ATLANTA – There were a lot of warrior-like efforts on that Mercedes-Benz Stadium turf Wednesday deciding the Class 7A GHSA football championship. Players taking pounding after pounding and glad to do it.

One of those was Milton High quarterback Jordan Yates. The senior rushed for 96 yards on 25 carries and completed 13 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown. His Milton Eagles stunned the Colquitt County High Packers, undefeated prior to kickoff and one of the top five clubs in the nation, 14-13 to deny Rush Propst’s program of a title victory now two years in a row.

Another warrior was junior running back Daijun Edwards of the Packers. He ran 17 times for 101 yards. One other, his fellow senior back Ty Leggett with 46 yards on 11 totes. And junior quarterback Jaycee Harden, who completed 11 passes for 102 yards.

They were in front of a warrior offensive line, and they were supported by a defense that provided the chances to win with Jay Ward’s caused fumble and recovery plus a blocked field goal.

Nothing was easy in this game, Milton doing something Packer legendary senior kicker Ryan Fitzgerald maybe never say, one of his field-goal tries blocked. Fitzgerald did make a 30-yarder and a 24-yard attempt to give him 51 for his career and 22 on the 2018 season, both state records.

And not only did Ward block an Eagle field-goal try, but one of Hayden Hairston’s other tries hit a right goal post and fell in the end zone.

A difference would be possession time in the third quarter. Colquitt was ahead 10-7 at the break, but with the football first the Eagles ran 24 plays in two series to just four for the Packers. Still, the period ended with the score unchanged.

But Milton was still driving when the four fingers went up and everyone moved to an opposite end of the field. For the third time in the drive, the Eagles were faced with fourth down. Yates and his running back Joshua Edwards converted the previous two, Edwards doing in in their version of the wildcat offense.

On 4th-and-1 at the Packer 11, Milton was in position to take the snap and the bullied his way over the goal line. Hairiston’s PAT made it a 14-10 game for the Eagles.

The Packers came back, and one of their big strengths of the game was Leggett’s kickoff returning. He went from the 25 to the Packer 48. Edwards ran four plays in a row to the Milton 21, then on 3rd-and-11 the gutsy Leggett – limping some after the return – took an outside throw from Harden, broke tackles and made first down on the 10 with 8:49 to play.

Due to a procedure penalty, Propst sent Fitzgerald out for the 24-yard field goal with 7:15 remaining.

The defensive work of Zy Brockington and Marcus Anderson didn’t let Milton get to midfield, but the punt rolled to the Packer 16 with 3:28 on the clock.

After taking a sack on the 11, Harden fired completions to Tyler Walker for 15 yards and Lemeke Brockington for 15 more with great protection from center Will Rykard. A big play from Milton linebacker Allen Walker on Harden kept the Packers from getting in Fitzgerald’s range, and the season’s last snap ended at 1:08.

The game was about defensive plays for the first quarter also, an interception made by Milton’s Stephen Michaels and the fumble caused by Ward. Field position was working in Colquitt’s favor as the INT came on the 5 and Ward got the football back on the 18. Fitzgerald hit his 30-yard field goal at 5:32.

Yates then showed off his arm with completions to Holden Shaw for first down on his 32 and an up-top touchdown hurl to Jordan Cox of 66 yards. The Eagles were on top 7-3 with 3:48 of the quarter.

Ward’s field-goal block came at the end of another grinding Eagle series of 10 plays. It was a 34-yard attempt Kam Woods picked up and carried to the 39.

From there, the Packers reeled off eight plays of its own by establishing a running game. Walker had five catches in the game, and one in this drive got first down on the 49. Then it was Edwards with two rushes for two first downs to the Eagle 29 and Leggett using Kam Bell’s wall for 17 yards to the 10. He went around right end with help from Kam Barnes and Jerick Davis to score the touchdown at 5:28 until halftime.

When the Packers made one more stab at scoring, they got inside the 5 in the last minute. But Jordan Davis of Milton made two plays – one a sack – so it was Fitzgerald on the field looking for 3 from 34. It was blocked with 21 seconds to go.