We Speak High School Football
Derrick Baker’s Four Touchdown Passes Power Milton’s First-Half Blitz of Alpharetta
Some quarterbacks ease into a game. Milton’s Derrick Baker ended one before halftime. The Eagles’ signal-caller threw four touchdown passes against Alpharetta, and Milton scored all 41 of its points before the break in a 41-12 rout that kept the Eagles rolling at 6-1.
It was not a one-night show, either. Earlier this month, Baker threw three touchdown passes in a 60-21 win over Lanier, part of a winning streak Milton has carried since a one-point loss to Blessed Trinity, the only blemish on the Eagles’ record.
That combination, a quarterback who can strike quickly and a team that has already been tested in a one-point game, is exactly what makes Milton dangerous in late October. The Eagles can win a shootout, and they have shown they can survive a fight.
Milton’s body of work has the Eagles ranked in Georgia’s Top 25, and the Alpharetta win was their fifth straight victory. This is a program with championship history and a roster built for deep November runs, and Baker’s command of the offense has the Eagles playing fast, confident football at the perfect time of year. When a quarterback throws seven touchdown passes across two region wins in three weeks, defenses have to defend every blade of grass, and that opens everything else up for Milton’s playmakers.
The next fight is the biggest one yet. On Friday, October 23, Milton travels to Gainesville, where both teams enter unbeaten in region play and the winner takes sole possession of first place.
Baker has been building toward a night like that all season. After Gainesville, the Eagles close with Riverwood on October 30 and a much-anticipated trip to Roswell on November 6, so the path to a region title runs straight through Baker’s right arm. Fulton County will be watching to see if he delivers it.
We Speak High School Football
Miller Grove Wolverines Hunting a Strong Finish After a Season of Fights
The Miller Grove Wolverines opened their season with a statement, and they have been fighting ever since. A 31-0 shutout of Chamblee in the opener showed what this Lithonia team can be, and the Wolverines have spent the fall proving that night was no fluke.
Miller Grove owns a 35-6 road win at McNair and a 20-8 win at Carver in Atlanta, victories built on defense and toughness. Look at those three wins together and a pattern emerges: Chamblee scored zero, McNair scored six and Carver scored eight. When the Wolverines win, they win with a defense that gives up almost nothing, and that identity travels anywhere. At 3-4, with 131 points scored and 135 allowed, nearly every Wolverines game this season has been a genuine fight, decided by which team made the plays late.
That includes the tough nights. The Wolverines fell 42-10 to a strong Columbia team on October 16 and dropped a 28-21 heartbreaker at M.L. King in an all-DeKalb battle earlier this season. Those are the kinds of games a program learns from.
That defensive identity is worth repeating, because it is rare: across their three wins, the Wolverines have allowed a total of 14 points. Fourteen. In an era of spread offenses and video-game scores, Miller Grove wins the old-fashioned way, with tackling, discipline and a defense that takes points personally. That travels in November, and it gives the Wolverines a real chance in every game left on the schedule.
The closing stretch gives Miller Grove every chance to finish the right way. South Atlanta visits on Friday, October 23, then the Wolverines travel to Cedar Grove on October 30 before closing at home against Redan.
Three games, three chances to turn a season of fights into a winning finish. In Lithonia, the Wolverines and their families have every reason to believe that is exactly what happens next.
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