The Milton Eagles shut out the Roswell Hornets in the second half and won 35-20 Friday at the Eagles’ Nest in a game that determined the Region 7-5A champion.
The Eagles, ranked No. 1 in 5A and No. 2 nationally by MaxPreps, move to 9-0, 5-0 in 7-5A and are region champions for a seventh straight year. They also extended their region win streak to 39 games. The No. 5 Hornets (8-2, 5-1) see their region titles streak end at two, and their region win streak end at 19.
The Eagles, as a No. 1 seed, will host the No. 4 seed from Region 6. The Hornets, a No. 2 seed, hosts 6-5A’s No. 3 seed.
“We’re very locked in, and have been all season,” said Eagles senior running back TJ Lester, who had 126 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. “We’ve taken it step by step and perfecting ourselves, and we got what we deserved.”
The Eagles led 21-20 at halftime thanks to a 40-yard touchdown pass from Luke Nickel to Tristen Payne, a 3-yard Lester run and a 4-yard Nickel run, which came with a minute left in the second quarter. The Hornets responded on the next play with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Trey Smith to Nytrevain Davenport, who pulled a would-be interception from a Milton defender and ran another 65 yards with 0:47 left in the half..