The Milton Eagles and the Langston Hughes Panthers will compete for holiday cheer at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Milton comes in on 24 and Langston Hughes on 11.
Milton is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup last Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Lee County 56-28. Considering the Eagles have won nine matches by more than 27 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Luke Nickel and Weston Bryan. Nickel had a great game and threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns on only 19 passes. Meanwhile, Bryan was balling out in the loss, rushing for 287 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry.
| 12/06/24 vs Lee County | 11 |
| 11/29/24 vs Houston County | 4 |
| 11/22/24 vs Dutchtown | 2 |
| 11/01/24 vs Roswell | 7 |
| 10/25/24 vs Johns Creek | 2 |
Milton didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Ty Redmond and Ma'Khi Jones-Purnell. With that strong performance, Jones-Purnell is now averaging an impressive 5.1 total tackles per game. Another thorn in Lee County's side was Hayden Tumminia, who made 14 total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Langston Hughes faced Coffee in a battle between two of the state's top teams last Friday. Everything went Langston Hughes' way against Coffee as Langston Hughes made off with a 49-26 victory. The Panthers is also no stranger to big wins: their blowout was the 11 contest they've won by 20+ points or more this season.
Milton better keep an eye on Jabari Jones. He was instrumental in Langston Hughes' win, picking up 71 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while also punching in one touchdown on the ground. That's the most receiving touchdowns Jones has posted since back in August. Maurice Gleaton Jr was another key player, picking up 101 receiving yards and one touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Langston Hughes' defense and their three sacks. In that department, Kijohn Braxton was the leader with two. He has been hot, having also posted five or more total tackles the last five times he's played. Langston Hughes got some further help from Keith Bass: he made 14 total tackles and snagged an interception.
Milton's win was their 15th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 14-0. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 33.2 points. As for Langston Hughes, their victory bumped their record up to 13-1.
Tuesday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Milton has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 177.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Langston Hughes struggles in that department as they've been averaging 228.3 rushing yards. It's looking like Tuesday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Milton skirted past Langston Hughes 17-14 in their previous matchup back in November of 2014. Will Milton repeat their success, or does Langston Hughes have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
