Friday Night High School Football Roundup: Milton capitalizes in miscue-filled matchup, rallies for 21-10 comeback victory against Blessed Trinity with blocked punt, touchdown

The nationally-ranked Eagles out of Class 5A trailed visiting Blessed Trinity 10-0 in the first half before finding their footing, putting up 21 unanswered points to close out a matchup plagued by penalties.

Entering the night 3-0 on the year with an average margin of victory of 29 points, the Titans built a two-score lead in the opening frame with a 42-yard field goal and a 1-yard MJ Craft touchdown run set up by a late hit on Andrew Cochran’s punt return into Milton territory. The Eagles answered with a 71-yard scoring strike from backup quarterback Ben Halevi to Daryl Hayes, however, and the teams traded punts until the break.

Penalties brought an end to a promising Blessed Trinity drive to start the second half, then kept alive what was nearly a successful goal-line stand for the Titans, leading to a 10-yard completion from Halevi to Jordan Carrasquillo for a 14-10 Milton edge late in the third. Flags continued to kill offensive momentum for both teams in the fourth, and Billy Weivoda’s return of a Titans punt blocked by Lawson Estes provided the game’s final points.

Milton, now 3-1, will kick off Region 7 play next week at Chattahoochee. The 3-1 Titans, meanwhile, will look to get their season back on track at home against Class 2A’s Hebron Christian.

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The reigning Class 4A champion Titans continued their winning ways, amassing a four-touchdown, first-half lead on the way to a 35-0 victory over host Jefferson.

The third-ranked Dragons out of Class 3A struggled on both sides of the ball without star two-way player Max Brown. Entering the game with a team-high 430 rushing yards and 43 total tackles through three games, the Clemson commit suffered an injury on the first play from scrimmage that kept him on the sidelines the rest of the night.

Quarterback Harrison Faulkner led a potent offensive attack for North Oconee, throwing early touchdown passes to UGA commit Khamari Brooks and Charlie Hawkins. The Titans added rushing scores before the break from Braxton Goolsby and Brooks, who also had multiple first-half pass deflections on defense.

“It’s fun,” said Brooks, the Robbie Hunter MVP Award winner, about adjusting to the speed of the game on both sides of the ball. “The first time I did it, my sophomore year, I was really tired, you know. Gassed. But as I’ve done it more and more, the coaches have trusted me to be able to do that, so I feel like all in all, it’s gotten better and it’s fun to do.”

“It was a physical battle,” emphasized head coach Tyler Aurandt. “We’ve got a lot of heart. Our kids played really hard, and I think that showed up on the field.”

The 4-0 Titans open Region 8-AAAA play at home next week against East Forsyth.

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Check out the Class-by-class look at Friday Night below

CLASS 6A: North Cobb kicked off Region 5 play with a 41-7 victory against Walton. Quarterback Teddy Jarrad threw a trio of touchdown passes, including one to Zach Belyeu, who also scored on the ground. The Warriors got a touchdown run from Quavy Echols as well. … Colquitt County handed Class 5A’s Lee County its first loss of the season in a high-scoring affair. The Packers led 43-12 heading into the final frame before the Trojans added 24 fourth-quarter points. … Richmond Hill pulled away from a closely contested first half with a trio of third-quarter touchdowns for a 41-9 victory against Class 4A’s Wayne County and a 4-0 start for the second straight year. … Marquis Fennell found the end zone three times in Valdosta’s 41-3 victory against South Gwinnett. The Wildcats also got a pair of touchdowns from Deron Foster and a scoop-and-score from Jalon Copeland. … Carrollton saw its lead shrink to one point after Darryn Williams’ pick-six for Gainesville midway through the third, but the Trojans added a trio of fourth-quarter scores to seal the 43-21 victory. … Douglas County lost for the second straight week, this time falling to Buford by a margin of 34-26. The 4-0 Wolves got a pair of touchdown runs from Dylan McCoy, another from Tyriq Green, a scoring strike from Dayton Raiola to Braylon Williams and two field goals from Jack Rudloff. … West Forsyth seized control of its Region 6 opener at Lambert with a 37-0 run en route to a 44-24 final. The 3-1 Wolverines return home next week to host Denmark. … Running back Darron Parry recorded three rushing touchdowns in North Forsyth’s 28-7 Region 6 opener victory against host South Forsyth. …

