Milton stuns Walton to win Georgia 7A high school football state championship

ATLANTA – Heading into the Class 7A state playoffs, not many outside of the Milton locker room predicted a state championship appearance for the Eagles, let alone a state championship victory.

But after knocking off Colquitt County in the quarterfinals, and Grayson in the semifinals, the Eagles shocked the state of Georgia with another upset in the state finals, defeating undefeated Walton, 31-21, in stunning fashion.

After trailing the Raiders 14-7 at the half, the Eagles dominated the second half, out-scoring the Raiders 24-7 to win their first state title since 2018.

Star junior quarterback Luke Nickel finished his night with 201 yards passing and two touchdowns (one passing and one rushing), and the defense held Raiders standout quarterback Jeremy Hecklinksi to just 124 yards passing and intercepted him three times.

Both teams made their fair share of mistakes in the first half, but the Raiders made fewer.

The first mistake for the Eagles came just three plays into the game when a promising drive was stopped in its tracks thanks to a fumble from CJ Wiley at midfield.

Raiders linebacker Jake Thorner pounced on the loose and it led to a quick 5-play, 52-yard touchdown drive.

Bodiford burst through the middle with a 24-yard run to start the drive, and Hecklinski capped it with an 11-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Teal to give the Raiders an early 7-0 lead over the Eagles.

Momentum soon swung in Milton’s favor towards the end of the first quarter, and it was sparked by the defense. Junior linebacker Hayden Tumminia burst through the middle untouched and rocked Hecklinski for a sack, leading to Walton’s first punt of the night.

After coming up empty on each of their first two drives, Nickel and the Eagles offense got things going on their third drive.

Starting at their own 9-yard line to begin the second quarter, the Eagles marched 91 yards and knotted the game at 7-7 with a TJ Lester 3-yard touchdown run.

Nickel was 3-of-5 for 78 yards on the drive, and it was his 47-yard completion to Marc Essley that helped set up the Lester score with 8:10 remaining in the second quarter.

Looking to answer right back, that’s exactly what Hecklinksi and the Raiders did.

Chewing up 5:31 off of the clock, a good mix of runs and passes got the Raiders into Milton territory before Bodiford ripped off a 37-yard run to set up a first-and-goal from the 7-yard line.

Three plays later, Bodiford punched the ball into the end zone to give the Raiders the lead back 14-7 with just under three minutes remaining in the second quarter.

Milton’s offensive struggles returned on their fourth drive of the night, and it led to a quick three-and-out. For the half, they were held to just 141 yards and six first downs.

Fortunately for the Eagles, the Raiders were unable to take advantage of their quick three-and-out with just 1:27 remaining, and they took their 14-7 lead into the break.

Hecklinksi was held to just 65 yards passing in the first half on seven completions.

The script was flipped to start the third quarter.

After fumbling on their opening drive to start the game, it was the Raiders making a big mistake to start off the third quarter with a fumble of their own.

Bodiford coughed up the ball on their second play from scrimmage, and it was recovered by the Eagles, who quickly flipped that into a 37-yard field goal to chop Walton’s lead down to 14-10 with 9:40 remaining.

The mistakes multiplied for the Raiders on their next drive when Hecklinksi was picked off for just the fourth time this season by Eagles linebacker Jack Lawson, who made a tremendous catch right in front of the Walton bench.

And this time, the Eagles converted the Raider turnover into a touchdown.

Starting at the Raider 44, Nickel picked apart the Raider secondary and capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Essley to put the Eagles out in front for the first time in the game, 17-14 with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter.

With all of the momentum on Milton’s sidelines, Walton’s disastrous second half continued.

Facing a fourth-and-11 from the Milton 41, the Raiders elected to go for it and Hecklinksi was picked off again, this time by cornerback Ty Redmond who returned it 59 yards before he was tripped up.

Looking to extend their lead, the Eagles took over at the Raider 12-ard line and punched it into the end zone four plays later on a 1-yard run from Nickel.

In a stunning turn of events, the score gave Milton a 24-14 lead with 11:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Hecklinksi finished the third quarter with 17 yards passing and two interceptions.

Smelling blood in the water, the Eagles defense continued to bully Hecklinksi and the Raiders, and the senior was sacked for a third time on the night following Milton’s score.

Walton was forced to punt as a result, and with an opportunity to run their streak of scoring drives to four in a row, the Eagles made a mistake of their own.

After playing a nearly perfect game until that point, Nickel was intercepted by Walton cornerback Jordan Bride near midfield, and it proved to be a costly mistake.

The interception gave the Raiders the spark it needed, and Hecklinksi, who had been held to a mere 17 yards passing and two interceptions in the third quarter, got them back into the game with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Cameran Loyd.

The score cut Milton’s lead to 24-21 with 7:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Fortunately for the Eagles, Nickel’s interception, nor Walton’s first touchdown of the second half played any effect on their final drive of the night.

Looking to chew clock with just over seven minutes remaining, Nickel converted a huge third-and-11 to Debron Gatling at their own 30-yard line, and they were off to the races from there.

Lester then followed that up with a clutch 32-yard run on third-and-2 inside Walton territory, and despite stalling out inside the Walton 10-yard line, the Eagles were able to eat more than six minutes off of the clock and force the Raiders to burn two of their three timeouts.

The Eagles lined up to attempt a short 28-yard field goal with just over one minute remaining, but the play call was a fake, and it was intercepted by Walton’s Oliver Skeean.

The interception, however, was costly for the Raiders, who instead of taking over possession at their own 20, took over possession at the 1-yard line after Skeean was pushed out-of-bounds.

Needing to travel the length of the field with just 57 seconds remaining to attempt a potential game-tying field goal, Hecklinksi tossed his third interception of the half.

Jacorey Stewart jumped a pass intended for Teal and walked into the end zone for an easy touchdown to secure the victory for the Eagles.

MILTON 31, WALTON 21

Milton: 0 7 10 14 – 31

Walton: 7 7 0 7 – 21

FIRST QUARTER

Walton: Hunter Teal 11 pass from Jeremy Hecklinski (kick), 8:27

SECOND QUARTER

Milton: TJ Lester 3 run (kick), 8:10

Walton: Makari Bodiford 3 run (kick), 2:39

THIRD QUARTER

Milton: Alex Nover 37 field goal, 9:40

Milton: Marc Essley 8 pass from Luke Nickel (kick), 5:29

FOURTH QUARTER

Milton: Nickel 1 run (kick), 11:11

Walton: Cameran Loyd 43 pass from Jeremy Hecklinski (kick), 7:28

Milton: Jacorey Stewart 5 interception return (kick), :51

(All photos by Cecil Copeland)