Senior running back Kelvin “KJ” Jackson and quarterback Grayson Hopkins led GISA’s John Milledge Academy Trojans to a monumental win over GHSA Class A Private No. 6 Savannah Christian on Friday, Sept. 25 at Pooler Stadium.
The Trojans led 21-0 after the first quarter and 35-7 at the half before cruising the rest of the way en route to a 52-13 victory over the Raiders.
“We knew that (John Milledge) was a really well-coached team,” SCPS head coach Baker Woodward said of the 2019 GISA Class 3A state champion Trojans. “They were bigger, better, faster. And so it’s tough.
“If you don’t come out and play your best game, you won’t be able to play with them. We didn’t play our best game, and so that’s what happened.”
SCPS (3-1) was held to just four yards of total offense in the first half and scored all of its points thanks to only junior receiver/safety George Futch.
Futch returned a 101 yard interception for a score in the second quarter and took a pass from quarterback Spencer Robicheaux 76 yards to the house in the third. Robicheaux struggled mightily against the No. 1 team in GISA Class 3A (according to MaxPreps) after passing for five TDs last week versus Valwood.
The Raider senior finished 3 of 21 for 100 yards with the score and an interception — he was sacked three times. On the year, Robicheaux has thrown for 10 touchdowns and two interceptions.
“We came out flat, and we got whooped,” Woodward said. “John Milledge is a great football team — a physical football team. Take nothing away from them and this will probably be their last year in GISA.
“But our guys understand that we didn’t perform. I think we’ll come out next week and we will respond.”
John Milledge hasn’t lost a regular season game since October 2017, and the Trojans (2-0) look like clear favorites to repeat as the GISA Class 3A State champions. JM was playing without its star senior running back and University of Virginia commit, Amaad Foston, but it didn’t seem to slow down the Trojans.
The GISA juggernaut from Milledgeville rushed for over 400 yards against a formidable SCPS defense and has a record of 53-3 in its last 56 games.
Jackson rushed 27 times for 208 yards and a score and the Trojans totaled five rushing touchdowns in all. Hopkins threw for two scores and rushed for another.
“They’ve got some really good players over there (at Savannah Christian) so I give Baker Woodward and that entire staff a lot of credit,” said John Milledge coach J.T. Wall. “We thought our guys just came out and played really well from start to finish so it led to good things. A lot of what we do runs through that offensive line and we depended on them a lot tonight.”
Wall also noted a key focal point of his team coming into the game. Namely, stop the SCPS star quarterback.
“We were able to kind of keep Robicheaux in check which, we felt like … if we could keep him off the field it would give us a good shot.
SCPS finished with 10 rushing yards and 110 yards of total offense. The Raiders travel to Deerfield-Windsor (Albany) next week before hosting Mt. De Sales Academy on the following Friday.
Follow Travis Jaudon on Twitter @JaudonSports and contact him at travisLJaudon@gmail.com.
SC—0-7-6-0—13
Records — JM 2-0, SC 3-1.
Next — JM vs Bulloch Academy; SC at Deerfield-Windsor.
photo by T. Jaudon