CLASS 5A: Houston County improved to 5-0 on the year with an emphatic 57-14 victory against Class 6A’s Tift County. The Bears will return home after next week’s bye to kick off Region 2 play against Veterans. … Roswell got its season back on track following last week’s loss to Buford with a 50-30 victory over Class 6A’s Westlake. The 3-1 Hornets open Region 7 play next week against Seckinger. … Lovejoy is 4-0 for the first time since 2020 following a 35-14 victory against host Dutchtown in the Region 3 opener. The Wildcats return home next week to host McIntosh. … Northgate opened Region 3 play with a 35-21 victory against host Newnan — the Vikings’ first-ever victory against the Cougars. Woody Schettini scored twice on the ground for Northgate, which also got a trio of picks and a blocked punt that led to a combined 21 points.

CLASS 4A: Ola is now 4-1 on the year and 3-1 in Region 2 play following a 33-0 shutout of Eagle’s Landing. The Mustangs led 20-0 at the break before adding a pair of fourth-quarter scores for insurance. … Cambridge bounced back from last week’s loss to Denmark with a 52-42 victory against Class 3A’s Calhoun. Quarterback Connor Langford threw a trio of third-quarter touchdown passes to keep the Bears on top of the back-and-forth affair. … Cartersville came out on top of its Region 7 opener against host Dalton by a margin of 45-14 and will host Woodland next week. …

CLASS 3A: Greater Atlanta Christian got a 36-yard game-winning field goal with 10 seconds on the clock from Graham Anand in the Spartans’ Region 6 opener against visiting Lumpkin County for a 37-35 final. … Oconee County trailed visiting Stephens County out of Class 2A by a margin of 24-14 before closing out the night with a pair of third-quarter scores for a 28-24 final. … Sandy Creek improved to 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in Region 2 play with a 42-7 victory against Upson-Lee. Quarterback Caleb Hill threw a pair of first-quarter touchdown passes for the Fighting Patriots and Amari Latimer added two rushing scores in the second for a 28-7 edge at the break.

CLASS 2A: Ringgold is now 4-1 on the year and 2-1 in Region 7 play following a 34-27 victory against North Cobb Christian. The Tigers took an early 20-0 lead before giving up 20 straight, and the teams were again knotted at 27-27 in the fourth before Haddon Fries scored the game-winner. … Hapeville Charter defeated Heritage-Conyers out of Class 6A by a margin of 30-0 for its first win of the season. The Hornets will have their hands full with another 6A opponent in Westlake next week before kicking off Region 5 play at Carver. … Rockmart improved to 3-1 on the year and 2-0 in Region 7 with a 35-0 shutout of Union County. Quarterback Tucker Parson threw two touchdowns to Gavin Green and another to Nate Davis, who also scored on the ground, and the Yellow Jackets got a field goal from Lincoln Stollberg and a rushing score from Devin McCoy as well.

CLASS A - DIV. 1: Fellowship Christian followed up its 50-7 rout of Class 6A’s Osborne with a 52-21 victory over Savannah Christian. The 3-1 Paladins kick off region play next week at King’s Ridge Christian. … Ethan Tisdale had three rushing touchdowns — including the game-winner — for Heard County, which defeated three-time defending state champion Bowdon, 29-28, to improve to 4-0.

CLASS A - DIV. 2: Brooks County got its first win of the season, defeating host Fitzgerald 21-3 with a trio of second-half scores. The Trojans still have Pierce County ahead on the schedule before they kick off Region 2-A Div II play against Turner County. … Lincoln County got a touchdown on the ground and one through the air from Mekhi Wade in its 24-17 victory against Elbert County. The 4-0 Red Devils also got a touchdown from Nasir Gartrell and a field goal from Fortson Partridge and led by two scores before the Blue Devils found the end zone in the game’s final minute.

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