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Bulloch Academy falls to No. 1 John Milledge 27-18
BA football
Bulloch Academy receiver Billy Crider takes off up field after receiving a pass from Sam Hubbard in the first half of the Gator's matchup with JMA at Gator Alley.

It had been 658 days since the Bulloch Academy football team had suffered a defeat. Friday night, the Gators welcomed No. 1 ranked John Milledge Academy to Gator Alley and the visitors handed them their first loss since the 2023 season finale with a 27-18 win, which also snapped a 15-game win streak.

“We played hard, but this is the No. 1 team in the state for a reason,” said coach Aaron Phillips. “They are physical and have some Power 5 guys over there and they just showed it tonight. Asa Wall has five SEC offers and he is hard to tackle and a lot of their offense went through him. We kept fighting and it was really a one-score game if we hadn’t missed our extra points.”

John Milledge wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Quarterback Lewis Cheney hit Wall for a 20-yard gain and then the two hooked up again for an 18-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead.

The Gators responded with a few tough runs from quarterback Sam Hubbard Bulloch Academy that ended up with a fourth and one from the JMA two-yard line. On the first play of the second quarter Danye Garvin dove into the end zone for the touchdown. The extra point was blocked and JMA led 7-6.

The Trojans added another score before the end of the half. Running back Javaris Hurt went 60-yards on a screen pass from Cheney and got down inside the five-yard line. Cheney then snuck the ball in from the one for a 14-6 halftime lead.

Two big plays in the third really put things away. On their opening possession of the third quarter Hurts went 65-yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 21-6. On their next possession Ward took a handoff and broke three tackles, going 80-yards into the end zone for a 27-6 lead.

The Gators added a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. A mix of runs and passes from Hubbard got the Gators deep and they’d cap the scoring on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Hubbard to Billy Crider. Hubbard ran the final score in from 14-yards out with just under two minutes to play in the game.

A week after having 280 yards in penalties Phillips was pleased at the way the way the team responded by limiting penalties.

“We really cleaned things up tonight,” Phillips said. “We were far from perfect but we made progress. This is the best team we will probably play this year and we hung in there with them. I expect us to continue to move forward and learn from this one.”

Next up for the Gators they will travel to Strong Rock Christian next Friday.