empty in terms of scoring. The field eventually flipped way in the Trojans’ favor late in the first quarter when sophomore Patrick McDonel downed a Justin Lemme punt at the Bulloch 1, forcing the visitors to start their drive in the shadow of their own goalposts. They got out of the hole before eventually having to punt the ball away as well, but their punt was nowhere near as successful. It flew only about 18 yards and gave the deadly John Milledge offense a short field to work with as the unit started at the Gator 33. The Trojans earned the first points of the night on that drive when Bellflower found freshman wide receiver Marcus Prestwood open for a 15-yard touchdown. 

Bulloch would go on to respond with its second long offensive drive of the first half. The team that primarily runs the split-back veer went to the air on multiple occasions, and that’s how it would score as Gator QB Don Aaron hit Ty Mingle for a 25-yard touchdown pass to even up the score at 7-7. That’s how things would remain heading into halftime.

After missing a 34-yard field goal attempt that would have put them up, the Gators went on the defensive once again and this time it was the Trojans that had the answers through the air. Bellflower hit Landon Burney who racked up some nice yards after catch to convert on a third-and-11 early in the drive. Once JMA got into enemy territory, head coach J.T. Wall hit Bulloch with a trick a few weeks shy of Halloween. Sophomore running back Amaad Foston accepted a toss and looked to gain the right edge, or so the defense thought, before pulling up and slinging the football downfield. There waiting was his classmate Taylor Dixon who was open by a mile. The play worked to perfection as the Trojans took the 14-7 lead on the 44-yard score.

“We never threw that pass live this week until yesterday in practice against air,” Wall said of the trick play. “I didn’t tell the kids it was coming yesterday in practice and they responded and ran it well. If we had thrown it incomplete on air we weren’t going to run it tonight.”

The Trojans were up to more shenanigans after scoring again early in the fourth. The team lined up for an extra point, but senior Jacob Prestwood was able to split out wide without the defense taking note. Holder Justin Aldridge took the snap and flung the ball to a wide-open Prestwood to steal a two-pointer.

Bulloch answered with a touchdown of its own, but afterwards the JMA offense put on one of its most impressive drives of the year. With the scoreboard reading 22-14 in the Trojans’ favor and 6:42 remaining, the home team took over on its own 36 looking to bleed the clock. They accomplished their goal, running the football 13 consecutive times on their way to the game-clinching score. Bellflower took the ball in on a QB sneak for the second time on the night. It was a drive that made the former fullback turned high school head football coach proud.

“There’s nothing better and nothing prettier in football than when you can line up and run the stinking football,” Wall said. “We haven’t done that this year. We had some opportunities to do it and we haven’t done it. Being able to come out there on that last drive and do that was special.”

The Trojan defense put together another strong performance, holding a Bulloch offense that had averaged more than 30 points a game to only the two scores.

“The defensive game plan that Coach Mills (Justin) and Coach Shepherd (Stan) put together was unbelievable,” said Wall. “Our guys responded the way we expect them to respond, but we don’t want this to be the highlight of our season. There’s a lot of things we’ve got to work on.”

For example, the JMA head coach pointed out that the defense struggled playing against the pass at times, and next week’s opponent Community Christian likes to throw the football around the field. Next week’s kickoff between John Milledge and Community Christian is set for 7:30 p.m. on the Trojans’ home turf.