Milton, ready to make history as the first high school football team from Georgia to play a game in California, is flying out Thursday evening.
The Eagles are scheduled to play JSerra Catholic at 4 p.m. Saturday as part of the three-game Trinity League vs. the USA Showcase in Bellflower, Calif., outside of Los Angeles.
Milton coach Adam Clack said he took pride in representing Georgia against one of California’s best teams.
‘’I definitely have a state-of-Georgia pride when it comes to football,’’ Clack said. “I’m born and raised here. For years and years, I’ve been saying the football is as good here as anywhere, so it’s a point of pride any time you have a chance to represent the state vs. one of the [other] big four – Texas, California and Florida.’’
The team practiced Thursday morning before school, and most players were excused after lunch, Clack said. Milton’s traveling party numbers 60 players and 20 coaches, trainers and administrators. About 70 parents and fans are coming separately.
Friday’s itinerary includes a visit to Venice Beach, lunch in West Hollywood and an afternoon tour of UCLA. The team won’t practice in California. That would’ve created unnecessary logistical stress, Clack said. The coach believes the other experiences are more important.
‘’We’re going to compete and to win, no doubt; we prepare as hard as anybody else,’’ Clack said. ‘’But football is secondary to our experience and what it can do for our team this season. We want to honor that balance. We can’t put them in a more uncertain situation than this. It’s a team we’ve never seen, a different time zone. Win, lose or draw, we’re going to know more about ourselves.’’
The return trip won’t be easy. Wakeup time Sunday morning is 4:30 a.m., and team is not due back into Atlanta until Sunday afternoon.
The Trinity vs. the USA event has drawn the three best teams in the MaxPreps Composite Top 25.
In the game following the Milton-JSerra matchup, No. 1 Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Calif., is playing No. 2 St. Frances of Baltimore. The Friday night opener has No. 3 St. John Bosco, the home school, playing Our Lady of Good Counsel of Olney, Md. Our Lady visited Georgia last season and defeated Marietta 40-28.
JSerria is 2-1 and ranked No. 8 overall in California by MaxPreps.
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