Brookwood falls short to John Milledge Academy, 56-19

THOMASVILLE — The Brookwood Warriors put up a tough fight on Friday night, but eventually fell short to the three-time GISA AAA state champions John Milledge Academy, 56-19, marking the Trojans’ 42nd straight win.

The first quarter was a defensive battle, with neither team scoring. However, a bright spot came for Brookwood Wide Receiver TJ Thomas, when he intercepted a Briggs Eady pass with 4:19 left in the quarter.

Rodge Waldrop marched his team down to the 15-yard line on 4th down, when the clock ran out, ending the first half.

The Warriors came out equally as strong in the second half, but were forced to punt the ball after a turnover on downs.

John Milledge’s Jalan Butts responded to the punt by taking it down the field with only 7:17 left in the half, getting the first touchdown of the night. The PAT was good, giving the Trojans a 7-0 lead.

Brookwood responded with a touchdown of their own.

Destin Moore caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Waldrop to narrow the score 6-7. Oskar Thompson attempted the extra point, tying up the game 7-7 with 5:37 left.

Renewed with energy, Brookwood attempted to psych out the Trojans with an onside kick, which the Warriors recovered. However, after a turnover on downs, the Trojans took the power out of the Warriors hands, scoring three touchdowns in less than three minutes.

Junior Wide Receiver Javian Butts scored a touchdown with 2:40 left on the clock, before Eady faked a screen pass running it into the end zone himself with 40.1 seconds on the clock.

Javian Butts had one more touchdown left in him, scoring again with only 4.3 seconds left in the half, leaving the score 27-7.

The Trojans were on a roll, coming out of the half and scoring another touchdown with 8:40 left in the third quarter, upping the score 35-7.

This time, the Warriors fought back. Waldrop was able to carry Rex Schofill to the 1-yard line for first and goal before Thomas walked it into the end zone with 5:33 left. Unfortunately, the PAT was no good, leaving the Warriors trailing 13-35.

The Trojans responded with two touchdowns of their own, ending the third quarter 49-13.

The fourth quarter allowed for one final touchdown from both teams, ending in another TJ Thomas touchdown, 19-56.

Warriors Head Coach Shane Boggs was proud of the confidence his team displayed.

“We wanted to attack and I thought we did,” he said.

Boggs did admit that the Trojans capitalized on some of the mistakes they made, which ultimately gave them the momentum.

“You can’t afford to make those mistakes when you’re playing a great team like them,” he said. “We just have to clean up some things, which unfortunately gets magnified when playing a team like Milledge.”

While mistakes may have been made, the Warriors have nothing to hang their hat on, as they scored the most points on the Trojans than any other team this season.

The Warriors will now have a bye week before they begin region, beginning with Deerfield Windsor at home.

Boggs said he looks forward to the game and is excited to see his team, as this is the healthiest they’ve been all year.