Finally: Tiftarea Panthers get big win over John Milledge
Published 5:00 pm Saturday, August 31, 2024
- J.R. Walker was unstoppable for the Panthers against John Milledge. He ran for 225 yards on 16 carries.
CHULA — Years of misery came to an end Friday night for Tiftarea Academy. The Panthers took out seemingly a lifetime of frustration and demolished John Milledge Academy, 46-21.
“A long time coming,” said head coach Erik Soliday on Saturday, remembering the pain of the earlier games.
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The win was the first in Tiftarea’s history versus the Trojans, against six losses. It was the worst loss for John Milledge since the 2018 state finals and worst in the regular season in a decade.
Now 3-0, the Panthers have matched their win total from a season ago, also refreshing for Soliday considering all the close calls in the last two years.
Tiftarea’s offense dominated from the start. They did not punt Friday, only being stopped by an interception in the second period and a turnover on downs in the fourth at which point they were ahead by 32.
Though the Panthers ran for 404 yards on the night, the first score was through the air.
J.R. Walker completed 4-of-6 throws on the opening possession. The last was a 16-yard touchdown to Ridley Monk, a play that saw Walker scramble to his right, then throw across his body to Monk, who made himself available on the left side of the end zone.
Harrison Powell’s kick gave Tiftarea a 7-0 lead.
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JMA advanced to Tiftarea’s 41 on their first drive, but had to punt. A coffin corner kick put the Panthers inside their own 5. They almost made the visitors pay immediately.
Caden Grier bounced out for an apparent 97-yard touchdown on the first snap, but it was called back for a penalty.
Instead, Walker hit Temond Marcus for 40 yards. Montorie Lee added 48 more to reach the 10 in two plays.
There, Kaiden Richardson busted his way for a touchdown. The kick failed but Tiftarea was up 13-0 in the first quarter.
John Milledge ambled its way from the 11 down to the 6, then attempted to get the remainder with quarterback Kolt McDaniel. Brody Seagraves stripped him of the football and the Panthers recovered in the end zone.
John Jackson got a quick 14-yard catch, negating a false start, then the Panthers switched to completely punishing JMA on the ground.
“We didn’t know if we could run it that well,” Soliday admitted. “Their front is pretty good. Our o-line stepped up and played pretty well.”
He said they were fortunate to gain the nearly 400 rush yardage.
A 43-yard Walker rush took the ball from the 33 to the 10. Tiftarea had two holds in the red zone, but wouldn’t be denied. Walker faced no resistance on a run to the left. It was now 19-0.
“Always having that threat of being able to throw it makes it tough,” he said.
Soliday thinks the early passing success opened the door for the Panthers on the ground.
McDaniel put the Trojans on the scoreboard on a 1-yard run to make it 19-7. Though the Trojans surrendered a 42-yard kick return to Lee, it seemed luck was finally turning their way when the first Panthers’ play resulted in an interception.
McDaniel did most of the heavy lifting with runs of 10 and 11 yards. At the 8, he completed a pass to David Todd that brought the Trojans to 19-14.
The momentum only needed one play to switch back.
Denied earlier, Grier went 63 yards on the first play. Tiftarea was back up two touchdowns at 25-14. John Milledge went three-and-out on its next possession and there was plenty of time in the half.
Walker had runs of 16, 13, 14 and 8 yards to help take the Panthers from their own 31 to the 23.
Time was ticking away, so Soliday went to the air. William Garner reeled in a 23-yard scoring catch. There was time for only one play for John Milledge, who went into the locker room trailing 32-14.
Downs stopped JMA at their own 39 to open the second half.
Walker drug practically the entire Trojan team for an eight-yard gain. JMA keyed on him on the next play and initially stopped Walker, but he twisted free and scored from 30 yards out.
Powell kicked a point-after to move the contest into runaway status at 39-14.
A third down sack led John Milledge to punt to the 25. Tiftarea used Walker, Grier, Marcus and Richardson in the drive, mixing in a pass to Garner.
Richardson got the honors for the last yard, putting the lead at its apex with the Powell kick, 46-14.
Jack Brand leveled McDaniel for a last Trojans punt. Mixing in youth, Tiftarea was stopped at the 46 on downs.
The Trojans scored on the next-to-last play of the game on a four-yard pass from Todd to Jacob Noles.
Tiftarea ended with an official 541 yards, 404 on the ground.
Walker ran 16 times for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Richardson scored twice on eight carries. Grier ran nine times for 73 yards and a TD. Lee carried once for 48.
Through the air, it was 8 completions on 12 attempts for Walker for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Half the completions were on the opening drive.
Monk’s touchdown was one of two catches, 27 yards. Garner reeled in two for 45 and a touchdown. Marcus and Jackson had the other catches.
Soliday said many different players made plays defensively. “I thought we ran to the ball well.”
The Panthers host Frederica Academy Sept. 5. The Knights, 1-2, were drubbed by Valwood Thursday, 48-14.