John Milledge, Gatewood set for championship matchup

There won’t be many secrets at 8 p.m. on Friday at Five Star Stadium in the GISA Class 3A championship game.

The John Milledge Trojans and Gatewood Gators know each other too well for that.

The longtime rivals will face off at Mercer’s stadium with the GISA title on the line. The Gators are looking for their third title, while the Trojans are playing in their first championship game.

“We were excited last week, and we’re really excited this week,” Gatewood head coach Jeff Ratliff said. “We had a big turnout, all of Putnam County came out to watch last week, and I expect the same this week.”

The Trojans are 13-0, including a 17-10 win over Gatewood on Oct. 21. They beat Tiftarea 42-0, Pinewood 42-14 and Valwood 20-13 to get to this point. John Milledge had lost in the semifinals in the previous four seasons before getting over the hump against the Valiants.

Gatewood is 11-2, and it beat Brookwood 22-19, Heritage 33-14 and Deerfield-Windsor 17-13 to reach the title game. Gatewood’s two titles came in 1977 and 1990.

John Milledge leads the all-time series 32-10-2.

“It adds a wrinkle when you’re playing your biggest rival,” John Milledge head coach J.T. Wall said. “We know it’s going to be a four-quarter battle with those guys from Eatonton, and you just can’t say enough about the job Coach Ratliff and those guys do.”

Both teams have been building to this point for several seasons. Gatewood went 7-5 in Ratliff’s first season but dropped to 3-9 in 2014 before rebounding for an 8-4 season last year.

Brandon Belans leads the Gators’ offense with 1,266 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns, while Reid Sasser has rushed for 949 yards and 15 touchdowns, and Yale Stapp has added 944 yards and 10 touchdowns. Sasser also has thrown for 724 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Tyler Myers (110 tackles) and Jake McMillian (107 tackles) lead the Gators’ defense, which has recorded three shutouts and held seven opponents to fewer than 10 points.

“It all starts with these players. It’s something they can say they accomplished, but they have been working for it,” Ratliff said. “It started when they lifted that first weight this summer, and they have endured a couple of shaky seasons, although we went to the playoffs those seasons, and now here we are. We finally got over the hump, and we’ve beaten some good football teams to get here, and we’re in a winner-take-all one game for a championship.

“For these players, they will see what they’ve done, how far they’ve come and that they’ve bought into the program, and they are reaping the rewards now.”

John Milledge went 12-1 in 2012 and then 11-2 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 but couldn’t get past the semifinals.

Noah Lavender leads John Milledge with 776 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns, while Gunner Roberts has 659 yards and six scores, and Dawson Huff has 403 yards and nine touchdowns. Trevor Evans has completed 110-of-167 passes for 1,444 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Jacob Prestwood leads the defense with 114 tackles, while Josh Chatman has 103 tackles, including 15 for loss and 4 1/2 sacks for a Trojans defense that has five shutouts.

“It’s something we’ve touched on, but it’s not something we’re beating to death either,” Wall said of the program’s chance at its first title. “These guys have done a great job this year of focusing in on one game at a time. Last week, we were worried that they might not be focused in on Valwood and thinking about playing for a state title, but they weren’t. They were locked in and ready to play, and they’ll be ready again Friday.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "John Milledge, Gatewood set for championship matchup."